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Northwestern-Indiana: View from behind the bench

We were as close as we'll ever be to the Northwestern bench during a game Thursday. Here are some quotes and observations.

- JerShon Cobb and others were very talkative and peppy before the game, but once it started (and once Northwestern got off to a poor start), it was a lot more quiet.

- Northwestern's coaches love to stand up. Every time they did, the ref would warn them, "coaches down, coaches down." That of course, wouldn't stop them from standing up later.

- After a period of yelling, Tre Demps committed an offensive foul, and as Northwestern walked back down on defense, rather than get angry again, Collins checked himself--so did Alex Olah out on the court simultaneously--and took a deep breath, and held his hands out, signaling for his players to calm down after the rough start.

- At the under 12 timeout, the look on Collins face immediately after he sat down in front of the team was scary.

- Olah stared down the ref, clenched his fists by his side, and shouted "NO! NO! NO!" after a walk was called on him. There's some of that "Romanian fury," as Kale Abrahamson would say.

- Collins pulled Scottie Lindsey after less than a minute at one point because he was frustrated with him. After the next timeout, assistant Armon Gates went over to Lindsey and talked to him and patted him on the head encouragingly.

- At another dead ball, McIntosh looked over at Collins and pretty much told his coach to talk to get on the refs about Indiana setting moving screens.

- Coming out of halftime, everybody was giving Alex Olah high fives. They knew they needed him to have a huge second half.

- Scottie Lindsey had a really blank, sullen look on his face for most of the game.

- When Alex Olah rolled to the rim and got a feed, there was a quiet moment and Collins yelled, "Dunk it!" (Olah tried to, but got fouled.)

- Late in the game, Lindsey and Demps were bickering running down the court, and Olah screamed at them, "Stop it!" Collins later said they sorted that out in the huddle and that it was "a teachable moment."

- Collins took Cobb and Sobolewski out with a little over a minute left. Tom Crean called over Cobb to give him a handshake and a hug before he left the floor. Crean later stopped Sobo in the handshake line to share a word with him too.

- Cobb and Sobo were both on the verge of tears when they returned to the bench, and both shared an extended embrace with Collins. The two also then shared a special moment between themselves, and Cobb had a meaningful embrace with Mike Schweigert, with whom he's worked a lot to try to battle through his injuries.

- Collins had a pained look on his face walking off the floor.