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Wildcats Football Schedule
| Towson | Sat 09/05 | W 47 - 14 |
| Eastern Michigan | Sat 09/12 | W 27 - 24 |
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Syracuse
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Sat 09/19 | L 34 - 37 |
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Minnesota
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Sat 09/26 | L 24 - 35 |
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Purdue
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Sat 10/03 | W 27 - 21 |
| Miami (Ohio) | Sat 10/10 | W 16 - 6 |
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Michigan St.
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Sat 10/17 | L 14 - 24 |
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Indiana
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Sat 10/24 | W 29 - 28 |
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Penn St.
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Sat 10/31 | L 13 - 34 |
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Iowa
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Sat 11/07 | W 17 - 10 |
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Illinois
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Sat 11/14 | W 21 - 16 |
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Wisconsin
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Sat 11/21 | W 33 - 31 |
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Auburn
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Fri 01/01 | L 35 - 38 |
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Wednesday, Feb 10, 2010, 7:35 PM CST
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Wildcats Basketball Schedule
Next 5 Games
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Iowa
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Wed 02/10 | 7:35 PM CST |
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Minnesota
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Sun 02/14 | 4:00 PM CST |
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Penn St.
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Wed 02/17 | 7:30 PM CST |
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Wisconsin
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Sun 02/21 | 1:00 PM CST |
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Iowa
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Thu 02/25 | 6:05 PM CST |
Last 5 Games
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Indiana
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Sun 02/07 | W 78 - 61 |
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Michigan
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Tue 02/02 | W 67 - 52 |
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Michigan St.
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Sat 01/30 | L 70 - 79 |
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Minnesota
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Tue 01/26 | L 61 - 65 |
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Illinois
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Sat 01/23 | W 73 - 68 |
Monday Night Random Thoughts and Picks
by Loretta8 on Feb 8, 2010 8:38 PM CST
in Basketball
1 comment
- Monday always means the release of new NCAA tournament projections from various bracketologists, and Northwestern didn't get much love. NU was nowhere to be found on the brackets of Cheap Rug Lunardi, Jerry Palm, or Andy Glockner. Only SBNation's own Chris Dobbertean mentioned the 'Cats at all, naming them the 6th team out as of now. The aforementioned Glockner did discuss Northwestern during his weekly Bubble Watch, which is pretty much a must-read for any college basketball fan:
For Northwestern (16-7, 5-6, RPI: 65, SOS: 63), beating Michigan at home was a huge key to the Cats' likely late-season surge. The subsequent home win over IU kicked off an incredible run where NW has home-and-homes against all three of the league's worst teams (5-27 combined in Big Ten) in its final eight league games. Anything less than 10-8 would be awfully disappointing. Would that be enough?
GW: Purdue, at NC State (?)
BL: None, but can't eat many more
1 comment | 0 recs |
Big Ten Power Rankings, February 8th: Marie Digby edition
by Loretta8 on Feb 8, 2010 11:08 AM CST
in Basketball
8 comments
To put it mildly, we're going in a different direction in this week's power rankings, spotlighting the talents of the heavenly Marie Digby. For those not familiar with the work of Ms. Digby, she became an international Youtube sensation after posting videos herself performing the music of artists ranging from Linkin Park to Britney Spears to Beyonce, and has now released multiple albums of her own songs. Her cover of Rihanna's Umbrella, seen below, has amassed a staggering 15 million+ hits:
So sit back and relax, and while reading my award-winning Big Ten analysis, enjoy watching the lovely Marie greatly improve songs you never really liked before.
1 (previously 4) Wisconsin:"Ohhhhh stupid for you" I am now stupid for Bo Ryan and Wisconsin, and I've fully committed to their Big Ten title bandwagon. Their remaining schedule is by far the easiest of any of the title contenders, and once Jon Leuer comes back from injury they will cruise.
