McIntosh, Northwestern survive OT, 83-80 over Columbia
EVANSTON, Ill. (AP) Bryant McIntosh scored a career-high 32 points, and Northwestern rallied to beat Columbia 83-80 in overtime on Friday night.
Tre Demps' 3-pointer with 59 seconds left in overtime gave the Wildcats a 4-point lead.
After Columbia's Grant Mullins made two free throws, McIntosh restored that advantage with a long 2-pointer with 24 seconds to go. Mullins made two more free throws and Northwestern's Aaron Falzon split two, allowing Columbia a chance to send the game to double overtime, but the Lions couldn't get a final shot off.
Demps chipped in with 22 for the Wildcats (3-0), who won despite losing sophomore forward Vic Law to a torn left labrum on the eve of the season. Northwestern fell behind by 12 points in the second half but pushed past Columbia in a matchup that was part of the CBE Hall of Fame Classic.
The Wildcats pulled to within 74-72 with 1:33 left in regulation on Gavin Skelly's dunk. McIntosh's jumper tied the game at 74.
Columbia's Alex Rosenberg then missed a jumper with 11 seconds left, but Demps' potentially game-winning jumper was short to force overtime.
Friday was Northwestern's third straight home game against teams outside the power conferences, but the Wildcats figure to get a much steeper challenge on Monday when they travel to Kansas City, Missouri to face top-ranked North Carolina. After that, they'll face either Missouri or Kansas State.
Columbia jumped out to a 17-5 lead with 13:29 left on Kyle Castlin's 3-pointer. Columbia entered the game hitting 30 percent of its 3-pointers and did better than that during the first half, making 7 of 17 to help build a 35-28 lead after 20 minutes.
Columbia (1-2) dropped its second straight against a power conference team. After beating Kean 107-62 to open the season, the Lions lost 81-71 on Monday at Kansas State and couldn't recover Friday despite leading for most of the night.
Mullins led the Lions with 22 and Rosenberg added 17. Columbia had four players score in double-figures.
TIP-INS
Columbia: The Lions fell to 30-34 all-time against teams currently in the Big Ten. . Rosenberg's brother, Drew, is on the Northwestern soccer team.
Northwestern: The Wildcats are 3-0 for the second straight season and fifth time in last six years. . Northwestern took a 2-1 lead in the all-time series with Columbia. ... The Wildcats entered the night with the best assist-to-turnover ratio (2.69) of teams that had played multiple games.
UP NEXT
Columbia hosts Lehigh on Sunday.
Northwestern plays No. 1 North Carolina on Monday in Kansas City, Missouri.
