By Ben LarrisonThe Daily Northwestern
It started off so promising.
A 10-3 non-conference record, the best in the Bill Carmody era. Wins over DePaul and Miami and a creaming of Utah. An emerging star in freshman Kevin Coble.
Then, much like last year, a tough loss to Penn State seemed to deflate Northwestern’s momentum and trigger a slide that has yet to end.
Though they have put themselves in the position to win games, the Wildcats still are failing to actually earn victories. Despite playing well at home, posting serious upset bids against Ohio State, Wisconsin and Michigan, NU has yet to pick up a Big Ten win at Welsh-Ryan Arena in 2007.
The Cats remain in position to make a run at the NIT, but if they are to qualify for postseason play for the first time this decade they’ll need to start playing well down the stretch in close games and, ultimately, beating teams instead of almost beating them.
“It would be tough to (make the NIT),” Carmody said. “It would be tough to do, because it’s not even just the .500 record anymore. It’s that we have to get a win before we can even think that.”
With all the close calls and early season heroics, it’s easy to forget that NU is an overwhelmingly young team. The Cats have two freshmen and two sophomores frequenting the starting lineup and grabbing major minutes in big games. Coble has exceeded any and all expectations, stepping up as NU’s leading scorer and rebounder and improving with nearly every game. Fellow freshman Jeff Ryan has earned a spot in the starting lineup with solid defense and the occasional scoring boost.
Despite strong play from their freshmen, the Cats’ have continued to struggle in Big Ten play. Carmody said for NU to start winning games, it will come down to rebounding and, simply enough, “making shots.”
“We have to win so we can feel good about ourselves,” Carmody said. “I thought we were doing OK, and then we lost to Minnesota and we had a bad stretch against Wisconsin … We’re (just) having trouble scoring.”
The Cats are dead-last in the Big Ten in both rebounding (25.1, more than seven boards behind No. 10 Purdue) and rebounding margin (an astounding minus-8.0). NU helps make up for the losses with 8.59 steals per game and a plus-3.36 turnover margin, both conference bests. But opponents have capitalized on offensive rebounds and buried the Cats with second-chance points.
As far as making shots, Carmody went so far as to call NU’s offense “paltry.” The scoring problems for NU have come early and late. Coble said that when the Cats can’t capitalize on solid defense in the first five to 10 minutes of games, it puts more pressure on them to play “perfectly” down the stretch, when the team has surrendered multiple upset bids.
NU certainly could use a boost from slumping sophomore Craig Moore. Though he’s third on the team in points per game, his scoring average and playing time have dwindled after three straight underwhelming games.
Still, the Cats have had a few bright spots offensively, including Coble’s team-leading 12.8 points per game – good for 15th in the conference – and senior Vince Scott’s 7.9, well above his career average of 2.8. Fellow senior Tim Doyle has added 5.18 assists a game, third best in the Big Ten, to go with his 10.1 points.
Reach Ben Larrison at [email protected].