2 (1) Michigan State: "There's a lifetime through the fog and the rain" I'm moving the Spartans down a spot after getting swept this week and due to the injury to Kalin Lucas, although you could certainly make a case for them stil being #1 as they are still first in the conference. Actually I think the top 4 teams are all so close together you could rank them in any order and not be way off. Anyways, despite the fog and rain currently surrounding them, there's plenty of time to turn things around, starting Tuesday at home vs Purdue, a game I fully expect Michigan State to win.
3 (2) Ohio State: "It's like the whole world stops to listen" Everyone should stop what they're doing whenever Evan Turner is playing. His performance against Iowa yesterday was so dominant it just wasn't fair. Tim Doyle put it well after the game by saying it was like an 18 year old playing Little League. Turner is the national player of the year right now and it's not particularly close; John Wall may be a better NBA prospect but he has not played as well as Turner has this season.
4 (3) Purdue: "Your feelings are the one thing out of my control" This would be true in most cases for opposing fans, yet apparently Chris "Rabbit Ears" Kramer let the mean Indiana fans get into his head on Thursday, as he felt the need to stomp on the IU logo after Purdue narrowly escaped with a win on the same court where Indiana lost to the mighty Loyola (MD) Greyhounds. With this classless act, Kramer has cemented his status as the most hated player in the Big Ten conference, and it isn't a particularly close call. Making it even worse in this instance was that Kramer, who is usually a key contributor to Purdue's success, was basically a non-factor with just 5 points and 1 steal in his 26 minutes. His whining about being heckled is reminiscent of the hypocrisy displayed by J.J. Redick and Duke, who constantly complained about mistreatment by opposing fan bases while turning a blind eye to their own student section's taunts. Of course, stomping on the IU logo was something poor little Chris "just had to do", because "to walk out after they were just heckling at us like crazy, swearing at us, a little bit of everything, you just let them know you picked up a game they wanted." No Chris, you moron, the scoreboard already showed what happened. I don't remember Evan Turner stomping on the Purdue logo when his team won at Mackey this year, nor do I recall Craig Moore or Kevin Coble doing anything like that after winning in Mackey last season. Those players heard it from the rowdy Purdue student section, yet they ignored it and let their play and the final score speak for itself. Despite my respect for Matt Painter, and my admiration for the talents of Robbie Hummel and E'Twaun Moore, I cannot ever bring myself to root for Purdue solely due to the presence of Chris Kramer. Here's an idea Chris, maybe instead of spending entire games listening to the hecklers, you should work on your patented defense, since your team would be tied for the Big Ten lead if you hadn't let Jordan Taylor treat you like a revolving door up in Madison. While Kelsey Barlow also showed poor sportsmanship by directing a choke sign at Verdell Jones, he at least apologized for his actions later instead of baselessly justifying his antics like Kramer.
5 (6) Illinois: "Wash away what I've done" The Illini's win over Michigan State helped wash away the damage done by inexplicable non-conference losses to Bradley and Utah. Their schedule is brutal the rest of the way, so Illinois will have plenty of chances to earn more marquee wins, but it won't be easy.
6 (5) Minnesota: "Even when we're up against the wall" The Gophers were up against the wall at Penn State, but Lawrence Westbrook bailed them out with an extremely difficult 20 footer at the buzzer. If they take care of business Thursday against Michigan, the matchup Sunday in Evanston will have huge bubble implications for both teams.
7 (7) Northwestern: "Sweet dream or a beautiful nightmare?" Time will tell whether this season finishes up as a dream or a nightmare for the 'Cats. The trip to Iowa Wednesday will tell us a lot about this team.
8 (9) Indiana: "Feels like I've gotta let go, from the way it was before" Reading some of the comments on Inside the Hall after yesterday's loss to NU, a lot of Indiana fans just can't let go of the Bobby Knight glory days and are ripping Tom Crean for his performance this season. Crean has done an excellent job so far in his rebuilding, and he has his young team playing hard every night. If leading scorer Maurice Creek were available, the combo of him and Verdell Jones would be very tough for Big Ten teams to stop.
