On Saturday afternoon at Welsh-Ryan Arena, Northwestern was the darling of the Big Ten. The ‘Cats knocked off the Michigan State Spartans, the last unbeaten team in Big Ten play, and looked back on pace to head to their first NCAA tournament. Amid all the celebration, a few things went unnoticed. First of all, sixth man Alex Marcotullio did not play in the second half against the Spartans due to a concussion. The junior, arguably the team’s best defender, would be out for the Wisconsin game. With sophomore JerShon Cobb still nursing tendonitis in the left hip, Marcotullio’s injury left senior Nick Fruendt as the only guard with both a scholarship and respectable experience.
Meanwhile, on Sunday in Madison, the Wisconsin Badgers defeated the Nebraska Cornhuskers for their second straight win. The victory snapped a two-game home losing streak and gave the Badgers, who at one point in the season had been ranked seventh, newfound confidence. When the ‘Cats arrived in Madison, they came with just seven healthy players on scholarships. On the other hand, the Badgers were healthy and motivated to climb back above .500 in Big Ten play.
All excuses aside, the final score of 77-57 in the Badgers' favor was surprising. After falling behind 9-2 early, the ‘Cats went on a 14-2 run and looked like they were sending a message to the Badgers. Northwestern wanted to show it would not back down in the prime lights of the Kohl Center the way it had in past years. A back and forth half ended with the Badgers barely on top, 34-32.
In the first half, the 'Cats did a good job of containing Wisconsin's senior point guard - and leading scorer - Jordan Taylor. While the Wildcats were lacking Marcotullio on defense, Dave Sobolewski, Reggie Hearn and Drew Crawford stepped up to shut down Taylor, who scored only three points in the first half on 1-5 shooting. The ‘Cats mixed and matched their man-to-man and 1-3-1 zone defenses to contain the senior in the first half. Northwestern also did a good job of recognizing the hot hand in the first half. John Shurna picked up where he left off against Michigan State (22 points), scoring 12 points in the first nine minutes without missing a shot.
In the latter portion of the half, Drew Crawford found his range, and the ‘Cats fed him the rock en route to 11 points in the half. Moreoever, freshman Dave Sobolewski looked aggressive. While the first-year point guard has already surpassed freshman year expectations, there is no denying he has looked intimidated at times, often staying deep in the backcourt and making simple passes to the wing rather than driving and trying to make plays.
In the first half against Wisconsin, Sobolewski played with noticeable aggression, twice driving all the way to the rack for a lay-up. His newfound penetration also resulted in four assists and spread the floor for NU. Still, though, fatigue overcame the 'Cats - more details below - and Northwestern was routed in the second half on the way to a 77-57 blowout.
The numbers:
7 - After sitting on the bench for two minutes Wednesday night, Dave Sobolewski has now sat out seven minutes of Big Ten play. The freshman is averaging 39.7 minutes per game in conference play. It will be interesting to see if this high level of minutes helps Sobolewski by giving him experience or if it wears the youngster down.
8 - Assists by the Wildcats compared to the 20 Northwestern had against Michigan State. Only two of those assists came from a player not named Sobolewski. If Northwestern does not move the ball, the team cannot expect to compete with top-tier foes.
11 - Points by Reggie Hearn. Other than James Montgomery (one point), Hearn was the only player who surpassed his season average scoring total (5.9 ppg). While most of the team lost energy in the second half, Hearn scored nine points in the period and played with some pride.
Sixth man of the game: fatigue
In the second half, fatigue caught up to Northwestern. While the starting five 'Cats are fit, they're not fit enough to play 40 minutes without relief. Fruendt and Luka Mirkovic provided a whopping 0 points off the bench in 23 combined minutes. Neither bench player filled the void left by the absences of Marcotullio and Cobb, and the offense clearly showed exhaustion in the second half.
Northwestern also lost control of Jordan Taylor in the second period, and the senior knocked down three three-pointers (the Badgers had seven total in the second half) in a 1:38 span as part of a 17-2 Badger run. The Badgers picked apart Northwestern's 1-3-1 zone defense, as the defense's constant rotation proved too much for the already-exhausted 'Cats.
With Northwestern's depleted depth on Wednesday night, Wisconsin found itself wide open for jump shots. Furthermore, Wisconsin had nine offensive rebounds in the game - six of which came in the second half. Northwestern kept the game close in the first half, but the team's lack of depth proved to be too much. Hopefully, Marcotullio and Cobb will be available for the 'Cats, if not Sunday at Minnesota, then by January 28 against Purdue.
Play of the game:
With 3:05 remaining in the game, the Badgers capped off their second-half rout with a thunderous alley-oop. Jordan Taylor tossed a perfect pass over the Northwestern defense into the leaping hands of junior Ryan Evans.
Where does Northwestern stand?
The loss certainly does not help NU’s tournament resumé, but it does not kill it either. Wisconsin has been ranked as high as seventh this season and the Kohl Center is one of the Big Ten’s toughest arenas to play in. Still, a more formidable effort could have gained Northwestern some respect. The 'Cats need to refocus and plan on taking at least four of the next six games (five are against non-ranked opponents. Illinois, the only ranked opponent is No. 25). Four wins would get the ‘Cats back to .500 in Big Ten play before a tough matchup at Indiana.