But one task remains for the Northwestern men’s basketball team (10-18, 2-13 Big Ten) before it can establish itself as a legitimate Big Ten competitor: The Cats haven’t won a contest on the road in more than two years – a 22-game streak they’ll have a chance to break Wednesday when they travel to Ann Arbor, Mich., to meet the Wolverines (10-15, 4-10).
“You see those places, and they’re historic places, and you start thinking, ‘Oh,'” freshman guard Ed McCants said. “Everything starts sinking in. It’s like, ‘Can we really play here?’ A lot of it gets in your head.”
NU did win two games at a neutral site in the Puerto Rico Shootout in December, but the team has not been able to win in front of a hostile crowd.
The Cats have been largely inept on the road, often falling behind by double digits in the opening minutes. In its seven Big Ten road games this season, NU has lost by an average of 20.7 points a game.
Some of the difficulty can be attributed to youth – junior Tavaras Hardy was the only member of the Cats to have played in two Big Ten arenas on the schedule.
NU’s biggest problem seems to be its inability to hit shots away from Welsh-Ryan Arena. The Cats are scoring just 52.5 points a game on the road, and they fell behind 32-9 at Illinois, 22-5 at Wisconsin and 34-13 at Indiana thanks to poor shooting.
And if the Cats intend to climb out of the basement of the Big Ten next year, they’ll have to discover a way to make themselves feel at home on the road.
“Everybody always makes a run at home on you,” assistant coach Mitch Henderson said. “You’ve got to win at home, and then, to be really good, you’ve got to win on the road.”
GOOD SEEDS?: Looking beyond Wednesday’s regular-season finale, the Cats will have a week off before heading to the United Center for the Big Ten tournament. NU will be the No. 11 seed for the second consecutive year – last season the Cats got bounced in the first round by Wisconsin, which shortly thereafter made a run to the Final Four.
The last-place team plays the No. 6 seed in the preliminary round, but the Cats won’t know what team that will be until after their season is over. NU has a bye on the last day of Big Ten play, meaning every other team’s season will end after NU’s.
But with only two games left, there aren’t many possibilities for a first-round opponent. And the two most likely options are Iowa and Penn State – the Cats’ only Big Ten victims to date are currently in sixth and seventh place, respectively.
Although Henderson said the Cats match up just as well against those teams as any other, some of the players weren’t disappointed that the standings look the way they do.
“Of course,” freshman forward Pat Towne said, “we’d prefer Iowa or Penn State.”
GONE IN 60 SECONDS: Most players agreed that the Cats are peaking late in the year, mostly because of all the changes that accompanied their head coaching switch in early September. And because of the turmoil, it hasn’t been the easiest year for the Cats to adjust to.
“The new offense we’ve been trying to learn – it seems like all year it’s been a struggle,” sophomore guard Ben Johnson said. “We’ve had ups and downs. We’ve had games or spurts where we’ve looked good and felt comfortable in the offense, and then a lot of times – for instance at Wisconsin – where it’s just not all there yet.”
The close of the season has some of the Cats wondering where all the games went, especially after the never-ending story that was Kevin O’Neill’s final season in Evanston.
“Last year’s season seemed like it was so much longer,” Johnson said. “I just kind of realized February is a short month, and I’m like, ‘Dang, the 28th is our last official Big Ten game.’ It’s gone by pretty quick.”
