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| 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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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 |
Selection Sunday: Kiddie Edition.
by Rodger Sherman on Mar 14, 2010 1:44 PM CDT
in Basketball
0 comments
So, today, we'll find out what NU's postseason plans are. It's not the same experience as it should be - SPOILER ALERT: don't watch CBS' selection show at 6 - but still, I'm a little excited.
I laid out a lot of stuff here about where we could potentially end up. Now, the CBI and CIT are already giving out bids - Chicago College Basketball is doing yeoman's work tracking down confirmed biddees to the itty-bitty tournaments - but most likely, we won't hear about a potential NU destination until later tonight. Presumably, NU will hold off until they're absolutely sure that they aren't in the NIT. Now, the NCAA selection is announced at 5, then, the NIT goes to work and pumps out a bracket by 8, and we should be finding out about stuff shortly after then.
Right now, NIT-ology has us as the 13th team out of the NIT, and they last updated a few days ago. I think that's a little conservative - there's no way we're teetering on the brink of CIT-dom, I'm sticking by my statement that we've got a roughly 20 percent shot of NIT-ing it up - but NU we're a long shot.
I've got a final and a paper due tomorrow, so, other than an hour and a half of playing ball to relieve stress and some time for dinner, I'll be reloading and trying to see what's up all day long. If history is any indicator, it's that somebody will probably let LTP know about what's going down about 20 minutes before anybody else knows, so, keep your eyes peeled over there, and keep checking back over here as I'll tell you what's going down as soon as the internets reveal an answer.
Oh, and in case you're wondering, two of the 55 never-beens made it to the NCAA tournament, most recently the Arkansas-Pine Bluff Golden Lions. Congrats to them - you'll be missed, but really, we're more just sad that we're now officially worse than Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
Update: 5:05 PM - NU is inviting reporters to watch the NIT selection show on campus and making Carmody and players available for comment afterwards. If that's not saying "HEY, WE HAVE AN NIT BID" I don't know what is.
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Technically Not Over Yet: Looking at NU's Postseason Options.
by Rodger Sherman on Mar 13, 2010 1:42 PM CST
in Basketball
1 comment
So, with yesterday's loss to Purdue, Northwestern is finished playing the games that you're guaranteed to play in at the beginning of the season. If you look at our schedule, there are no upcoming games.
But don't pour one out for Jeremy Nash just yet: yeah, losing to Purdue severely tarnished NU's hopes of playing in a respectable postseason tournament, but it's still almost guaranteed that Northwestern hasn't played their last game yet. For better or worse, NU will most likely accept a bid to a postseason tournament. We'll probably find out where NU is going tomorrow night, and the Cats will play as early as Tuesday.
After the jump, I'll give you the lowdown on each possibility.
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Purdue 69, Northwestern 61
by Loretta8 on Mar 12, 2010 9:34 PM CST
in Basketball
4 comments
Going into tonight, I expected Northwestern to lose. While I didn't think NU would get blown out, I thought Purdue would be too tough to overcome, and didn't really expect the game to be within reach in the final minute. I was wrong; the 'Cats played their hearts out the entire night, and should have had the final possession with at worst a chance to force overtime with a three, but they screwed it up and suffered what has to be their most frustrating loss of the season.
Despite the allegedly tight rims, Northwestern hit their first 5 threes and took an early 17-6 lead. Luka Mirkovic was doing great work inside, drawing early two fouls on JaJuan Johnson and passing well out of the post. Unfortunately, NU couldn't exploit Johnson's absence because Mirkovic picked up two quick fouls of his own. That left the remainder of the first half as a battle of the backup centers, and Patrick Bade held his own against Davide Curletti and Kyle Rowley (perhaps he was motivated after I gave him the Big White Stiff award). The 'Cats took a 4 point lead to the locker room, and it could have been a lot more had Purdue not forced 11 turnovers with their aggressive man to man defense. Also, E'Twaun Moore had a monster first half with 16 points, keeping his team in the game pretty much by himself.
In the second half, Purdue really clamped down on defense and opened with a 15-4 run, taking a 7 point lead. But Northwestern hung tough, thanks in large part to Drew Crawford and John Shurna. Crawford shook off his late season struggles and had a big night with 15 points and 10 rebounds, but more importantly played excellent defense with 2 emphatic blocked shots. Shurna was hounded by Purdue for much of the game, but finally got loose down the stretch and hit several very tough shots to finish with 16 points.
