Just as with any skill, it takes hours of practice and years of instruction to capture.
Overlooked early in the season in favor of the crop of freshmen coach Bill Carmody brought to Northwestern, experience has carried the team to its most impressive two-game stretch in recent memory.
The Wildcats (10-6, 2-4 Big Ten) have let leads slip away in the second half of games against No. 7 Michigan State, No. 18 Purdue and Penn State. And those games were not forgotten during victories in their last two games against then-No. 17 Minnesota and Michigan State.
“We just didn’t handle the Purdue game well,” forward Kevin Coble said. “We were in that position, and I think that helped us actually in the Minnesota game where we said, ‘OK, this is where we were just a couple of days ago; let’s zero in and fix it and make sure it doesn’t happen again.'”
But it’s not just the experience from game to game that’s helped the Cats. Though Carmody’s roster is packed with youth, he has found more minutes for his veterans in Big Ten games.
In conference play, center Luka Mirkovic leads NU freshmen with 17.3 minutes per game. But that is only good for fifth on the team, as senior Craig Moore, juniors Coble and Jeremy Nash, and sophomore Michael Thompson all see at least 20 minutes of action per game in Big Ten matches.
By placing a heavy burden on returning players, Carmody ensures that his sets run more smoothly on both ends of the court. This year’s edition of the 1-3-1 zone defense has flustered opponents to a greater extent than in years past.
“We’ve got veterans playing it,” said junior guard Jeff Ryan, one of the team’s defensive specialists. “Craig and Jeremy have been around for a while at the top of the 1-3-1, and they’re doing a great job pressuring the ball.”
The same can be said for Carmody’s Princeton offense, which requires a wealth of knowledge of the different possible cuts and passes during each offensive possession. Because many of the Cats’ key offensive players have played it before, fewer mistakes are made. Thompson said having a year of the offense under his belt has helped him learn to make better decisions leading the offense.
“The Princeton offense allows us to dictate the tempo of the game,” he said. “Being the point guard, I get to control when we want to run the ball and when we want to slow it up.”
With well-executed offensive and defensive possessions, NU leads the Big Ten in turnover margin by securing 4.75 more turnovers than it gives away. This margin allows the Cats to get away with being the worst rebounding team in the conference. They get extra possessions by taking the ball away, while their opponents get them by cleaning up the glass.
With a trip to Ann Arbor to face Michigan on deck this Saturday at 7 p.m., NU needs to use the experience from recent success to extend its winning streak to three.
