For 35 minutes, it looked like Northwestern was going to pull off a quality victory on the road. Northwestern (17-11, 5-10 in conference) had the lead for the majority of the game, but it failed to stop the Michigan (20-9, 10-6 in conference) offense in the closing stages second half. Northwestern certainly left Ann Arbor with a sense of regret after the 73-62 loss. Despite playing well, the Wildcats' slim NIT hopes have most likely faded away barring a deep run in the Big Ten Tournament.
Northwestern came out blazing-hot from the field to start the game and opened the game with a 10-0 run.