EVANSTON, Ill. - Wesley Cardet Jr. scored 30 points and Chicago State stunned No. 25 Northwestern in a 75-73 upset Wednesday night.
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 four late free throws by A.J. Neal and Noble Crawford.
Cardet shot 13 of 21 and Jahsean Corbett added 17 points for the Cougars, a Division I independent.
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.
Brooks Barnhizer had 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.
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.
Cardet and Corbett got Chicago State rolling late in the first half. Led by the two junior 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.
But Cardet wasn’t done, 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.
Northwestern led 38-37 at halftime after building a 10-point advantage 12 minutes in on 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 on Dec. 20.
UP NEXT
Chicago State: Plays at Valparaiso on Saturday.
Northwestern: Travels to DePaul on Saturday in a Big Ten-Big East matchup.