Written by Scott Gleeson at USAToday.com
What’s making history without a little drama?
“The greatest play in Northwestern history,” a passionate fan shouted, at center court with tears rolling down his eyes.
With 1.7 seconds left, Northwestern’s senior forward Nathan Taphorn threw a pinpoint pass the full length off the court to sophomore center Dererk Pardon, who made a game-winning lay-up as time expired to lift the Wildcats to a thrilling 67-65 victory over a red-hot Michigan team.
Jubilation was in full force for Northwestern fans after a win that more than likely secures an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament, what would be the first ever trip in school history. It also gave the program its first winning record in the Big Ten Conference since 1967-68 and its first 10-win season in the Big Ten since 1932-33.
As fans stormed the court, there was a distraught and emotional head coach Chris Collins, in the midst of the mayhem, feeling like “Jimmy V in ’83.”
The play. #B1GCats | #PoundTheRock https://t.co/she49TTdyl
— NU Men’s Basketball (@NUMensBball) March 2, 2017
“I was looking around, I didn’t have anyone to hug. …I was looking for my family because it was a (pauses) special moment,” said Collins, choked up and emotional. “It was surreal the way it happened. It’s almost kind of fitting when you’re trying to do something really hard. It takes exceptional things. …There’s always some luck involved. Guys got in the right spots. And Nate threw a great pass. Don’t the (Chicago) Bears need a quarterback.”
“This was just amazing for us and this program,” Pardon said. “I thought it was long, thought it was going out of bounds at first. When I caught it, I was like, ‘the rim is right there.’ We’ve never practiced that.”
Taphorn said of the highlight-reel play, drawn up by assistant coach Brian James, “I just had to put my trust in Derek. …My goal was to find him and give him the biggest hug ever.”
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