Chris Collins looked cross-eyed at an official, who in turn crossed his “T.”
Northwestern’s coach earned a technical foul late during his team’s fifth — and worst — loss of the season Wednesday, 80-59 to Purdue.
He then gave the offending official a sarcastic round of applause.
That was the kind of frustrating night it was for the 25th-ranked Wildcats, whose aspirations of a school record-tying seventh straight Big Ten victory disappeared with each passing Purdue 3-pointer at Mackey Arena.
The No. 23 Boilermakers made 12 in all, in just 23 attempts against the Scottie Lindsey-less Wildcats. Thanks to an illness that will keep him out until “he’s ready,” according to Collins, Northwestern’s leading scorer wasn’t there to see Vincent Edwards make good on 5 of his 7 tries. Or Dakota Mathias and Caleb Swanigan combined to shoot 4-for-7.
Lindsey, who averages 15.4 points per game, played Sunday but did not travel to Purdue on Wednesday. The Wildcats also were without senior forward Nathan Taphorn, who injured his ankle during Sunday’s victory against Indiana.
(Shannon Ryan)
Freshman Isiah Brown made his first start in Lindsey’s place and scored 11 points, but needed 14 shot attempts to do it.
“I thought Isiah did fine,” Collins said. “It’s a big stage to have your first start. There were some positive things and some teachable things.”
Junior guard Bryant McIntosh led the Wildcats with 22 points and added four assists. He said the team isn’t going to panic and won’t have to alter too much how it plays in Lindsey’s absence.
He did say, though, that the Wildcats will have to find a way to incorporate Brown into the offense more. More than Lindsey’s offense, though, the Wildcats (18-5, 7-3 Big Ten) missed his defense.
Lindsey typically guards the other team’s second-best player.
“I don’t think I have to change the way I play,” McIntosh said. “I’m just trying to make the right play. Do I have to be a bit more aggressive, maybe, taking some shots? Yeah. Just because one guy goes down doesn’t mean you have to reinvent the wheel.”
McIntosh said he, too, was proud of how Brown played but added he was “a little jittery” in the first half.
Northwestern’s early lead didn’t even last six minutes, but their hopes of the program’s first NCAA tournament bid haven’t been dashed.
“It’s a long Big Ten season,” McIntosh said. “You’re gonna lose some games. Nothing to hang our heads about.”
Added Collins: “You can’t overreact on one game. We’ll learn from it and hopefully Tuesday night (against Illinois) we’ll play better.”
pskrbina@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @ChiTribSkrbina
Photos from the game on Feb. 1, 2017, in West Lafayette, Ind.
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