Nov. 23--Chris Collins refers to Pat Fitzgerald as "Mr. Northwestern" because of his impressive legacy as a football player and coach.
In just his second season as the Northwestern basketball coach, Collins says he aspires to leave his mark similarly over a period of time.
Saturday at Welsh-Ryan Arena, a few hours after Fitzgerald guided the Wildcats football team to a victory at Purdue, Collins watched his basketball team improve to 4-0 with a 68-67 overtime triumph over Elon (1-2).
Before the basketball game began, the Wildcats-Boilermakers football contest was shown on the huge new video board at Welsh-Ryan.
"I was watching those guys, cheering like crazy," Collins said. "It is really great to see the way (Fitzgerald) has held them together through some struggles early in the year. They never stopped playing, never stopped fighting. And now they have themselves in a position to win next week (against Illinois) to go to a bowl.
"It's inspiring watching them play the last couple of weeks. I see a spirit that I want us to get to. And we can get there. Once I get to my phone I can send him a text and congratulate him because he has done a hell of a job getting his team to rally under some tough times."
Collins' basketball team has had to rally under some tough circumstances in three of its four victories. For the second straight game, Tre Demps delivered what proved to be the game-winner. His jumper with 51 seconds left in overtime gave the home team a 68-67 lead before their defense thwarted the Phoenix's furious final effort.
"We didn't get good looks because they defended us very well, and I think they created good looks for them," Elon coach Matt Matheny said. "That was the difference down the stretch, but our kids played hard for 45 minutes."
Elon's Tanner Samson torched Northwestern with eight 3-pointers for all of his 24 points. Demps led the Wildcats with 21 and freshman Vic Law added 16.
Both teams continue participation in this Cancun Challenge next week in Mexico. Northwestern opens in Cancun at 8:30 p.m. Tuesday against Miami University.
fmitchell@tribpub.com
Twitter @kicker34
Northwestern trying to retain perfect record