9 (8) Michigan: "Cuz I don't believe in you, anymore, anymooooore" I'm moving Michigan down for how pitiful they were in the second half vs Northwestern. Indiana lost by a similar margin at Welsh-Ryan, but at least they played hard for 40 minutes. I kept thinking Michigan might actually show some heart at some point, but this team has quit on John Beilein.
10 (10) Iowa: "The pain sets in but I don't cry" Iowa has been pretty painful to watch all season, but there have been signs of progress recently. The Hawkeyes have hung in there with Ohio State twice, which is a lot more than Northwestern can say of their effort against the Buckeyes. I'm getting really worried about NU's trip to Carver-Hawkeye on Wednesday.
11 (11) Penn State: "Should I surface this one man submarine?" - Talor Battle has been a one man team for too long, and he may be ready to throw in the towel after another heartbreaking loss. This team reminds me a bit of the NBA's New Jersey Nets, while the Nets are clearly bad, on paper they aren't close to the worst NBA team ever. Penn State certainly isn't a good team, but on paper they are no worse than Indiana or Iowa. I also think they'd mop the floor with 2008-09 Indiana and 2007-08 Northwestern, both of whom were 1-17 in the Big Ten. So hopefully they get at least one win this year, as they don't really deserve to be winless in league play.
8 comments | 0 recs |
Congrats to Zach Strief!
by Rodger Sherman on Feb 7, 2010 9:43 PM CST
in Football
0 comments
Let it never be said that a Northwestern player can't have an effect on the Super Bowl.
Zach Strief's false start not only put the Saints back five yards in a goal-to-go situation, it also cost them a chance at a touchdown, allowing the Colts to enter the half with a lead when it very easily could have been tied. Go U!
But seriously, five straight years of NU grads earning rings is spectacular, even if Strief cost his team seven points.
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Northwestern 78, Indiana 61
by Loretta8 on Feb 7, 2010 4:06 PM CST
in Basketball
5 comments
So far, so good against the bottom of the conference for Northwestern, as the 'Cats opened up a double digit early on Indiana and cruised to their second straight Big Ten win.
Once again it was a balanced attack for Northwestern, as all 5 starters finished in double figures. John Shurna led the way with 16 points on 5 for 8 3-point shooting, and added 6 assists, 5 rebounds and 3 blocks. Jeremy Nash had 10 rebounds for his second straight double-digit rebounding game to go along with 13 points, Luka Mirkovic had 14 points, Michael Thompson finished with 12 points and 6 assists, and Drew Crawford chipped in with 10 points, highlighted by a dunk on the games' first possession. The NU bench even got involved, as Mike Capocci had 6 points and Alex Marcotullio showed signs of breaking out of his shooting slump with a first half three.
The Northwestern offense really clicked in the first half, as they went into the locker room shooting 59% from the field and leading by 14. In the second half Indiana switched to a zone, and too often the 'Cats settled for three point shots instead of trying to get the the ball inside, which helped Indiana close a 20 point lead down to 11, but eventually they adjusted and got the ball inside more to pull away late. For the game, NU shot 52% from the field and 40% from three.
The only reason this game wasn't over by halftime was the play of Verdell Jones. He finished with a game high 28 points, and got Northwestern's entire back court in foul trouble almost by himself. He hit 12 of his 13 free throws and was nearly unstoppable off the dribble. Fortunately for Northwestern, his teammates were a miserable 0 for 13 from 3-point range, in part due to awful shot selection by noted chucker Devan Dumes and freshman Jordan Hulls. The 'Cats played man to man nearly the entire game, and was effective for the most part as the Hoosiers shot only 35% from the field. They also did an excellent job of help defense on the interior, finishing the game with 9 blocked shots. The one big downside to all the man to man is that it led to a lot more fouls than the zone alternative, and had this been a closer game, the foul trouble for Thompson, Nash and Crawford could have been big trouble. A lot of the foul trouble was due to no one being able to guard Jones, but there are a lot of players in the Big Ten capable of breaking down people off the dribble the way Jones does, so it will be a tough decision for Carmody going forward.
