EVANSTON — Sanjay Lumpkin darted to the middle of the lane, finding a rare piece of open floor, and elevated. As Bryant McIntosh's jumper rimmed off, Lumpkin, seemingly uncontested, corralled a rebound, brought it down, and then sprung right back up, two feet from the front of the rim, to drop the ball in the hoop.
Instead, it careened back in the direction it came from. Or rather, it was sent back by Maryland power forward Robert Carter.
A weeks ago, it wouldn't have. Against Sacred Heart, Chicago State or Mississippi Valley State, it would've settled in the hoop for two Northwestern points.