MINNEAPOLIS – Northwestern is officially on the bubble.
Not quite the NCAA Tournament bubble, but the bubble of turning what could have been another mediocre season into one with postseason possibilities. After a 4-4 start with a home loss to Illinois-Chicago, that’s all NU can ask for at this point.
With the 57-49 win at Minnesota on Saturday, a fifth straight victory, the Wildcats have turned their season around. This is coach Bill Carmody’s best start at NU and only the third time in 25 seasons the Cats won their first Big Ten road game of the year.
NU won at Minnesota last year in its only conference road win of the season, but this one was different.
Last season, a jump shot by former guard T.J. Parker with less than a second left gave NU the victory. Confidence on the road isn’t gained by lucky shots like Parker’s, and it showed as NU went 0-3 on the road to finish the season.
But this year’s win should build confidence. After Minnesota hit the first shot, NU took the lead for good on freshman point guard Craig Moore’s easy 3-pointer 48 seconds into the game.
“We really dominated that game from start to finish,” junior swingman Tim Doyle said.
Domination normally isn’t synonymous with NU in road games.
Maybe the freshman duo of Craig Moore and Sterling Williams are too new to know NU doesn’t win away from home, because they helped run the team to near-perfection. They combined for 30 points, eight assists, three steals, two blocks and just five turnovers.
With NU up by seven with 1:40 left, Moore hit a 3-pointer from about Duluth as the shot clock was winding down to seal the win.
“They played real well in their first away Big Ten game,” Carmody said of the freshmen.
The Cats will need more games like this from their freshmen, but the team showed early this is not the NU of the past. Parker isn’t here to hit a last-second shot, but the Cats won’t need it if they continue to execute at this level.
“Last year we had a point guard that really dominated the ball,” Doyle said. “I think we’re a completely different team.”
Doyle is right, this team is different.
At least in the first game, NU didn’t panic and get out of its offense because of a hostile road crowd. Suddenly the contests at Wisconsin and Michigan don’t look as daunting. With games at Purdue and Penn State still to come, this team can erase the road woes of Carmody’s past.
It’s hard to find an easier Big Ten start than a Minnesota road game sandwiched between Purdue and Penn State at home (Michigan State began the season at Illinois and Wisconsin, and has Indiana later this week). NU owes some of its early success to the Big Ten schedulers, but the Cats still could have lost this game and not thought much of it; after all, it was a road game. That they won convincingly shows they’re ready for road battles in the future.
A win against Minnesota doesn’t mean NU will soar to heights never seen by the program, but because of the confidence gained from this game, at least it has a chance.
Deputy sports editor Abe Rakov is a medill sophomore. He can be reached at [email protected].
