No. 25 Northwestern stunned by visiting Chicago State

Wesley Cardet Jr. scored 30 points and Chicago State stunned No. 25 Northwestern in a 75-73 upset Wednesday night at Welsh-Ryan Arena in Evanston.

Boo Buie made two layups 41 seconds apart to put Northwestern in front 67-65 with 2:30 left in a back-and-forth game. Cardet tied it 26 seconds later and then hit a 3-pointer with 1:23 remaining for a 70-67 lead.

Chicago State (4-9) sealed it with three late free throws from A.J. Neal and two by Noble Crawford.

“This is probably one of the biggest wins in the state of Illinois history,” said third-year Cougars coach Gerald Gillion, who had five brothers in the stands. “For Chicago State, not even a question. This was huge. Huge for our guys.”

Northwestern was favored by 24¹⁄₂ points, according to FanDuel Sportsbook.

Buie had 23 points and Ryan Langborg scored 18 for the Wildcats (7-2), who lost to Chicago State for the first time. Northwestern had won 15 straight against the South Side program since the teams first met in 1981.

Cardet shot 13 of 21 and Jahsean Corbett added 17 points for the Cougars, a conference independent that climbed to NCAA Division I play in 1984.

Cardet, a 6-foot-6 junior guard, never ran out of gas.

“I trained really hard before this game,” he said. “I have a good team camp that keeps me mentally strong and helps me prepare for games like this.

“This is probably our biggest win, against a ranked team. This just shows how good we can really play and can compete with anybody in the country.”

Brooks Barnhizer scored 13 points for the Wildcats, who were trying for their first win as a ranked team inside Welsh-Ryan Arena since No. 6 Northwestern defeated Iowa 80-77 on Jan. 3, 1959.

Northwestern coach Chris Collins and his players said their team wasn’t as “connected” as it needed to be. Collins pointed to tepid 13-for-20 free-throw shooting, poor ball handling and being outrebounded at key times.

“Three things that really stand out were our 14 turnovers, and our inability to stop them off the dribble and then finish possessions with rebounds,” Collins said.

After toppling top-ranked Purdue at home each of the past two seasons, the Wildcats were coming off a 91-59 rout of winless Detroit Mercy on Sunday. Chicago State lost by 16 at home to St. Thomas-Minnesota before 127 fans that same day.

“If we’re locked in and ready to go like we usually are, I don’t think they come back,” Buie said. “When you’re unconnected and not ready to play, it’s hard to win.”

Cardet and Corbett got Chicago State rolling late in the first half. Led by the two guards from Florida, the Cougars scored the first eight points after halftime to take a 45-38 lead.

It appeared Northwestern had finally taken charge in the second half, opening an eight-point lead with 8:52 to go.

Cardet wasn’t done, though, hitting a 3 and then a dunk to put Chicago State ahead 62-61 with 5:32 left. Brent Davis sank a pair of free throws and Corbett added one from the line to make it 65-61 with 4:35 remaining.

“When we went down seven, eight, we just kept fighting, man,” Gillion said.

Northwestern led 38-37 at halftime after building a 10-point advantage 12 minutes in on a pair of free throws by 7-foot senior center Matthew Nicholson.

But scrappy Chicago State hung in, thanks to 13 points from Cardet and 12 from Corbett in the half. The Cougars shot 50% from the field and Northwestern hit 53.6% as both teams sank five 3-pointers.

Cardet pounded his chest after finishing a fast break to put the Cougars ahead 39-38 two minutes into the second half. 

Ty Berry and Langborg hit consecutive 3s to put Northwestern up 52-47 about seven minutes into the period.

BIG PICTURE

Chicago State: Led by top scorers Cardet and Corbett, the South Side Cougars made a statement up in tony Evanston.

Northwestern: A huge favorite going into the game, the Wildcats were taught a surprising lesson by a feisty team before visiting traditional Chicago rival DePaul on Saturday. Northwestern then plays Arizona State in Phoenix next Wednesday.

UP NEXT

Chicago State: Plays at Valparaiso on Saturday.

Northwestern: Travels to DePaul on Saturday in a Big Ten-Big East matchup.