“We’re not going to go down without a fight.”
While it’s hard to doubt the words of senior guard Reggie Hearn, Northwestern’s injury issues have clearly taken their toll on the Wildcats.
Poor shooting and rebounding hampered Northwestern (13-14, 4-10 Big Ten) as the 'Cats fell 69-41 to No. 19 Wisconsin (19-8, 10-4) at Welsh-Ryan Arena on Wednesday night.
Hearn dropped in a game-high 13 points for the Wildcats, but Jared Berggren, Traevon Jackson and Sam Dekker all scored in double figures for the Badgers.
In the early moments, the Wildcats did their part to make it a low-scoring game. They were shut down by the Badger defense and forced into long, contested jumpers on nearly every possession.
On the other hand, Wisconsin played its patented, patient offense, calmly moving the ball before finding an open man near the end of the shot clock. Early on, that open man was senior center Berggren. He consistently found openings in the middle of the lane and put in eight first-half points off jump hooks, layups and jumpers.
Luckily for Northwestern, the Badgers weren’t hitting their threes. They continually found good looks, but they went just 2-for-11 from long range in the first half. Still, those long jumpers led to long rebounds, and the Badgers grabbed nine offensive rebounds in the half against the scrambling Northwestern defense.
The Wildcats put up the majority of their first-half points off threes, hitting three in the first 20 minutes. Other than that, they found little success, as Wisconsin rarely allowed them to get into the lane.
The 28-12 halftime deficit gave Northwestern its lowest scoring output in a half in Bill Carmody’s tenure as head coach.
The Wildcats finally came out looking like they had something to prove early in the second half. They went on a 7-3 run that culminated in a three from freshman guard Tre Demps. Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan chose to trust in his players instead of calling a timeout, and the savviness of the Badger players validated his decision.
They pounded the ball into the post, and the Wildcat defense had no choice but to foul. In the second half alone, the Badgers shot 20 free throws, hitting 14 of them. And when sophomore forward Frank Kaminsky ran back with three fingers raised high after knocking down a trey, the demoralized ‘Cats found themselves down 54-31.
“In the second half, they started to throw it down into the post,” Hearn said. “They just took advantage of their size, and we didn’t fight hard enough.”
Northwestern shot much better in the second half and hit five shots from behind the arc in the process, but it was just too late. Wisconsin was too solid, and any Wildcat runs were quickly quelled by a timely jumper or a trip to the free throw line.
Rebounding continued to be a major problem. The ‘Cats were not very good on the glass before the loss of senior forward Jared Swopshire, but without him the task is nearly impossible. They were out-rebounded 47-22 on the night.
“What killed us was the backboards,” sophomore guard Dave Sobolewski said. “We need to find a way to keep them off the glass. Fifteen offensive rebounds, and it seemed like they scored every time.”
Carmody agreed. He called the rebounding performance “anemic” and expressed frustration in freshman forward Mike Turner, who did not grab a board on the night.
The loss drops the Wildcats below .500 for the first time since the 2007-08 season with four regular season games to go, with a lot of the blame to be put on the stagnant offense. They have put up just 41 points in each of the last two games.
“I hope they’re a little frustrated,” Carmody said. “It’s not necessarily a bad thing.”
At this trying time, it’s clear that Northwestern has been defeated by injuries. Whether or not the 'Cats let this bad luck defeat their resolve is up to them.