The 'Cats had cut the lead to two with about 7 minutes left when Johnson went to the line for a 1 and 1. As he was making the first free throw, Luka Mirkovic stupidly elbowed Kelsey Barlow in the face and was called for an intentional foul. That led to a 5 point possession for Purdue and killed the NU momentum. Just an absolutely idiotic play, and Bill Carmody rightfully put him on the bench the rest of the game. While it would have been nice to have Mirkovic out there down the stretch, Carmody had no choice but to sit him, just a stupid, dirty play.
The Boiler lead stayed at 5 to 7 for much of the rest of the game, and things looked bleak when Michael Thompson fouled out on a charge with just under 2 minutes to go (as an aside, it was unquestionably a charge, but slow-motion replays clearly showed Chris Kramer going into a flop before Juice made contact. His head whipped back as though he'd been shot, and he hadn't even been touched yet. Kramer's already a great defender, no need for weak stuff like that). However, Northwestern made a late rally, as Shurna hit 2 free throws to cut the deficit to 4 with just under a minute left. Purdue then easily broke the NU pressure and had a 3 on 1 break, but Crawford somehow managed to get a steal, and quickly got the ball ahead to Jeremy Nash, who buried a contested 3 for his only field goal of the night, cutting it to 1 with about 45 seconds left. Here is where Bill Carmody made a huge tactical error. NU wasn't in position to set up their press, they were all over the place after the wild sequence right before Nash hit the three. Plus, with a 10 second differential, he had to make a decision about how to approach the final possession. So it was an obvious situation to use a timeout and set up his defense. However, Carmody inexplicably didn't use one, and with Northwestern scrambling around unsure whether or not to foul, Purdue once again broke the pressure and Kramer made the biggest play of the game, converting a tough lay-up while getting fouled by Curletti. On that play, the 'Cats had a chance to foul a sub--50% foul shooter in Barlow, but because there was no timeout, the players on the court didn't realize that and missed a golden opportunity. I'm really furious with Carmody for that decision; had he used a timeout to set the defense Kramer never gets that chance. Worst case, they hit two free throws and NU has a chance to tie with a three. Ugh, just ugh. Instead, Kramer completed the 3-point play, and Alex Marcotullio bricked a contested 3 on the next NU possession. Purdue rebounded and hit 4 free throws down the stretch to make the final margin a deceiving 8.
Credit really has to go to both teams in this game. Purdue is without a great player in Hummel, and Johnson and Moore stepped up in his absence, scoring 50 of their team's 69 points. Northwestern did a nice job on the rest of the Boilers, holding the role players to 5 for 26 shooting, but the two stars were too much to overcome. Purdue also played fantastic defense, as the 'Cats got very few easy looks, but Shurna and Crawford were able to keep them in it by hitting some very tough shots. 21 for 27 free throw shooting for NU was also nice. It was a hard-fought, grind it out game, as both teams gave it their all and left everything out on the floor (and that's 4 cliches in one sentence, brutal, I feel like LTP). But seriously, it was a hell of a game; it's too bad Northwestern doesn't consistently put forth that kind of effort. Purdue brings it on the defensive end every night, and that's why they're a top 10 team and can still do damage in the NCAAs despite Hummel's absence. Hopefully, the 'Cats learn from this game and realize the type of effort necessary to compete at the highest levels.
Either way, I'm a lot more optimistic about NU's chances should they make the NIT, as this was a virtual road game and they acquitted themselves quite well. And should they fall to the CBI, I really like their chances in that. But that's small consolation right now, as this could have been an NU win had Carmody used a timeout at the end. Obviously it would have been tough to score and potentially force overtime, and winning in overtime would have been very difficult with Thompson fouled out and Crawford, Nash and Shurna all with 4 fouls, but they would have at least had a chance. I hope someone asked Carmody about this after the game, as I'd really like an explanation.
Thanks to everyone who showed up for the game thread tonight, I believe we set a basketball season record for comments, so hats off all-around. See everyone for whatever postseason tournament chooses NU.
