Northwestern Takes on Minnesota in Big Ten Tournament, Looks to Make History

With history on the line and all eyes on Northwestern, the Cardiac ‘Cats are not allowing a single spectator to rest, fan or hater. 

At the end of regulation over the past four games, the ‘Cats and their opponents have been exactly seven points apart. 

Now with the Big Ten Tournament imminent, Northwestern controls its own destiny: erase 73 years of frustration and make the NCAA Tournament for the first time or settle for a fourth-straight NIT appearance. 

Season Recap

The season started with a cakewalk against Texas Pan-American before the ‘Cats headed to South Carolina for the Charleston Classic.  They came home with a trophy and strong wins over LSU, Tulsa, and Seton Hall. 

Catastrophe nearly followed in a too-close-for-comfort win against Stony Brook, but the ‘Cats rebounded with a dominating performance against Georgia Tech in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge and a win over Mississippi Valley State.

The highly anticipated matchup against Baylor followed, but the contest quickly turned into embarrassment as Baylor’s size and athleticism pulverized Northwestern’s defense. 

A comfortable win over Texas Southern, an unnecessarily close win over Central Connecticut, and another easy win against Eastern Illinois had the ‘Cats back on track as they closed out their non-conference schedule at the ranked Creighton Bluejays. 

Again the ‘Cats fell, but they headed into conference play optimistic, with a 10-2 record. 

The beginning of conference play was anything but pretty as the ‘Cats opened with a 33-point crushing defeat at the hands of the Buckeyes. A win over Penn State would only provide a temporary reprieve as a one-point loss to Illinois and a 2-point overtime loss to Michigan came next. 

Hope was restored as Northwestern took down the seventh ranked Michigan State Spartans in front of a sold out crowd at Welsh-Ryan Arena. 

However, losses at the hands of Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Purdue pushed the season to the brink. The ‘Cats were not finished, though, and stormed back with a win in their first ever Big Ten meeting with Nebraska, a huge win at instate rival Illinois, and a basketball clinic of a win against Iowa. 

Again the season took a nosedive as the ‘Cats dropped two straight in the state of Indiana—Purdue then Indiana—before winning the rematch with Minnesota. Another overtime loss against Michigan, a one-point win over Penn State, a two-point loss to Ohio State, and a four-point win in Iowa City closed out Northwestern’s regular season. 

Big Ten Tournament

Finishing the regular season 18-12 overall and 8-10 in conference, the ‘Cats have one final shot to make their case for reaching March Madness. 

They head into the Big Ten Tournament with the seven seed and will play Minnesota in the first round. If they win, they draw Michigan, the two seed, in the second round. 

Northwestern must win at least one game in the Big Ten Tournament in order to remain in the conversation of going Dancing. A win over Michigan as well would most likely guarantee a berth. 

In the teams' first meeting in the Barn, Minnesota dominated with every one of its starters in double figures. In the rematch, Northwestern stole the show as Dave Sobolewski came alive in the scoring column and John Shurna broke the school’s all-time scoring record. 

Both teams won with a strong home court advantage, and Conseco Fieldhouse (maybe down the road I’ll switch to “Bankers Life Fieldhouse”) will provide an advantage to whomever can fill more seats. 

Northwestern—only a three or four hour drive away—is pushing to gain that advantage by providing free tickets and transportation to any student who wants to go. 

Although quite important, fans will not be the deciding factor in this game, and the Wildcats will have the advantage if they can control several key aspects of the contest. 

They must get the ball to their scorers, stop something—anything—on defense, and show some effort in their embarrassing rebounding. 

Drew Crawford has been getting back into rhythm, averaging 18 points per contest over the last three games. If Shurna and Crawford can provide dynamic scoring, Sobolewski and Reggie Hearn have abundant scoring prowess to provide enough firepower for the 'Cats to compete against any Big Ten team. 

The ‘Cats must get these players the ball when they are open so they can go to work and will not have to force plays as Crawford often does when driving inside. In addition, if Alex Marcotullio can add some outside sharpshooting, offense should not be a problem. 

Defense is the problem. 

It is on Bill Carmody to decide when the 1-3-1 is best and when man-to-man is best, but if Minnesota’s big men start finding easy lobs on the baseline or guards find themselves alone for threes from the corner, then it is time to man up. 

Northwestern is the worst rebounding team in the conference, and Minnesota grabbed 32 more rebounds than Northwestern over the teams’ first two meetings. 

After a miss, the ‘Cats need to stick around on the offensive end long enough to try for a rebound, and they need to box out guards slashing in to grab boards on the defensive end. 

It is time for the ‘Cats to show effort on the glass if they hope to come home with wins this postseason. 

This might be the most important game in Northwestern basketball history, and if the ‘Cats win this game, the contest against Michigan might be the most important game in Northwestern basketball history. 

The Dance

Shurna was recently named first team all-Big Ten, Crawford was named third team all-Big Ten, and Sobolewski was named to the freshman all-Big Ten team.  The ‘Cats have made three-straight NIT appearances. Shurna broke the school’s all-time scoring record and only needs 30 more points to be the first Wildcat to break 2000. 

In short, Carmody’s squad is making history. 

The last puzzle piece is the Tournament, and Northwestern holds its fate in its own hands. 

With mid-majors punching their tickets in conference championships, Northwestern risks falling lower if any upsets occur. However, two wins in the Big Ten Tournament will display that a Big Ten team in the middle of the conference deserves a berth and can take on any mid-major champion. 

The ‘Cats have the talent to play with the best in the conference, and the Big Ten Tournament is their chance to prove it.