Happenings

Published on March 2nd, 2018 | by Landon Buford

Northwestern Wildcats Mens Basketball Post Game Reaction

COACH COLLINS: It’s always a tough night when your season ends. And I’ve been lucky to coach these guys sitting next to me over the last four years. And I couldn’t have been more proud of the fight that we showed, undermanned, banged up. And we had every reason, even early in the second half, we had every reason to kind of lay down when they hit us with a little

spurt. But that’s not who these guys have been. I’m not surprised. We kept fighting.

We gave ourselves a chance and then give Penn State credit, the under-4 timeout, it’s a one-point game, they made two big 3s and got a couple of stops. They were able to get a charge on Scottie and hit two big 3s to get

it to seven which was the separation in the game. So I thought we played incredibly hard. I thought we gave ourselves a chance. They’re a tough team to play

against. Terrifically talented. Obviously, Tony Carr is a great player and showed that with his 3-point shooting.

Although I’m disappointed to lose the game, I’m more

disappointed I won’t get a chance to coach these guys

anymore.

Q. Bryant and Scottie, Chris is choked up, he’s

emotional. What’s it like to hear him and what

emotions are going through you now?

SCOTTIE LINDSEY: Kind Of raw right now. I don’t know how to feel. Obviously, this is not how we

wanted the season to end. So I think we’re all a little

bit emotional.

But like Coach said, I appreciate all the guys fighting

until the end, even everything didn’t go the way it was

supposed to or how we planned.

BRYANT MCINTOSH: Obviously it’s disappointing how

the season ends. Every year there’s only one team

that, as seniors, that you can go out as winners.

Everybody else, you generally lose. There’s not a lot of

— to end your career, you don’t usually end up winning.

Obviously, we didn’t want to end it this early. It’s the

start of March. Not what we envisioned when we

started the season. But I think all of us are just very

emotional and upset that this is the last time we get to

put on the jersey.

Q. Dererk, you and Barret were very productive on

the interior today. What allowed you two to be so successful?

DERERK PARDON: I think Coach Collins put in a good

offense to help us get in our spots where we practiced,

so just getting the touches, our teammates saw it and I

think that put us in a good position to score the ball.

Q. Dererk, you’re going to be a senior next year.

What lessons have you learned this year and how

will you apply that going forward?

DERERK PARDON: First off, I want to thank the

seniors for everything they’ve done for the program, also me, taking me under their wings and just preparing me to be a senior, be a senior and I just want to thank them from the bottom of my heart.And a lot of lessons was learned. We’ve been through a lot of ups and downs, just to stay level-headed and always put the work in and just be ready for the next

obstacle.

Q. Bryant, the second half, I think, for the first 13

minutes Tony Carr didn’t score. What happened at

the end where he just kind of picked it up?

Did he just feel it or what?

BRYANT MCINTOSH: They went to some of their

favorite action and just got him in ball screens. And he

obviously knew it was winning time, and he stepped up

and got aggressive offensively and was just looking to

make plays. To his credit, he did.

Q. Barret obviously showed a lot of life there. Why

did you decide to start him and what did you think

of his game?

COACH COLLINS: He played very well in our last

game against Iowa. We had a big deficit in that game.

And I thought he came in and just gave us a nice boost

of energy. And I noticed that his size was a factor in

the game, especially when he was with Dererk.

I think our main goal was we had a couple of days to

figure out how can we win the game? And that’s how I

always approach it. Like, what can we do with what

we’re doing — we have no Vic Law, Bryant is hurting.

Like, what can we do to give ourselves a chance to

win?

And I just felt like going with the two big guys playing a

power game with Bryant being hurt with his shoulder

and not having Vic would, especially with Watkins not

playing, I thought it would give us a chance to maybe

cause some problems for them.

I thought those guys played great together. I’m really

proud of Barret. Throughout the course of the year he

had his ups and downs, and he finished the year really

strong, which I told him in the locker room afterwards

should be a great motivator for him heading into the

offseason now in the spring.

Q. Do you think that Scottie’s fouling out with three

minutes left sort of took the air out of the team that

led to that Penn State run?

COACH COLLINS: It was a big play, yeah, it was a big

play. And they’re good officials. So he left his feet. I’d

have to see a replay. I’m not sure if it was a charge or

not. But that’s what was called. And when you’re only

playing seven guys, you know, and your leading scorer

goes out in the last four minutes in a four-point game,

it’s going to affect the team.

I think we tried to keep fighting. But I think they came

down then and Carr hit a big three, long three, late in

the clock. It was still a four-point game. When he hit

that three to get it to seven and we didn’t come down

and we didn’t score, that’s when I noticed our guys, the

wind in our sails start to go a little bit.

Q. Seemed like a recurring theme this year, you’d

be right there at the end and the other team would

pull away. Do you think that was because Bryant

was banged up or what might be some other

factors for that?

COACH COLLINS: Yeah, we have to be better in those

situations. I don’t want to put it on one guy. But I

mean, yeah, the last few games kind of makeshift,

different kinds of guys handling the ball and trying to

figure out where to go to late in the games.

That’s what you do at the games, like what Penn State

do, you play to Tony Carr and you play through him and

he makes plays. This season we didn’t take advantage

of those opportunities. We had our chances. We had

a stretch there in the middle of the league, we were 6-6

and we lost three or four games in a row that were right

there for the taking.

I think when we went through that stretch we lost

confidence then we started losing players and bodies

and made it tough.

But, again, I thought our guys’ fight tonight — I wasn’t

surprised and I was hoping this wasn’t going to be the

case — but a lot of teams get to this point and they

don’t see a lot of hope, and you kind of just fade to

black and you want the season to be over.

And I was proud that our guys didn’t do that. I thought

we came to fight. I thought we came to win. I thought

we laid it on the floor, and Penn State just made more

plays in the last four minutes. It was a one-point game,

we’re shooting a one and one to go up one. And I think

we had one field goal the rest of the game.

So there’s no question that’s got to be something as we

move forward, closing out games has got to be a focus

of ours if we want to get back to where we want to go in

this conference.

Q. This is — your first recruiting class is done

essentially. Despite the hardships, have you had a

chance to put it in perspective what those guys

have accomplished in the last four years?

COACH COLLINS: Absolutely, and I get it. It’s always

the focus on the now and the present. And none of us

are happy about how our season went. None of us are

excited about what we did this year. We’re all very

disappointed that we didn’t have a better season.

But that being said, I told these guys in the locker room

what they’ve accomplished over a four-year period is

incredible. I mean, back-to-back 20-win seasons,

getting to the Big Ten semifinals last year and the

tournament, going to the NCAA Tournament for the first

time in 70-whatever years, winning an NCAA

Tournament game.

There are so many things that these guys, the notches on

their belts, that they need to be proud of. And it stings

right now because you always remember the moment

you’re in, but I’m confident, in time, that these guys will

be extremely proud of what they accomplished.

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Tags: Bryant McIntosh, Chris Collins, Dererk Pardon, Northwestern University, Scottie Lindsey, The Hype Magazine

About the Author

Landon Buford Washington State Graduate Past Interviews include Grammy Award Winner Kenny G, David Banner, WNBA President Lisa Borders, What's Trending's CEO Shira Lazar, Ice Cube, NBC's Chicago PD LaRoyce Hawkins, Family Matters Darius McCrary, En Vogues Maxine Jones, Team USA Track & Field Member Norris Frederick, James Kyson, WNBA Great Lauren Jackson, and more.