If ever there was an opportunity for Northwestern to go on a meaningful run in the Big Ten and make significant headway in this congested conference, unquestionably it is now.
If the Wildcats have any desire at all to stick it to history and finally waltz at the Big Dance-and assuming this Michigan blowout was any indication, they certainly do-the next two weeks will be critical to building a r’eacute;sum’eacute; worthy of their first-ever NCAA Tournament invitation.
There’s no time like the present.
The Cats surely had that in mind after taming the Wolverines 67-52 at Welsh-Ryan Arena, setting the tone for what they hope will be a season-swinging stretch. Tuesday night’s victory starts a stint in which NU plays four out of five games in their friendly-and recently fierce-home confines. The Cats are 11-3 at home, and, tantalizingly, the next four games will be played against teams that are a combined 9-26 in the Big Ten.
With the win, NU moves up to seventh in the conference with a 4-6 record. Nothing to hang your hat or your NCAA Tournament hopes on, but the Cats are now in position to make a legitimate late-season run.
NU knew the first half of its conference schedule would not be a cakewalk. Without a doubt, they took their licks, losing five of their seven games against the top five teams in the Big Ten. To euphemize, they were streaky, highlighted by an upset of then-No. 6 Purdue. To put it bluntly, they were inconsistent, following that court-storming victory with a 20-point blowout loss at Ohio State. But the fact was they were enduring a brutal early schedule that would get easier. Now, in the second half of the season, comes the sweet payoff.
Looking beyond the next couple of weeks-something coaches and players are loath to do-the Cats face the three worst teams in the Big Ten twice each. Reluctant though I am to predict victories and risk a jinx, NU has to be confident about its chances of winning at least five of those gimme games.
But regardless of how the team’s future unfolds, NU must feel good about the way it utterly dismantled Michigan. Thanks to an offensive attack that featured four players in double figures, the Cats shot a scorching 54.3 percent and binged on the 3-pointer, connecting on half of their 20 attempts. Of their 67 points, 58 came either from in the paint or beyond the arc, exemplifying a utopian version of the Cats’ Princeton offense. Luka Mirkovic shut down the Wolverines’ Goliath forward, DeShawn Sims, while scoring and dishing effectively on offense. Drew Crawford and John Shurna led the Cats’ 3-point shooting clinic, and Jeremy Nash boarded hard.
Michigan coach John Beilein left Evanston duly impressed by the Cats’ play and will.
‘NU has a very good offense,’ Beilein said. ‘They have four guys that can shoot, the center is a great passer and the point guard is outstanding. All they want to do is win, and they have a goal (of getting) to the NCAA Tournament.’
Perhaps the Cats’ proficient display was a promising sign of things to come; perhaps it was only as simple as their own coach laid it out.
‘We were home and we had to win this game,’ Bill Carmody said. ‘And we did.’
Understatement aside, one thing is incontrovertible. If the Cats play anywhere close to the level they did against the Wolverines, they have a chance to win a lot of games. Then maybe they can pop that pesky bubble that’s been hovering over the program’s head for the last century. Assistant Sports Editor Jimmy Carlton is a Medill senior. He can be reached at [email protected].
