6 NEWS | THE DAILY NORTHWESTERN
MONDAY, MARCH 13, 2017
McIntosh guides Wildcats into uncharted territory By BOBBY PILLOTE
daily senior staffer @bobbypillote
Chris Collins didn’t mince words Tuesday ahead of the Big Ten tournament. All-conference teams had just been announced, and Northwestern’s coach wasn’t happy his star junior point guard received second team honors. “I thought (Bryant McIntosh) should have been on the first team, quite frankly,” Collins said. Collins’ candid support of McIntosh comes as no surprise. Collins, himself a former point guard at Duke, got the Wildcats to the NCAA tournament promised land by building a team whose success hinges on No. 30’s play. It is hard to ignore the similarities between the Cats’ two leaders. Collins faced his share of adversity during his playing days, dragging then-obscure Glenbrook North High School to basketball relevance and earning All-ACC honors in a comeback senior season with the Blue Devils. McIntosh, similarly, had to grapple with NU’s ignominy as a recruit and has slogged through two losing
seasons to get to this point. “It’s not a period I like to look back on,” McIntosh said. “But seeing how far this program has come is something that I can take a lot of pride in.” He’s right to be proud considering the blows that stood to derail NU’s season. Sophomore forward Aaron Falzon, a key contributor a year ago, didn’t even suit up for a game. Sophomore center Dererk Pardon sat out eight contests and junior guard Scottie Lindsey missed four. Through it all McIntosh was always there, playing more minutes and taking more shots than anybody else on the team while breaking a program record for assists along the way. “You have injury, you have illness, that’s part of going through a long season,” McIntosh said. “Especially in the Big Ten, it’s an absolute grind. I just try not to put too much pressure on myself and try to help my team find a way to win.” Such an unflappable level of cool is probably McIntosh’s calling card, even more so than the slick passing, timely 3-point shots and wispy floaters that have come to define his game. And like his tremendous talent, that degree of confidence is also something that’s been carefully nurtured by Collins. “We’re much older, we’re much more
experienced,” McIntosh said when asked what makes this year’s squad special. “Now we’ve found ways to win close games. … That doesn’t mean we win every close game, but we at least feel like we should win it.” That attitude was on display Friday during a surprising upset win over No. 25 Maryland. Down 10 in the second half, McIntosh hit a corner 3 to spark a 20-2 run that ultimately pushed NU to victory. And if there’s another big shot to be taken this season, it’s a safe bet the ball will be in McIntosh’s hands. “I’ve never been afraid of taking the gamewinning shot,” McIntosh said. “I’ve made a lot in my life and I’m not afraid to lose; I’m not afraid to fail.” One might expect the Cats to be a little more nervous heading into their first-ever NCAA tournament, but that simply isn’t the case. With McIntosh as his floor general, Collins has NU in a clear state of mind. “You don’t get a lot of chances to play for championships,” Collins said. “If you can’t get excited about playing now, then you shouldn’t be playing.” bpillote@u.northwestern.edu
Daily file photo by Colin Boyle
Bryant McIntosh handles the ball. The junior guard helped lead Northwestern to its first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance.
Demps, Olah reflect on Northwestern’s historic season By GARRETT JOCHNAU
daily senior staffer @garrettjochnau
On March 1, sophomore center Dererk Pardon scored off a miracle heave from senior forward Nathan Taphorn with 1.7 seconds remaining to lift the Wildcats over Michigan. An ocean away, Northwestern alumnus Tre Demps awoke just in time to watch the historic sequence. “My heart was racing,” said Demps, who graduated in 2016 and is currently playing professionally in Belgium. “It was a surreal moment, just seeing the hard work from those guys pay off.”
The basket was more than your average buzzer-beater, and was worth a lot more than just 2 points. After 78 years without an NCAA Tournament appearance, the Cats — whose push to end the drought can be found in their “Pound the Rock” mantra — saw the rock split in two. And though Demps and his fellow NU alumni are no longer on the roster, the Cats of seasons past are watching their alma mater proudly, hoping their contributions helped set the stage for the historic moment. “I want to think that I helped to get the program where it is now,” Alex Olah said. “Now it’s time for these guys and the next generations to take it to the next level.” Olah also graduated in 2016, and is currently
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playing alongside Demps for Belfius MonsHainaut in the Belgian League. The duo’s time in Evanston spanned two distinct periods of NU basketball. Recruited under former coach Bill Carmody, Demps and Olah carried the Cats into the Chris Collins era, where they saw the seeds planted for the record-breaking 2016-17 campaign. And while they could not join their former teammates on the Welsh-Ryan Arena floor, Demps and Olah followed NU on its seasonlong journey from their homes in Europe. “We’ve watched every Sunday noon-ish game together,” Demps said. “We can call out all the plays, we laugh at coach Collins — we know what he’s yelling. So it’s a lot of fun reminiscing.” As the Cats depart on the the next portion
of the journey, Olah is confident in the team, admiring its “toughness” and “togetherness.” “I’m going to have them go all the way to the championship game,” Olah said with a laugh. “I don’t care about my bracket.” But the team’s visit to The Dance won’t be without nostalgia. Just a year removed from the team, Olah said he never anticipated how much he would miss NU. “Seeing what they accomplished this year, I wished every moment that I was back there and battling with them,” Olah said. “Knowing that they’re going to go to the tournament, you want to be there even more. It’s bittersweet, but I’m so proud.” jochnau@u.northwestern.edu
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