4 comments | 0 recs |
Northwestern vs. Purdue/conference tournament live game thread spectacular
by Loretta8 on Mar 12, 2010 11:03 AM CST
in Basketball
271 comments
Despite a smaller than expected turnout yesterday, we're opening up another all day game thread. There a ton of great match-ups all day, of course leading up the NU-Purdue game at 5:30 central. So join us, and if you're a betting man, here are my picks for today's other Big Ten games.
#8 Michigan vs. #1 Ohio State (-9). 11 AM central, ESPN
Michigan couldn't put Iowa away yesterday and let the Hawkeyes hang around for way way too long. Since Ohio State is somewhere between 2 and 500 times better than Iowa, I expect a blowout Buckeye win, although maybe this will be like the Big East with the top seeds losing after getting a bye. As a side note, can someone explain to me why Big East teams getting a double bye is somehow a bad thing for those teams? It's a deep conference and sometimes there are upsets, I can't think of one logical reason why having an extra day off would lead a team to play worse. It's not like Syracuse and Villanova had 2 weeks off; both were in action on Saturday. Makes no sense that some in the media think a double bye hurts a team (I'm looking at you, Adrian Branch).
Pick: Ohio State
#5 Illinois vs. #4 Wisconsin (-8.5), approx. 1:30 central. ESPN
I have to say I am a bit confused by this line, and really want to take Illinois, but the Illini are impossible to figure out. Just when you think they're dead, they pull off an upset, and just when you think they've got an NCAA bid locked down, they do things like scoring 14 in a half vs. Minnesota and collapsing down the stretch vs. Wisconsin. Illinois could win this game by 15 or lose by 25 and neither would really surprise me. While I expect them to complete their late-season collapse with a loss, 8.5 is bit too many to give.
Pick: Illinois
#6 Minnesota vs. #3 Michigan State (-3), approx. 8 PM central, BTN
As I typed the last sentence, I looked the line for the first time and said "Wow!" out loud. I know Chris Allen is suspended for Michigan State, but this line should be at least 4 points higher. When an NIT team is playing a top 15 team on a neutral court, and the top 15 team is only giving 3, that's way too good to pass up.
Pick: Michigan State
Overall record: 45-47-2
Northwestern games: 15-7
271 comments | 0 recs |
Preview: Northwestern vs. Purdue: Can lightning strike twice?
by Loretta8 on Mar 12, 2010 12:16 AM CST
in Basketball
6 comments
Yesterday, Northwestern won their 20th game a season, the first time they've accomplished that feat, and tonight they will go for another first: advancing to the semifinals of the Big Ten tournament. Standing in their way are the #6 Purdue Boilermakers, who are looking to defend their conference tournament title and improve their NCAA seeding. Tip-off is at 5:30 central on the Big Ten Network. I can't find info on the announcers, but I'm really hoping it's Gus Johnson and Shon Morris like it was last night on BTN.
Although Purdue has dominated the all time series, Northwestern is actually 8-6 in the last 14 meetings, and has mostly been the better team head to head against very good Boiler teams over the past two years. In 2009, the 'Cats forced 22 Purdue turnovers in the first meeting at home, leading most of the way before choking down the stretch. In the second meeting, NU rallied in the second half for an upset win at Mackey Arena, spoiling Purdue's senior night. And this year, in case you've forgotten, this happened:
It was the biggest win of the season for Northwestern, and their first over a top 10 team at home since beating Magic Johnson and Michigan State back in the late 70's. A few silly NU fans dismissed the win as only being "technically" over a top 10 teams since it was Purdue's 3rd straight loss and knocked them out of the top 10 in the next poll. However, the Boilers immediately turned their season around and have won 12 of 13 games since, including 10 in a row after the NU loss to rise as high as #3 in the country. Unfortunately, they lost first team All-Big Ten forward Robbie Hummel for the season to an ACL injury during the 10th win, then promptly lost at home to Michigan State, a defeat that cost them the outright Big Ten title, although they still managed to share the title with Ohio State and Michigan State.
So how did Northwestern manage to pull off the upset last time?
1) Attacking the basket and getting to the free throw line. The 'Cats attempted a season low 11 threes, and attempted 30 free throws, making 26.
2) Dominating on the glass, to the tune of a 42-23 advantage. I have no stats to back this up, but that has to be the biggest rebounding advantage for a Northwestern team in the Bill Carmody era.
3) Holding Purdue to 36% shooting, including 5 for 22 from the 3-point line.
