It started just as expected.
Behind efficient defense and an imperious presence on the boards, No. 12 Minnesota jumped out to an early lead over the Wildcats Wednesday. Senior center Trevor Mbakwe had his way with Northwestern’s big men, and despite 11 missed shots in the game’s first 14 minutes, the Golden Gophers still churned out 21 points.
Minnesota dominated behind offensive rebounding and second-chance scoring. With Mbakwe and fellow senior Rodney Williams outsizing the interior, Northwestern was in over its head. Literally.
With 4:50 to play in the first half, Mbakwe took a pass from sophomore guard Andre Hollins, pivoted, and backed down red-shirt freshman Mike Turner for an easy two. The very next Gophers possession, Mbakwe grabbed a stray jumper from senior Julian Welch, extending Minnesota’s offense and continuing to deflate the ‘Cats’ chances at an upset win.
Northwestern’s offense looked stagnant in the game’s early going. Shooting a paltry 46.7 percent from the free-throw line and connecting from behind the arc just once, the Wildcats headed to halftime looking decidedly out of place.
And who could blame them?
Undersized and still lacking an offensive identity, Northwestern had no business trying to keep pace with ranked Minnesota. After all, this was the team that was turned inside-out by the Gophers back on Jan. 6th. The same team that took 20-point drubbings to unranked Maryland and Iowa. For a fanbase deeming this season as a washout, a sans-Drew Crawford growing pain, nothing occurring on the purple-stained floors of Welsh-Ryan Arena was all that surprising.
Except the next 20 minutes.
Northwestern started the second half with aggressive defense and focused shot selection. Coach Bill Carmody called for a switch from man D to the program’s famous 1-3-1 zone, something that Minnesota’s Tubby Smith has seen twice a year since 2007. Yet the No. 12 Gophers began firing blanks, and the Wildcats were suddenly cleaning up the boards.
“The 1-3-1 has always been a nice change of pace for us,” said senior forward Reggie Hearn. “Not many teams have figured it out.”
And just like that, a befuddled Minnesota was forced to figure it out.
Senior forward Alex Marcotullio came away with consecutive steals, leading to “and-ones” for Hearn on the other end. Behind a 23-5 run in the second half, it was Northwestern looking like a Top 25 team.
“Our zone helped a lot forcing turnovers...it made them a little flat-footed,” said Carmody after the game. “That zone made the difference.”
The ‘Cats extended their lead to as much as eight in the game’s closing stretch, knocking down threes and generating turnovers. It was a tale of two halves, and even more so, a tale of two seasons.
When the final buzzer gave Northwestern a 55-48 win, it wasn’t hard to see a distinct difference between this team and the Wildcats of a few weeks ago. The prior meeting with Minnesota was plagued by a lack of defensive execution and offensive confidence. This one was marked by tourney-level proficiency on both ends of the floor.
“Our defense is a lot better, that’s helping us close out games,” Hearn said in a post-game press conference while fellow senior Jared Swopshire nodded in agreement. Leading all scorers with 16 points Wednesday, Swop added that things are also starting to click offensively.
“We matured a lot. Guys have been really paying attention,” he said. “The ball’s always in your hands [in Carmody’s Princeton offense], so it's not too hard being aggressive.”
After disappointing losses to UIC and Stanford in non-conference play, the Wildcats took double-digit beatdowns from three Big Ten opponents, including a 28-point loss to Michigan back on Jan. 3.
In the past week, however, Northwestern has ripped off upset wins over ranked Illinois and Minnesota, while playing No. 2 Indiana down to the final second Sunday.
What's changed? What has the Wildcats playing with a newfound confidence?
It starts with Swopshire, who gives Northwestern its most distinct offensive identity since losing Crawford. Swopshire's recent aggressiveness around the perimeter is encouraging, and his shot opens up the lane for Hearn off the dribble. While clocking 30 minutes in the Michigan loss and only 27 against Iowa, the senior has played all but five minutes in Northwestern's last three games. After some ostensible growing pains, it looks like Swopshire knows his role in this offense.
Redshirt freshman Tre Demps has been no slouch either. After a slow start in nonconference play, Demps now has double-digit scoring outputs in four consecutive games. Giving the Wildcats fresh legs off the bench, Demps' emergence allows the offense to drive more often.
Sophomore point guard Dave Sobolewski is playing his most efficient ball of the season, committing just one turnover in the past two games and taking less than six shots a night over the past week. Without Sobo forcing from the perimeter, Northwestern gets better looks and spreads the floor.
And despite sitting on a perpetual hot seat, Carmody deserves credit here too. After the Iowa loss, Carmody has his team focused and inspired. He employed the zone to perfection against a hot-shooting Minnesota team, exploited Hearn against mismatched Illinois, and found a way to make then-No. 2 Indiana sweat.
Are the Wildcats now heaved into the NCAA Tournament discussion? No. Is this team back to it’s 2011-12 form? Probably not. But if the ‘Cats keep this up, it’s hard not to see things at least getting a bit interesting down the stretch.
Three of Northwestern’s next four opponents are unranked, with stumbling Nebraska up first on Saturday. The Wildcats have a chance to even out their record in one of the country’s most competitive conferences. With an RPI (ratings percentage index) rank of 82, Northwestern is slowly clawing its way into some sort of postseason discussion.
“We’ve got momentum swinging our way,” Hearn smiles. “We’re a scrappy team that doesn’t go away.”
If the Wildcats really have found the reset button and continue to play like they did on Wednesday, Hearn and company could be here for a while.