Thirty-three minutes. Six rebounds.
And no sleep.
Ivan Tolic didn’t get much rest after Wednesday’s overtime loss to Penn State. His knees, plagued by a nasty case of tendonitis, hurt too much.
While Tolic could have used some extra rest during the game, the Wildcats desperately needed his 6-foot-9 frame on the boards. Northwestern, which was out-rebounded 40-25 by the Nittany Lions, ranks last in the Big Ten on the glass.
The Cats are looking to improve their inside presence Saturday when they take on Minnesota (8-10, 0-6 Big Ten), the third-best rebounding squad in the conference.
“We’ve got to be hungry to get the ball,” Tolic said.
NU (7-10, 2-4) hasn’t looked too hungry so far this season, averaging just 25 boards a game — six fewer than 10th ranked Michigan State. And Jitim Young, a 6-foot-2 shooting guard, is the only NU player among the Big Ten’s top 20 in rebounding.
“It kills us,” coach Bill Carmody said. “We’re a small team with guys who don’t jump that well.”
Despite Tolic’s height, the redshirt freshman struggles to move, relying mostly on grit and strength to earn his rebounds. Forward Davor Duvancic grabbed five boards Wednesday night, but the 6-8 junior finds he isn’t getting much help around the basket — except from Young.
The Cats’ tallest player, 6-10 freshman Vince Scott, hasn’t pulled his weight — or height — averaging just 1.4 boards a game.
Duvancic said his teammates must increase their toughness around the basket.
“If you see the ball and you feel like that’s my ball, you’re going to get it no matter who is boxing you out,” he said.
Both Duvancic and Carmody said the Cats don’t need to drastically improve their rebounding to compete in the Big Ten. NU just has to stop giving opposing teams so many second chances on offense, they said.
Penn State took advantage of an offensive rebound in the final seconds of overtime Wednesday, scoring the game winner on a put-back by Ndu Egekeze.
“If we can just improve that rebounding to be in the middle of the conference, we’re going to be in great shape,” Duvancic said.
Wisconsin has managed to jump to the top of the Big Ten standings without strong rebounding. The Badgers rank ninth in the conference, although they still average 7.8 more boards a game than NU.
Carmody, who said his Princeton teams were regularly beaten on the glass, has a simple wish for his Cats.
“Maybe we’ll get out-rebounded by five or six a game,” he said.
The Cats have worked on hitting the boards for the last week in practice, without measurable results. Carmody said he’s not sure those skills can be taught — at least not on the court.
“I think it’s probably a mindset or an attitude,” he said. “We haven’t gotten that across to some of the guys. I’ll take some of the blame for that.”
But Tolic said he’s putting the Cats’ ugly rebounding performances behind him.
“What can I do right now?” he said. “I can’t go back in time and say, ‘Maybe I could have boxed a guy out better.'”