Even though it was a bit sloppy at times in the second half, overall this was an encouraging performance for Northwestern, as they took care of business at home against a lesser opponent and were never really threatened. We'll see if they can keep it up Wednesday night at Iowa, which certainly should be a win on paper but in reality will likely prove difficult as Iowa has been playing better of late. More coverage of that game coming soon, for now let's enjoy another win and settle in for the Super Bowl.
highlights:
5 comments | 0 recs |
Northwestern basketball vs. Indiana: Gameday
by Loretta8 on Feb 7, 2010 12:32 PM CST
in Basketball
100 comments
Here's your gamethread, comment early and often.
100 comments | 0 recs |
Preview: Indiana at Northwestern
by Loretta8 on Feb 6, 2010 11:59 PM CST
in Basketball
6 comments
Before you settle in for the Super Bowl, there's college basketball to be played, as Indiana visits Northwestern at 1:30 central time. You can see it on Big Ten Network with Wayne Larrivee and Shon Morris on the call.
The Hoosiers come in at 9-12 overall, 3-6 in the Big Ten. They have some good wins this season (Pittsburgh, Minnesota), but some very bad losses as well (neutral court losses to Boston University and George Mason, home losses to Iowa and Loyola MD). In their last outing, they gave Purdue all they could handle before losing by 3. This season has been a big step forward for Indiana, as last year they were just 6-25 overall and 1-17 in the Big Ten. Northwestern swept last season's series from Indiana, winning 77-75 at home and 75-53 in Bloomington.
Indiana suffered a huge loss during their final non-conference game, when leading scorer Maurice Creek suffered a season-ending knee injury. Creek was the clear front-runner for freshman of the year in the Big Ten at the time, averaging more than 16 points a game. In his absence, the Hoosier offense has really struggled at times. They scored just 45 points in a blowout loss at Michigan and only 43 in an ugly home loss to Iowa. However, their offense has been good over the last two games, in close losses against Illinois and Purdue.
The leading scorer for Indiana is sophomore guard Verdell Jones. He's a lanky guard who scores mostly on drives and mid-range jump shots. With Creek out, no Jones is the go-to guy and has taken a ton of shots during conference play at almost 15 FG attempts per game. He also leads the Big Ten in free throw attempts during conference play, hitting at a solid 73%. Because he is asked to do so much, his field goal percentage is a mediocre 39%, but he is still a dangerous scorer who could cause problems for NU.
Another player to watch is freshman forward Christian Watford. He was a highly touted recruit and is averaging 12 points and a team high 6 rebounds per game during Big Ten play. His athleticism down low could be difficult for NU to defend, although Watford has really been struggling recently.
The best outside shooter for Indiana is senior guard Devan Dumes. He shoots at 35% from behind the arc, and can take over games at times, as he did last season in Evanston when he went off for 26 points. That being said, Dumes has never seen an outside shot he didn't think he could make. For example, in the game vs Purdue Thursday, at one point he decided to pull up for a 30 footer with 2 guys on him. Seriously, the guy tries to hit more threes than an Iowa fan at last call. You really never know what to expect from Dumes, he could go 6 for 8 from three or he could go 0 for 7 and infuriate Hoosier fans with his shot selection. Freshman guard Jordan Hulls also provides solid outside shooting at 34% during Big Ten play.
Northwestern will also see a lot of Jeremiah Rivers in this game. Rivers is a Georgetown transfer who is an excellent athlete and defender, but his offensive skills are limited. Rounding out the rotation are big men Tom Pritchard, Derek Elston, and Bobby Capobianco. one of the 3 have done much on offense, and are in there to rebound and defend.
