Coming into Saturday night’s game at Michigan, Northwestern basketball coach Bill Carmody warned his players about the danger of a letdown following Wednesday’s program-defining win at Michigan State. Unfortunately, Carmody’s words went unheeded as the ‘Cats played with little intensity in a 68-59 defeat at the hands of the Wolverines.
Perhaps the most telling sign of the difference in intensity between Northwestern and Michigan was the rebounding battle. The Wolverines, who came into the game on a three-game losing streak, out rebounded the Wildcats 40-20 and had an amazing 13 offensive rebounds to Northwestern’s one. Leading Michigan on the boards was sophomore Manny Harris, who finished with 12 rebounds to go along with eight points and four assists.
In another sign of a lack of energy, the Wildcats failed to get to the free throw line. NU made just one free throw the whole night, attempting a measly three overall. For most of the game, the ‘Cats seemed content to take low quality outside shots.
The leading scorer for Northwestern was junior Kevin Coble with 21 points.
Northwestern, now 10-7 overall and 2-5 in conference play, will have a few days to go over went went wrong before hosting the Indiana Hoosiers at home on Wednesday night.