With 23.2 seconds remaining in Northwestern’s 68-61 loss to Illinois on Tuesday, Scottie Lindsey sat on the bench, a Gatorade towel shrouding half his face, clad not in the Wildcats’ deep purple game uniforms, but a white button down and purple tie. He could only watch helplessly from the sidelines as Bryant McIntosh flung the ensuing inbounds pass into a crowd of orange jerseys, committing his sixth turnover of the game and sealing the home side’s fate in the process.
So, how did we get here? In a week’s time this team has gone from their first top-25 appearance in nearly a decade, riding a wave of momentum towards their first ever NCAA Tournament berth, to an upset loss at the hands of beaten-down rival Illinois, the Wildcats’ worst loss to date.