As a team, Indiana has really struggled with turnovers on offense, turning it over on 22% of their possessions. They also haven't shot the ball particularly well, especially during Big Ten play where their top 6 scorers all shoot less than 40% from the field. They do make up for those shortcomings in part by getting a lot of offensive rebounds and getting to the free throw line a lot. I'm somewhat worried about Northwestern getting in foul trouble in this game given their lack of depth, hopefully they can force Indiana into a lot of perimeter shots.
Northwestern is a 9.5 point favorite in this game, by far the biggest line in the 'Cats favor during Big Ten play. This game is a bit tough to predict since Indiana, much like most young teams, has been very inconsistent all year. The Hoosiers could win this game or they could lose by 30, neither would surprise me. Fortunately for Wildcat fans, I think we'll see the bad Indiana team this time around. Indiana played their hearts out on Thursday night in the rivalry game vs. Purdue, and now they only have 2 days to prepare for a Northwestern team that plays an unconventional style of both offense and defense. While I'm not a fan of the 1-3-1 zone in general, I think it has the potential to force Indiana into a ton of turnovers, and I don't see Northwestern having too much trouble scoring, especially given how easily NU scored in the two meetings last season.
Northwestern 74, Indiana 59
Look for Northwestern to execute their offense well and pull away from a tired Indiana team in the second half. As long as the Hoosiers don't start going crazy from 3-point range or manage to foul out either Thompson or Shurna, this should be an NU win. See you tomorrow afternoon for the game thread.
P.S. Currently watching College Basketball Final, and they just had Joe Lunardi on via a grainy webcam from his house, and his rug was more obvious than ever. You could actually see on the side of his huge dome where the rug ended and his real hair began. I'd pay a large sum of money to get Lunardi on PTI, then have Wilbon rip that thing off his head while berating him for not having NU in his latest bracket.
6 comments | 0 recs |
Quick Saturday Big Ten Picks
by Loretta8 on Feb 6, 2010 11:29 AM CST
in Basketball
7 comments
Minnesota at Penn State (+3.5), 1 PM, BTN
It will be interesting to see how Minnesota looks today. They've had a week off since getting blown out by Ohio State, and this is basically a must win if they want to keep their at-large hopes alive. However, the Gophers have really struggled on the road all season, so even though Minnesota should win by double digits, I don't think it will be easy. Penn State is still playing hard despite their terrible record. No one wants to go 0-18 in conference play, and this is one of the few winnable games on paper remaining on their schedule. I'm torn, but I think I'll take Minnesota giving only 3.5.
Pick: Minnesota
Wisconsin at Michigan (Pick 'em), 3 PM, CBS
Am I missing something here? Did Wisconsin's team bus crash on the way to Ann Arbor? Did Michigan bring in Jalen Rose or Jamal Crawford? I am baffled by this line, baffled. Michigan has been decent at home this year, and I know it's a classic letdown game for Wisconsin, but still. Michigan quit in the second half against Northwestern on Tuesday, and I haven't seen anything from Michigan all season to indicate they will play hard for 40 minutes today, while Bo Ryan always has Wisconsin playing hard.
Pick: Wisconsin
Michigan State at Illinois (+1.5), 8 PM, ESPN
This match-up is somewhat reminiscent of when Wisconsin came to Northwestern a few weeks ago, in the Badgers' first game without Jon Leuer. It seemed like a golden opportunity for the 'Cats to beat a ranked team, but Wisconsin showed they were the better team even without their star big man. I expect this game to be about the same. Even without Kalin Lucas, Michigan State is still a better team than Illinois, and they now need a win to maintain their lead over the rest of the conference. Illinois needs this game too, but their execution down the stretch has been lacking for much of the season, so I think Michigan State grinds out a win.
