One of Northwestern’s major talking points this year has been the much-improved defense, but it’s hard to brag about when the No. 1 team in the country plays up to their ranking.
Done in by the Wolverines’ 51 percent shooting and stifling defense, the Wildcats (12-10, 3-6 Big Ten) fell to Michigan (20-1, 7-1) 68-46 Wednesday. Michigan trounced the 'Cats by a combined 50 points in two games this year.
Freshman center Alex Olah was the only Wildcat to score in double figures, putting in 10 points. Michigan was led by its All-American candidate, sophomore point guard Trey Burke, who had 18 points and eight assists.
A total of 68 points wouldn’t normally indicate a great offensive performance, but the Wolverines came out firing, and it all started with Burke. He scored their first five points and opened the door to a ridiculous first-half shooting performance.
When Burke drove through the lane, he attracted several defenders, leaving sharpshooting freshman Nik Stauskas open on the wing. Stauskas went 3-for-3 from beyond the arc in the first half.
Burke and Stauskas led the way to a 10-of-11 start from the field. As if that performance wasn’t impressive enough, the Wolverines also did not commit a single turnover in the half.
The Wildcats shot better than 40 percent in the first, but they were hurt by five turnovers. Two of them were shot clock violations caused by Michigan’s lockdown man-to-man defense.
Luckily for the ‘Cats, senior guard Alex Marcotullio came off the bench and provided a spark. Marcotullio had five straight points and a few near-steals to prevent the Wolverines from building a huge lead.
The halftime buzzer concluded a 60 percent first-half shooting performance from Michigan. They headed to the locker room up 36-21.
Out of the break, Northwestern came with more energy on offense. Olah dropped in the Wildcats' first six points, and a three from redshirt freshman Tre Demps cut the deficit to 40-31.
After a Michigan timeout, the ‘Cats had a great opportunity to trim the lead even more when sophomore point guard Dave Sobolewski was fouled on a three-pointer, but he missed all three from the line.
The Wolverines validated their ascension to No. 1 by going on a 19-7 run and putting the game out of reach. Still, Northwestern had every chance to quell the run. The 'Cats were getting countless open lanes to the basket off of pick-and-rolls and backdoor cuts, but they could not convert layups.
As a result, Michigan cruised through the final minutes to a 68-46 victory. The Wolverines had 14 assists on the day versus just two turnovers, which didn’t give the Wildcats much of a chance to pull off the upset.
Despite the ugly result, it was not an awful performance from Northwestern. The team grabbed 10 offensive rebounds on the night and turned the ball over just eight times. The main negatives were free throw shooting (4-of-8) and layups, not a lack of effort.
The ‘Cats will try to rebound Saturday at 11 a.m. against Purdue at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
Player ratings (1-10, 10 being best)
Dave Sobolewski, 5: The point guard had a tough time containing Burke on defense, though that says more about Burke than Sobo. His three straight misses from the line killed the Wildcat run, but he still did a nice job facilitating the offense and hitting open teammates.
Tre Demps, 4.5: Demps provided a spark on offense with his energy, but he was not hitting his threes. On the other end, he worked hard on the glass, grabbing five boards.
Reggie Hearn, 4: Where has the senior been the last two games? A deep three early indicated that he might have a big game, but the Wildcats’ leading scorer was very quiet on offense and finished with just seven points.
Jared Swopshire, 7: He had another solid night, scoring eight points and grabbing eight rebounds. He altered quite a few shots on defense, and his stats would’ve been better had he not missed a few gimmes.
Alex Olah, 6.5: Olah provided an offensive spark for the 'Cats, scoring the first six points of the second half as Northwestern tried to mount a comeback. It was his best game in a while, but he still only grabbed three rebounds.
Bench, 4.5: The only player who much of an impact off the bench was Marcotullio, who had four boards to go along with his five points. Freshman forward Kale Abrahamson hit just one out of his four three-point tries, and freshman center Mike Turner didn’t grab a single rebound.