NCAA Tournament 2017, Northwestern vs Vanderbilt: Highlights, score and recap

Highlights, score, and recap of the battle between Northwestern and Vanderbilt in the NCAA Tournament

It’s been a magical year for Northwestern. Two early conference losses to Michigan State and Minnesota set them back, but they made it to 7-2 in conference play before making their fans sweat out the end of the year. In the end, they made it to the NCAA Tournament for the first time.

Bryce Drew’s Vanderbilt squad relied on a balanced approach, with a top-50 offense and defense. The Commodores jack an incredible amount of 3s;  through today’s game, they took close to 50 percent of all their field goal attempts from 3. With a solid conversion rate of 37.7 percent, it’s been key to their offense. Players like Riley LaChance, Nolan Cressler, and Joe Toye are key to this success from 3.

Northwestern matched its first NCAA Tournament appearance with its first victory, but it wasn’t easy. After running out to an early double-digit lead, Northwestern let Vanderbilt back into the game with a hail of 3-pointers.

RELATED: Updated 2017 NCAA Tournament Bracket

A head-scratching gaffe by Vanderbilt the end of the game gave Northwestern the victory. With a 1-point lead, Matthew Fisher-Davis intentionally fouled Bryant McIntosh. Fisher-Davis apparently didn’t realize his team had the lead, or that they were in the bonus.

The resulting free throws gave Northwestern a 1-point lead, and Riley LaChance missed the desperation three as time ran down.

Three Stars

Bryant McIntosh carried his team today. The junior scored 25 of his team’s 68 points, and hit three of his five 3-point attempts. He also sealed the game with two clutch free throws after the errant foul by Vanderbilt.

Scottie Lindsey also helped carry his team to victory today. One of only three players on Northwestern to hit a 3 (he went two for five), the junior guard scored 14 points, adding 5 rebounds, a pair of assists, and a steal.

Fisher-Davis was both star and goat in this game. Though he managed a team-high 22 points on his fifteen shots, and carried his team on offense through much of the game, he also was responsible for the critical foul at the end of the game. It was a really unfortunate mental mistake for the junior, and a sad ending to a brilliant effort.

Highlights

Next Game

Northwestern will move on to face Gonzaga, the 1-seed in their region. It will be a tough matchup. Though Gonzaga struggled for much of the 1st half against South Dakota State, they eventually salted away a 20-point victory. Northwestern has the glory of its 1st NCAA tournament victory; they’ll have a difficult task ahead of them to taste more.