Pick: Michigan State
Season Records
Overall: 30-22-2
Northwestern games: 12-2
7 comments | 0 recs |
Friday Random Thoughts, plus questions being answered
by Loretta8 on Feb 5, 2010 12:00 PM CST
in Basketball
2 comments
- Excellent game last night as Purdue held off Indiana to win at Assembly Hall for the first time in 11 years. Had Indiana not missed all 3 front ends of one and one's down the stretch, this one could have turned out differently. It was also strange to see Hoosiers' leading scorer Verdell Jones hit 2 very high degree of difficulty threes in the final minute and nearly hit an off-balance 30 footer to force overtime, yet he missed an open lay-up with 30 seconds left that really changed the complexion of the game. Either way, Indiana is very capable of winning at Welsh-Ryan on Sunday, of course they are so young and inconsistent that the Hoosiers are also capable of losing by 30. We'll see which Indiana team shows up.
- Notre Dame finally turned things around last night, winning easily over fellow Big East bubble team Cincinnati. That win was good for Northwestern, and very good for those of us who teased Notre Dame -3.5 with the over 145, so well done Notre Dame, well done. Odd to see Brian Kelly interviewed during the game, and even odder to see him criticize Cincinnati for not playing with intensity, he was right but still, not his place to make comments like that if you ask me.
- Before Big Ten play started, I posed 5 questions relating to the NU basketball team. I was planning to take a look at the answers at the halfway point of Big Ten play, but I forgot. Better late than never I guess.
Will Juice wear down?
Unfortunately, the answer here is yes. Thompson's scoring has gone way down, as he's only averaging 9.8 points per game in Big Ten play. His assist/turnover ratio is still rock-solid, but he doesn't seem as quick as he did early in the season. This can be seen by his 2-point field goal %, which is a downright ugly 31%. He's still shooting the three well (39%), but I'd like to see him get his overall field goal % above 40%, especially since he isn't taking all that many shots.
Can Shurna score inside against Big Ten forwards?
Resounding yes. Shurna is the conference's leading scorer during Big Ten play at 19.6 at game, and is shooting 47% on twos and 90% from the free throw line. The most improved part of his offense though is his 3-point shooting. He finished non-conference play at just 25% from three, but during Big Ten play he is shooting 40% from behind the arc while leading the league in 3-point attempts. If he continues to perform like this, it will be tough to leave him off the All Big Ten team.
How will the freshmen hold up?
Polar opposites here. Drew Crawford has actually been much better during league play, averaging nearly 14 points per game and establishing himself as the clear favorite for Big Ten freshman of the year. He still has a lot to work on, namely his poor free throw shooting (64%) and his team-leading 2.1 turnovers per game (often caused by making lazy or sloppy passes), but he has a lot of talent and could be a star in the making.
Conversely, Alex Marcotullio has completely disappeared. Since averaging 13.5 points a game in the first two league game, Marcotullio has just 8 points in the last 8 Big Ten games. His problem is that he has only one Big Ten caliber skill right now (3-point shooting), and since his shooting stroke has been off recently, he now brings nothing to the table. During non-conference play he was all over the place forcing turnovers on defense, unfortunately that came mostly against the North Floridas of the world, and he just isn't athletic enough to cause problems for Big Ten guards.
Can Luka Mirkovic be a serviceable center?
Answer here is yes. Mirkovic has averaged 8 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 assists per game during conference play, obviously not great, but certainly serviceable. He still doesn't have much of an offensive game, but he has done an excellent job of rebounding and of passing the ball from the high post.
Can Carmody keep this team together?
This question remains unanswered. The team is still playing hard and has bounced back nicely from tough losses, although 2 of the losses (at Illinois, at Minnesota) can be partially blamed on Carmody's poor tactical decisions (for those who haven't been following along with my rants, they are not getting out of the 1-3-1 and putting in Nick Fruendt for meaningful minutes respectively). The question now is can Carmody have his team ready to play every single night against the bottom of the conference; we'll see what the answer is.
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