As in past games against Wisconsin, the Northwestern men’s basketball team used its matchup zone to put pressure on the ball.
NU coach Bill Carmody said this strategy had been successful at times — but not in other instances.
“We played that same zone against them in the past, and they’ve riddled it,” Carmody said.
Combined with a lot of scrappiness, the zone scheme proved quite effective Saturday. It seemed to be the key component in NU’s 69-51 win over the Badgers before a packed crowd at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
The Wildcats (9-11, 4-5 Big Ten) used hustle and energy on the defensive end to build their confidence, enabling them to dishevel the Badgers’ offense. No. 14 Wisconsin (15-4, 6-2) shot 35.8 percent from the field, falling short of its 44.5 percent season average. NU also garnered eight steals with its hard-nosed defense.
“We were swarming in the first half,” Carmody said. “If you just sit back against a team like that, you don’t really have a chance. That’s been true of all the games we’ve won against good teams this year — we’re real active with our hands.”
Cats guard Jitim Young shut down Wisconsin’s star, Devin Harris. The Badgers’ guard, who shot just 22 percent from the floor (4 of 18), was below his season average of 45.8 percent. Harris also was held to just 16 points; he’s averaged 32.3 over the last three games, including a career-high 38 Wednesday against Minnesota.
“He’s really good. He makes his team win,” Young said of Harris. “If I could contain him and basically cut his head off, the team would have a lot of problems.”
Young methodically pressured Harris, attacking at times and laying off at others. The strategy helped Young strip the ball from Harris twice at midcourt.
“I turned him a couple times before he went on his offense,” Young said. “I picked and chose when I did it and tried to throw him off and confuse him a lot.”
Young finished the game with four steals.
Guard Mohamed Hachad also had an impressive defensive showing — even against opponents towering 4 inches over him. He followed Young with two steals, one of them coming against the Badgers’ 6-foot-11 Dave Mader. At one point, the 6-4 Hachad came from behind to knock the ball loose from 6-8 Zach Morley, who was streaking along the baseline, searching for an open look at the basket.
Steals weren’t the only thing generated by NU’s defense. The Cats also showed grit under the basket. Not normally known for its rebounding ability, NU finished with 28 boards — 22 on defense. The Cats’ total was just one shy of Wisconsin’s 29. In two games last season, the Badgers outrebounded NU by a total of 33.
“The rebounding was decent,” said Davor Duvancic, who grabbed four rebounds. “It was great to see.”
The Cats’ dominance on defense came from a stellar team effort, Young said.
“It was the best defensive game we played all year,” he said. “And it helped our offense so much. We were making our shots and our free throws.”