Of those three, the rebounding edge is by far the least likely to be repeated, because it was due largely to Purdue center JaJuan Johnson being limited to 18 minutes thanks to foul trouble. Backup center is a big weakness for the Boilers, as the only option is the over-matched Patrick Bade. In fact, Bade was so ineffective that Matt Painter used a very small lineup for parts of that game, with Robbie Hummel at center along with 4 guards. With Hummel now injured, it is imperative for Purdue to keep Johnson on the court, as they are a small team even with him; without him they will have huge problems on the interior.
Since the last meeting with Northwestern, Painter has made some changes to his rotation, namely relegating Ryne Smith to the bench. To say Smith struggled a bit in Evanston is like saying the Battle of the Little Bighorn was a minor setback for General Custer. In 18 minutes, Smith had 0 points, 0 rebounds, 0 assists, 0 steals, and 0 blocks, missed all 6 of his field goal attempts, committed 4 fouls, and played horrendous defense on Drew Crawford down the stretch. if you watch the above video, at around 3:10 Smith just lets Crawford go right by him for a lay-up, just awful.
So Smith is no longer playing many minutes, and instead those are going to point guard Lewis Jackson, who was out with an injury in the last meeting. He's undersized at 5'9", and isn't much of an outside shooter, but he's a solid ball-handler and distributor, and quick enough to keep opponents from driving by him at will. He's joined in the backcourt by John Hart, a sophomore who came out of nowhere against Illinois earlier this year, scoring 14 points off the bench. However, he hasn't scored in double figures since and has shot just 35% from the field, so while he is capable of getting hot, he's not exactly a guy a defense needs to key on.
Instead, Northwestern will have to find a way to slow down All-Big Ten guard E'Twaun Moore. He averages nearly 17 points a game, had 24 in Evanston, and can score either spotting up or creating his own shot off the dribble. Not only that, he has a knack for hitting big shots down the stretch. So the 'Cats will have their hands full.
Another Purdue guard to worry about is senior Keaton Grant, who really struggled for much of the season before coming on strong late. While his scoring and 3-point percentage are both down from his sophomore and junior years, he hit a clutch shot to win a game at Minnesota and hit 5 threes last time out vs Penn State for a season high 17 points. Grant is a much better shooter than his 29% from three stat line would indicate; hopefully he reverts back to his early season form.
Rounding out the guard rotation for Purdue are Chris Kramer and Kelsey Barlow. Kramer is well-known to Big Ten fans as one of the conference's top defenders, and he was recently honored with the defensive player of the year award. On offense, he's not much of a jump shooter, but he is capable of driving to the basket and scoring that way, so you can't totally ignore him. Maybe the most interesting match-up tomorrow will be Kramer on John Shurna. Painter is going with a 4-guard lineup with Hummel out, so I assume he'll put his best defender on NU's best scorer. Kramer is very strong and quick laterally, but he's giving up 5 inches, so Shurna should be able to post Kramer up like he does at 2:20 of the above video. For most of that game, Shurna was being hounded and completely shut down by Hummel, so I'm sure he'll be happy not to have to face Hummel again. As for Barlow, he's an athletic 6'5" freshman who has some promise but struggles with turnovers.
I am curious as to what defense Northwestern comes out in tonight. In the first meeting they played almost entirely match-up zone, and did a nice job of keeping Purdue on the perimeter. Of course, they were greatly aided by Johnson being on the bench for over half the game. There is no one on the 'Cats roster who can guard him one and one, so the best bet would be to double-team him in the post and force Purdue to win with outside shooting. That's not exactly an exciting alternative, but it beats Johnson dominating inside.
On offense, taking care of the ball will be key, as Northwestern turned it over 17 times in the first meeting. Purdue plays a very aggressive style of man to man defense, so the best bet would be to take advantage of Boiler defenders overplaying the passing lanes and beat them with backdoor cuts. I'd also like to see Northwestern attack the offensive glass, hopefully taking advantage of Purdue's small lineups. In his post-game press conference, Bill Carmody blamed the Conseco Field House rims for his team's poor shooting performance vs. Indiana; personally I'm not buying it;. Jump shots are going to have to fall for Northwestern to have any chance of pulling the upset.
