There was a risk that it could have all gone disastrously wrong, that Nate Taphorn's overhand, full-court baseball heave could have sailed over Dererk Pardon's outstretched arms into the face of a costumed, bodypainted student and given Michigan the opportunity to win the game with the ball under their basket because that's almost always how these games have ended. Northwestern has few opportunities to experience new basketball indignities without drastic rule changes that turn college basketball into the inevitable future death sport promised by every science fiction movie as Wildcat fans leave disappointed because a Northwestern player accidentally activated the robotic basketball spider that devours key recruits.
THE PASS
