Coming off of two wins in three games against Top 25 opponents, “Northwestern” and “NCAA Tournament” were being spoken in the same sentence for the first time since fall. The Wildcats showed Saturday that these postseason hopes were premature.
Saddled by stagnant offense and weak interior defense, Northwestern (12-9, 3-5) stumbled to a 64-49 loss at Nebraska (11-10, 2-6) in a crucial game that could have allowed the ‘Cats to even their conference record.
Sophomore guard Dave Sobolewski led the Wildcats with 21 points and six rebounds, and senior forward Jared Swopshire added 11 points and 16 boards, but they were the only Northwestern players to surpass five in either category. Senior guard Dylan Talley paced Nebraska with 20 points while holding Wildcat leading scorer Reggie Hearn to just six of his own.
Northwestern and Nebraska are 10th and 12th, respectively, in the Big Ten in scoring, so a slow start was no surprise. Five minutes in, the score was just 4-3.
Four minutes later, Dave Sobolewski hit the Wildcats’ first three-pointer, extending their lead 10-5. But Nebraska responded, dicing up the Northwestern defense for eight straight points in the paint.
The ‘Cats switched to their 1-3-1 zone, hoping to keep Nebraska out of the lane and force turnovers, but the Huskers took care of the ball. They calmly moved it around the perimeter and hit Talley and sophomore David Rivers for a trio of threes.
While the Huskers’ offense heated up, Sobolewski responded with two more threes of his own, and freshman forward Mike Turner hit senior guard Reggie Hearn for a backdoor layup. Northwestern was able to stay close and head into halftime down just 24-22.
Talley was all over Hearn in the early going of the second half, and the Huskers continued to drive to the basket for easy buckets and free throw opportunities. After an and-one layup from freshman Shavon Shields, Nebraska’s lead was 35-28.
Unable to protect the paint, the Wildcats moved back to the zone defense, leaving the perimeter open for junior guard Ray Gallegos to nail three straight three-pointers in less than 2:30.
The ‘Cats tried to ignite a comeback by getting to the free throw line, but their season-long struggle there continued Saturday. Northwestern was a combined 7-for-16 on foul shots.
On the other end, Turner and freshman center Alex Olah couldn’t handle Nebraska’s Brandon Ubel. He was fouled on a put-back after grabbing one of his seven rebounds, and after he hit two free throws, Gallegos picked up a steal and went in for an uncontested dunk. The lead had blown to 52-37, and the Wildcats could not respond.
Nebraska's lead grew to as much as 17 before the starters were taken out.
Northwestern made just 6-of-29 threes on the day, a poor outing highlighted by an airball from Hearn that delighted the Nebraska crowd. Sobolewski hit four of them by himself but wasn’t helped by his teammates.
With 16 boards, Swopshire grabbed the most rebounds by a Wildcat in the Bill Carmody era, but his offense was nowhere to be found when the ‘Cats needed it in the second half.
The loss is huge for Northwestern, which had plenty of momentum coming in from wins against Illinois and Minnesota. Instead of bringing their conference record to 4-4, the Wildcats became the third team to be handed their fifth conference loss, joining the Huksers and Penn State.
Big Ten Network analyst and former Northwestern guard Tim Doyle tweeted several times before the game that Northwestern was “a lock” to come away with an easy win. He, like many other Wildcats, still hasn’t learned that predicting the outcome of a Northwestern game is never a guarantee.
It only gets tougher for the ‘Cats, who head to Ann Arbor on Wednesday to take on No. 2 Michigan.
Player Ratings (1-10, 10 being best)
Dave Sobolewski, 8: The point guard kept the ‘Cats in the game early with his three first-half threes. He can’t be blamed for his lone assist because everyone else struggled to hit shots. However, he did have four turnovers on the day.
Tre Demps, 2.5: Demps was expected to provide a quick lift with his energy and long-range shooting, but he went just 1-for-7 from the field for two points.
Reggie Hearn, 3: A lot of pressure has been put on Hearn to lead the team because of his recent successes, but Saturday, he just didn’t have it. He scored only six points on 2-of-11 shooting and didn’t grab a single rebound.
Jared Swopshire, 7.5: He was a monster on the glass and provided the energy that the team has come to expect from him in recent games. Swop gave the ‘Cats some early offense, but they needed more aggressiveness from him in the second half.
Alex Olah, 2.5: The freshman has had to go up against a lot of great big men in conference play, and his lack of athleticism has been exposed. Most of Brandon Ubel’s seven offensive rebounds came against him.
Bench, 2: The bench provided only three points before the outcome was already decided. Senior guard Alex Marcotullio went just 1-of-5 from beyond the arc. He tipped a few passes from the top of the 1-3-1, but he didn’t come away with any steals. Turner gave solid minutes defensively and avoided the foul trouble that has plagued him recently, but he didn’t record a single rebound. No one else came in before the traditional bench-clearing at the end of the blowout.