In the last two meetings between these teams, I didn't think the 'Cats had much chance to beat Purdue. Last season, the Boilers really struggled in Evanston before escaping with a win, so you had to think they'd bounce back strong at home, yet Northwestern pulled the upset. And this year, Purdue was coming off 2 straight losses and I expected them to play angry and win easily, yet Northwestern pulled another upset. So can it happen again? As much as I'd like to hope so, I don't see it happing.
Purdue 63, Northwestern 58
I haven't seen a line yet, but I'm assuming it will be around Purdue -8. (edit, line is Purdue -8.5) The Boilers have had some trouble scoring since Hummel's been out, but they are still such a good defensive team that I expect them to grind out a victory.
See everyone later, I plan on opening up another all day game thread as the conference tournaments heat up.
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Northwestern 73, Indiana 58: Winning ugly
by Loretta8 on Mar 11, 2010 7:08 PM CST
in Basketball
1 comment
it certainly wasn't pretty, but Northwestern pulled away down the stretch to beat woeful Indiana and win their 20th game of the season. Michael Thompson led the way with 16 points, John Shurna added 14, and Davide Curletti had a career high 12 points off the bench.
In the first half, the 'Cats were ice cold on 3-pointers, hitting just 2 of 18, and if it weren't for solid work on the offensive glass (made easier since Indiana was in a zone the whole game), the Hoosiers may have had a big lead. Instead, Indiana only led by 3, as a Shurna tip in at the first half buzzer gave Northwestern some momentum heading into the locker room.
But that momentum didn't carry over, as the cold outside shooting continued and Indiana stretched the lead to as many as 8. And when Luka Mirkovic fouled out with just over 10 minutes left, things didn't look good. However, Northwestern clamped down in the 1-3-1 zone, and Indiana completely lost their composure, committing turnover after turnover and letting the 'Cats pull ahead. Michael Thompson then got hot, scoring 11 points in less than 3 minutes, capped off by a deep three to give NU a 10 point lead with 4 minutes left and effectively seal the game. Northwestern hit their free throws (18 of 20) and Indiana continued to turn the ball over, making the final margin a deceptive 15 points.
A key factor in the win was the production off the bench: Curletti had 12 points including 6 for 6 from the free throw line, and Alex Marcotullio returned to his early season form, with 8 points, 5 assists, and solid defense. While he tried to do too much at times, it's nice to see him looking like a Big Ten player again. Of course, the other key factor was Indiana being absolutely awful down the stretch. The Hoosiers panicked against the 1-3-1 and started turning the ball over like crazy (18 times in the game with most coming in the last 10 minutes) and looked a lot like the team that lost 11 straight games earlier this year, most of them by huge margins. Tom Crean has a ton of work to do if he wants to get the Hoosiers back to a Big Ten contender.
There were some good signs tonight, namely the bench production and Thompson's cold-blooded scoring in the 2nd half, but it's going to take a vastly superior effort to beat Purdue tomorrow. Jeremy Nash's jump shot has seemingly abandoned him; while he had 13 points, his only field goals were on open lay-ups. Drew Crawford continues to be limited by his injury, and Luka Mirkovic was a complete non-factor. Curletti did a nice job scoring off the bench, but he doesn't have the size or strength to bang inside, so Mirkovic will have to stay on the court. Also, 22% 3-point shooting isn't going to get it done against a top 10 team.
Despite the ugly first 30 minutes, a win is a win and the 'Cats lived to fight another day. See everyone tomorrow, and hopefully we get a better turnout for the game thread, although there was a firebillcarmody sighting.
highlights:
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Women's Lacrosse vs. Duquesne, 3/12 at 3pm
All eyes will be (and should be) on the basketball team tomorrow against Purdue at 6:30pm. But if you're not planning on being in Indianapolis for the game, you should head over to Lakeside Field for the second NU Women's Lacrosse home game, this time against Duquesne.
3pm. Plenty of time for you to cheer for the team, get a quick dinner, and find a TV or watch party for NU vs. Purdue.
3 days ago
TDozer
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Northwestern vs. Indiana/conference tournament game thread extravaganza
by Loretta8 on Mar 11, 2010 12:16 PM CST
in Basketball
91 comments
We're opening this up early today, as there's lots of college basketball on and who better to discuss it with then my closest internet friends? Northwestern game isn't til about 4 PM central, but there are plenty of games to entertain us until then. Comment away; rants, analysis, and predictions for today's game are all welcome.
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