Northwestern Lets Two Slip Away on the Road, Looks to Rebound Against Gophers

Level heads did not prevail in a frustrating loss at Purdue, and three days later like a reoccurring nightmare, pathetic play on the inside cost the ‘Cats what would have been a huge win at Indiana.

Now with five games left before the Big Ten Tournament, Northwestern needs to forget this road trip and finish the season nearly perfect in order to secure that fabled NCAA Tournament bid.

What Happened on the Road

At both Purdue and Indiana, the game stayed close for most of the contest.  Purdue won by 10 and did not begin to pull away until a little under seven minutes to play in the second half.

Indiana only took the game by six and held but a two-point lead with 2:14 left.  However, Northwestern could not find the basket and only scored one point after that mark.

Against Purdue, Northwestern’s defense could not stop D.J. Byrd and Robbie Hummel, who went for 20 and 27, respectively.  Foul trouble spelled the end for the ‘Cats as Dave Sobolewski, Nick Fruendt and Davide Curletti had four fouls, Alex Marcotullio fouled out and Drew Crawford had two technicals.

Indiana was only the second game of the season in which the ‘Cats registered more turnovers than assists.  In addition, Northwestern had one bench point compared to Indiana’s 22, and Northwestern was outscored in the paint by 16 points.

The game was kept close by John Shurna’s heroics when he was able to make points out of nothing and added another 29 to his impressive résumé.  However, the Wildcats’ other star, Drew Crawford, committed four turnovers when he tried to force the ball into the lane on uncontrolled drives.

The main problem continues to be the play on the inside.  Curletti scored only one point and grabbed seven rebounds over the two-game stretch.  The ‘Cats were out rebounded by 15 boards over the two games, and they have a minus-4.5 rebounding margin on the year.

Injury Updates

Drew Crawford was wearing kinesiology tape on his right shoulder against Indiana, though it did not seem to slow him down.  The tape can be used for slight inflammation and other smaller issues.

Despite lackluster performances and possible pain, he still averaged 16 points and four rebounds on the road stretch.

JerShon Cobb saw action for the first time in weeks as he stepped onto the court for a few seconds against Purdue and put in six minutes at Indiana.  His three rebounds looked decent against the Hoosiers, but there was obvious rust in two personal fouls and turnover.

Luca Mirkovic again suited up but did not see any action.  If he could get back in and show productivity, Northwestern might benefit from scoring inside and from a rotation of big men to keep more size on the court when one center needs to sit.

What’s Next

After handing the Wildcats a crushing 23-point loss at The Barn on January 22, Minnesota comes to Evanston, looking to sweep the series.

Coming into this season, the two teams had a perfectly balanced record against each other over the past decade.  The Wildcats are looking to even the record once again and exact revenge for the last contest.

John Shurna is averaging 20.3 points per game and is only 17 points away from breaking Bill McKinney’s all-time scoring mark at Northwestern of 1,900 points that has stood since 1977.  With five regular-season games, the Big Ten Tournament and either the NCAA Tournament or the NIT, Shurna could very well be the first Wildcat to eclipse the 2,000-point mark.

Winning the Big Ten Tournament aside, the ‘Cats have two main paths to the NCAA Tournament.  They either win out the rest of the season without needing to win against Ohio State, or they beat Ohio State and can afford to finish the season just under .500 in conference play.

However, this last stretch of the season starts with the Minnesota game and continues with a huge home game against Michigan, what should be a comfortable win at Penn State, a contest at home against Ohio State and a game against the resurgent Hawkeyes in Iowa City.

Right now, Shurna is stepping up to be the dominant force he needs to be for Northwestern.  If he can write himself into the record books, he just might be able to write this team into those books as well.