Northwestern Suffers 72-63 Setback at Michigan

2/24/2016 8:12:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Olah leads Wildcats with 19 points

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Northwestern fell to Michigan, 72-63, at the Crisler Center Wednesday night in the lone meeting between the two teams this season.

Northwestern (17-11, 5-10 B1G) had a trio of players reach double figures, led by senior Alex Olah's 19-point and five-rebound effort. Tre Demps and Aaron Falzon each tallied 14 points in the contest.

Michigan (20-9, 10-6 B1G) was paced by Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman, who scored 19 points on 8-of-14 shooting. Derrick Walton Jr. scored 16 points for the Wolverines, while Aubrey Dawkins chipped in 11.

The Wildcats shot 46.3 percent (25-of-54) from the field and 30.8 percent (8-of-26) from behind the arc.

Northwestern started fast on offense jumping out to an 8-0 lead in the first four minutes of the game. As hot as the Wildcats were on offense to start, they were equally as good on the defensive end, holding Michigan to 3-of-12 (25 percent) from the floor to start the game.

An Olah jumper at the 12:58 mark gave Northwestern its largest lead of the half, 17-4.

Michigan used a 13-2 run midway through the half to pull within a basket, 19-17, but the Wildcats would not surrender the lead in the opening 20 minutes.

Olah knocked down a pair of jumpers and then stepped behind the arc to hit a 3-pointer to help create some separation from the Wolverines, 26-21, but Michigan would climb back. Duncan Robinson hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to head into the locker room trailing Northwestern by a point, 29-28.

Northwestern shot 12-of-28 (42.9 percent) from the floor in the first half.

The Wildcats started the second half much like the first, forcing a pair of Michigan turnovers and going on another 8-0 run, which was fueled by a back-to-back 3-pointers from Falzon.

Falzon finished the game with four 3-point baskets. It was the sixth time this season that he has has hit at least four 3-point field goals in a game.

The Wolverines consistently chipped at Northwestern's lead until Dawkins drilled a 3-pointer to tie the game up at 44-44.

With the Wildcats trailing by a basket, 47-45, Gavin Skelly knocked down only his third 3-point field goal of the season to put Northwestern back in front with 7:39 left to play.

Northwestern made four straight field goals, but Michigan would answer each time to keep the game within a score.

The second half featured six lead changes.

Dawkins drilled another 3-pointer with 4:26 left to play and the Wolverines made a layup on the next possession to go ahead by five, 59-54.

Demps kept the Wildcats within striking distance by hitting a 3-pointer with 2:32 to cut into Michigan's lead, 62-59. It was as close as Northwestern would come to catching the Wolverines, as Michigan would go on to hit six of its final eight field goals.

The Wildcats will return to Welsh-Ryan Arena on Saturday, Feb. 27 to play Rutgers at 1 p.m. CT.

Northwestern Notes at Michigan – Feb. 24, 2016
• The contest against Michigan marked the third of four straight opponents that Northwestern is facing against teams that it only plays once this season.
• Freshman forward Aaron Falzon hit four 3-point field goals in the contest to bring his team-leading total to 56. He surpassed Craig Moore (54, 2005-06) and David Newman (55, 1998-99) to move into second place among all freshmen in school history behind only Sean Wink (86, 1997-98).
• Sophomore guard Bryant McIntosh recorded a game-high 7 assists in the contest. He came into the game ranked 11^th in the nation with an average of 6.6 assists per contest and raised his NU single-season record total to 185.
• McIntosh upped his career assist total to 335, moving him past Dave Sobolewski (334, 2012-15) into sixth place all-time at Northwestern.
• After scoring 22 and 25 points vs. Michigan in last year's two meetings, senior center Alex Olah paced Northwestern with 19 points on Wednesday.
• Senior guard Tre Demps appeared in his 128^th career game tonight, moving him into a tie with Alex Marcotullio (2010-13) for fourth place in school history in the category. Meanwhile, Alex Olah appeared in his 118^th career game which ties him with Tavaras Hardy (1999-2002) and Sterling Williams (2006-09) for eighth place all-time at Northwestern.
• Olah started his 110^th career game at Northwestern, tying him with Craig Moore (2006-09) for seventh place in school history.
• Seven of the last nine meetings between Northwestern and Michigan in Ann Arbor have been decided by single digits. Three of those contests were decided by two points apiece.
• Northwestern entered the game ranked 12^th in the nation with a 1.53 assist-to-turnover ratio, just behind Michigan's eighth-place ranking of 1.55. The Wildcats dished out 17 assists with only 9 turnovers on Wednesday, while the Wolverines had 8 assists and 9 turnovers.