Young Northwestern fan can’t believe ref’s call and his reaction was priceless

Northwestern was eliminated from the NCAA tournament in the second round on Saturday. Do you have a pen? Of course, March Madness is supposed to be filled with such unbridled emotion.

One player asked where his locker name tag was to ensure he didn’t leave without it.

But Northwestern’s second half was not short of life. Perhaps he would stash it in his travel bag and use it in the future.

Lock of the day: No. 16 seeds are 0-128 since the NCAA Tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985.

What if the Wildcats hadn’t played the first half like a deer-in-the-headlights program that was making its first-ever NCAA appearance?

And they had worn those labels and answers proudly. In fact, Gonzaga led by as many as 22 at one point. Northwestern scoring 20 first-half points was a much bigger factor.

Nigel Williams-Goss led the Zags with 20 points, to go along with eight rebounds and four assists.

Follow this post for live score updates as the Gonzaga vs. Northwestern game unfolds in the comments section below. “They did a good job of being physical with us, and not letting us have open cuts”.

A Law putback cut that lead to five, 63-58, and blew the roof off the arena just 30 seconds later.

ABOUT NORTHWESTERN (24-11): Standout junior guard Bryant McIntosh scored 25 points against Vanderbilt for his 11th 20-point performance of the season and hit the tying and go-ahead free throws with 14.6 seconds left.

The situation went from bad to worse when Northwestern coach Chris Collins was given a technical foul for storming onto the court during play to argue the no-call.

It was a four-point swing for which the NCAA would later apologize. They picked up five early fouls and committed some rather careless turnovers, forcing Few to call a timeout. It was anger and frustration and shock and surprise. I appreciate the apology.

“The last time out before my free throws, Coach said, it’s about toughness, that was in my head the whole time” recalled Pardon, “And before one of my free throws he said, I believe in you”. But after a block by Gonzaga, Chris Collins was whistled for a technical foul with 4:54 remaining as he protested what looked like basket interference. The call effectively halted Northwestern’s momentum and, for all intents and purposes, ended the comeback hopes.

“There were a lot of times during the season where we could have just laid down and not have made it this far, but we knew what we wanted to do and wanted to fight through it”, he said. Collins has outperformed both all season long.