There was a lot of talk about heart and passion following Northwestern's thrilling 82-78 double-overtime victory over Michigan on senior night Tuesday.
"I'd love to know what to say because I'm still trying to figure our what happened,'' said Northwestern head coach Chris Collins. "The shot-making for both teams was incredible. We just happened to make one more shot.
"The courage of this group was incredible, I could go on and on. Bryant McIntosh was bed-ridden for two days, so (senior) Dave Sobolewski had to step in. To run the team the way he did was huge. (Senior) JerShon Cobb hit some big shots, but he also showed veteran leadership by the way he kept talking along our back line. I did not expect 33 minutes, 8 rebounds and 14 points from him. I thought he was done for the year, but he came to me yesterday and told me he was playing. I thought I was coaching LeBron (James). When he hasn't played for a month (six games), this was a special night.''
Alex Olah also drew high praise from his coach. During the two and a half minutes he was on the bench in the first half, the Wolverines went on a 12-0 run.
"We're a different team at both ends of the court when Alex is out there,'' Collins said. "Twenty-five points and 12 rebounds gives you a pretty good idea of what he means to us. We just have to find some rest for him because he played 44 minutes tonight.''
Tre Demps (20 points) his huge three-pointers to send the game into overtime and then a second extra period. "On the first one, Michigan blew up our play pretty early, but Tre was able to hit that step-back shot. And on the second one, I have to give a lot of credit to assistant coach Brian James and Cobb. As an assistant coach in the NBA, coach James has designed a lot of out-of-bounds plays and this one went perfectly. Cobb got the ball under the basket and made a tremendous pass to the corner, just the way it was drawn up, and Tre knocked down the three.''
Collins insists the team has not talked about the postseason or finishing above .500. "We're just trying to move up in the Big Ten,'' he says. "Take care of business tonight and we might move up. Our game at Iowa (Saturday) will be a difficult one. They have been playing as good as anyone since we beat them. We could use the rest because this team is pretty banged up.''
Alex Olah said "there was a lot of emotion in the locker room.'' "We wanted to win this game for the seniors, but two overtimes was too much,'' he said. "Our spirits were up tonight, even after what happened at Illinois. We attacked the gaps in (Michigan's) 1-3-1 zone. Either I would be open or we would be open for 3s in the corners. I felt like I had a mismatch tonight.''
According to JerShon Cobb, the month off "did me well and I had a lot of adrenaline tonight.'' "I just wanted to win because we have a chance to play in the postseason and moving up in the Big Ten is huge for us,'' he said. "I always knew I wanted to play this game, but I had to confirm it with coach Collins and my minutes would be based on how well I played. I couldn't imagine losing my last (home) game, so I'm undefeated on senior night.''
Tre Demps gave much of the credit for the victory to the seniors. "Their leadership has been incredible,'' he said. "Those guys refused to lose. They were playing with passion and heart. It's been a tough time for JerShon and I've been praying he could get healthy. This wasn't about me; this was about winning and sending the seniors out the right way. They've been my brothers for the last four years.''
"I'd love to know what to say because I'm still trying to figure our what happened,'' said Northwestern head coach Chris Collins. "The shot-making for both teams was incredible. We just happened to make one more shot.
"The courage of this group was incredible, I could go on and on. Bryant McIntosh was bed-ridden for two days, so (senior) Dave Sobolewski had to step in. To run the team the way he did was huge. (Senior) JerShon Cobb hit some big shots, but he also showed veteran leadership by the way he kept talking along our back line. I did not expect 33 minutes, 8 rebounds and 14 points from him. I thought he was done for the year, but he came to me yesterday and told me he was playing. I thought I was coaching LeBron (James). When he hasn't played for a month (six games), this was a special night.''
Alex Olah also drew high praise from his coach. During the two and a half minutes he was on the bench in the first half, the Wolverines went on a 12-0 run.
"We're a different team at both ends of the court when Alex is out there,'' Collins said. "Twenty-five points and 12 rebounds gives you a pretty good idea of what he means to us. We just have to find some rest for him because he played 44 minutes tonight.''
Tre Demps (20 points) his huge three-pointers to send the game into overtime and then a second extra period. "On the first one, Michigan blew up our play pretty early, but Tre was able to hit that step-back shot. And on the second one, I have to give a lot of credit to assistant coach Brian James and Cobb. As an assistant coach in the NBA, coach James has designed a lot of out-of-bounds plays and this one went perfectly. Cobb got the ball under the basket and made a tremendous pass to the corner, just the way it was drawn up, and Tre knocked down the three.''
Collins insists the team has not talked about the postseason or finishing above .500. "We're just trying to move up in the Big Ten,'' he says. "Take care of business tonight and we might move up. Our game at Iowa (Saturday) will be a difficult one. They have been playing as good as anyone since we beat them. We could use the rest because this team is pretty banged up.''
Alex Olah said "there was a lot of emotion in the locker room.'' "We wanted to win this game for the seniors, but two overtimes was too much,'' he said. "Our spirits were up tonight, even after what happened at Illinois. We attacked the gaps in (Michigan's) 1-3-1 zone. Either I would be open or we would be open for 3s in the corners. I felt like I had a mismatch tonight.''
According to JerShon Cobb, the month off "did me well and I had a lot of adrenaline tonight.'' "I just wanted to win because we have a chance to play in the postseason and moving up in the Big Ten is huge for us,'' he said. "I always knew I wanted to play this game, but I had to confirm it with coach Collins and my minutes would be based on how well I played. I couldn't imagine losing my last (home) game, so I'm undefeated on senior night.''
Tre Demps gave much of the credit for the victory to the seniors. "Their leadership has been incredible,'' he said. "Those guys refused to lose. They were playing with passion and heart. It's been a tough time for JerShon and I've been praying he could get healthy. This wasn't about me; this was about winning and sending the seniors out the right way. They've been my brothers for the last four years.''
