There was a faint smell of smoke when coach Bill Carmody walked into the press room at Welsh-Ryan Arena after Northwestern’s 66-52loss to Penn State on Thursday.
“Is somebody smoking?” Carmody asked. “It wasn’t us.”
‘Smoking’ would be the last way to describe the Wildcats’ (16-11, 6-10 Big Ten) sixth-consecutive loss to the Nittany Lions (15-12, 8-8). Five days after a gritty road win against Indiana, NU fell behind early against Penn State and never completed its comeback. The Cats spoiled a chance to win their third consecutive conference contest for the first time all year, and the loss dims NU’s chances of hosting its first NIT game since 1994.
“We just didn’t get (Penn State) to the point where we could get over the hump so they would feel uptight,” Carmody said. “It’s a tough loss for us.”
The Cats gave up 18 points in the first seven minutes, but midway through the first half NU switched to its 1-3-1 zone defense, and the rest of the half Carmody’s crew only surrendered eight points.
NU’s problem was its wobbly offense, which couldn’t make a shot when it mattered most. Five minutes after intermission and with the Cats down three, sophomore guard Drew Crawford passed up an open three-pointer in front of NU’s bench, and classmate Alex Marcotullio ended up bricking his attempt from beyond the arc. Two minutes later, with his team down three, Crawford missed a wide-open trey from the right corner. Senior guard Michael Thompson tallied the Cats’ first three-pointer of the second stanza eight minutes into the half, but Penn State answered with nine consecutive points.
In the game’s final 26 minutes, the Cats shot 1-for-12 on possessions when the score was within three points.
“If you score then there’s pressure on the other team,” Carmody said. “When they know you’re not making shots then they’re not tight when they’re on offense. There’s just so many times you can make stops.”
Excluding three-pointers, NU shot a respectable 50 percent from the field. But the Cats were without their normally-potent prowess from beyond the arc. Thompson, who finished with 22 points, registered four long balls on the night. However, Crawford, Marcotullio, freshman guard JerShon Cobb and junior forward John Shurna combined to go 2-for-18 from long range.
The Cats also got limited production from their bench. Marcotullio had one of his worst nights of the year, fouling out before he could record a point. The sophomore had the tough task of playing at the top of the 1-3-1 for much of the night, and Carmody noted that playing the zone for so long might have drained some energy from his team.
“That can happen because you want to put pressure on them a little more than you do in the matchup,” Carmody said.
Now NU travels to Madison, Wisc., looking to do something no team has done all year: beat Wisconsin at the Kohl Center. The Badgers are a perfect 15-0 at home, with their signature win coming in a 71-67 upset of then top-ranked Ohio State.
“It’s tough playing at their place,” Thompson said. “We just have to slow it down and play at a tempo which we’re comfortable with.”
