North by Northwestern

Halfway into January, Northwestern Men’s Basketball has stumbled to a 11-8 record, and a 2-4 conference record. What happened?

Jono Zarrilli

It’s not a talent problem. The team’s leaders, Scottie Lindsey and Bryant McIntosh, have just been flat out bad for long stretches. Lindsey in particular has struggled as of late: he has scored a grand total of 23 points in Northwestern’s last 3 losses despite playing over 100 minutes in that span, including a 1-15 performance on Sunday against Indiana. In addition, this team surprisingly lacks the energy and cohesiveness they exhibited last year. Some of the blame can go to Allstate Arena and the loss of Sanjay Lumpkin, but when it comes down to it, Chris Collins has not been able to get the most out of his players.

Charlie Sidles

Many factors have prevented Northwestern from sustaining last year’s success, but two specifically stick out. The first is that this team is nearly the exact same as last year’s team. That might make people think that this team should be better relative to the competition, but Northwestern is using the same players in the same system while other teams are evolving, and those players have not shown improvement. This makes it very easy for opposing teams to scout. Secondly, basketball is a game of momentum. Last year there was an energy around the program that was unknown in Northwestern Athletics. Late in games Northwestern would get the bounce they needed giving them a win and confidence going forward. The opposite has happened this year where close losses early in the season like the Georgia Tech and Creighton game have led to less confidence and momentum in future games.

Jacob Munoz

Northwestern’s decline from the Big Ten’s dark horse to gasping fish is in large part due to their defensive troubles. A team that once had the nation’s 23rd best defense by field goal percentage is now ranked 185th. This might not be a problem, if it weren’t that the Wildcats can’t score either. An offense that was not the star unit in last year’s March Madness run has struggled even more - they’re shooting at a .429% clip, 267th in Division I. Without a drastic improvement in those numbers, the ‘Cats are doomed to mediocrity.

Shreyas Iyer

Northwestern’s struggles center primarily on the lack of defensive prowess the team has shown throughout the first 20 games of the season. The departure of “glue guy” Sanjay Lumpkin is likely a factor, but many thought Vic Law would successfully anchor the unit. Instead, Kenpom ranks Northwestern as 86th in adjusted defensive efficiency after giving up, among other dismal numbers, 1.11 points per possession to perennial bottomfeeder Penn State and a downright ludicrous 65 percent three-point percentage to Trae Young and Oklahoma.