Northwestern was up 43-16 at one point in the first half, and took a 49-27 lead to halftime.
At one point in the first half, they had a ridiculous 97.9% chance at victory, according to ESPN Stats & Info.
And then, everything fell apart.
With less than a minute remaining in the game, Northwestern had scored just 8 (!) points, and Michigan State had stormed all the way back to take the lead. Trailing by 2, Northwestern trapped in the backcourt, and Chris Collins thought his team had earned a jump ball.
That’s not how the officials saw it, though, and this was the eminently gif-able result:
Northwestern would hit a mostly-meaningless three after that, but it was already out of reach; Michigan State outscored the Wildcats 38-11 in the second half to avoid what would have been a fairly astounding upset.
It was a very exciting game, but that Northwestern second half was hard to watch, on multiple levels.
Still, college basketball things! Happening! That’s good news!
