A few days after Devan Bawinkel and his Iowa teammates dominated from downtown, the last person Northwestern wants to see is Minnesota’s Blake Hoffarber.
“You used to have people in the 50 (percent range) in 3-point shooting,” coach Bill Carmody said last month after playing Minnesota for the first time. “Now you don’t. There’s just a couple guys that do that.”
Hoffarber is one of those guys. He shoots exactly 50 percent from beyond the arc, a stat which leads the conference and is seventh in the nation. The junior guard burned the Cats at Minnesota with a shooting barrage, hitting four 3s in the game’s final seven minutes to lead the Golden Gophers to a 65-61 victory.
But NU (16-8, 5-7 Big Ten) didn’t necessarily learn its lesson from the loss at Minnesota (14-8, 5-5). On Wednesday when the Cats played the Hawkeyes-a team not known for its 3-point shooting-NU stuck with its 1-3-1 zone for the majority of the game and paid the price. Iowa connected on 12-of-24 shots from beyond the arc en route to a 78-65 victory.Bawinkel, who has taken 76 shots on the year without trying a single 2-pointer, buried 5-of-8 long balls.
“It was like we disregarded the scouting report on Bawinkel,” Carmody said. “We picked other guys to guard tight, leaving him open, and he’s a terrific shooter.”
Part of the problem for the Cats is that their signature defense-Carmody’s 1-3-1 zone-is designed to stop penetration and force turnovers, while putting less of an emphasis on guarding the perimeter.
NU has used the defense sparingly of late, holding opponents to only 30 percent from beyond the arc and skyrocketing to second in the conference in 3-point defense. Iowa and Minnesota capitalized on NU’s reliance on the 1-3-1, letting loose from long distance with great success.
“We were careless,” Carmody said. “We went to the 1-3-1, but a couple of our guys didn’t seem like they were ready to play. We were out of position, and Iowa took advantage.”When the Gophers come to Welsh-Ryan Arena on Sunday, the Cats will pay more attention to the opposing sharpshooter.
“We just have to do a better job on our defensive rotations,” junior guard Michael Thompson said. “We have to pay better attention to him and know where their shooters are on the court.”
It’s a mistake NU can’t afford to make against Minnesota, another team on the NCAA Tournament bubble.
Both squads are in the middle of the Big Ten pack, and with the loss to 10th-place Iowa, the Cats need to avoid being swept by the Gophers. Beating Minnesota would also give NU its 17th win, tying its season wins record.
“We can’t play great in some games and have mental lapses in others,” sophomore forward John Shurna said. “We have to play tough, and every game in the Big Ten is a tough game.”[email protected]
