Men’s Basketball

Northwestern struggled again from the field in a 58-47 loss to Michigan in Ann Arbor on Monday night.

Early on, it looked like the Wildcats (13-10, 4-6 Big Ten) were going to threaten Michigan (18-6, 7-4), taking a 14-5 lead halfway through the first half. But a 15-0 run that stretched across halves put the Wolverines ahead for good.

The Cats went seven minutes without scoring to close the first half, in which time the Wolverines scored 10 points and took the lead. NU only trailed by two entering halftime, but the deficit grew once the second half began.

Senior forward Scottie Lindsey had a team-high 15 points in the loss and was the only Cats player to score in double figures.

Takeaways:

1. You need to make shots to win. The Cats had as many turnovers as made shots in the first half and finished with 16 turnovers and 18 made field goals. After opening the game shooting 6-for-8 from the field, NU went the last 7:06 of the first half without scoring a point and turned the ball over four times in that span. The Cats opened the second half with another turnover and missed layup, and struggled to find a solid shooting rhythm yet again, shooting just 22 from long range in the latter period.

2. There are holes in the defense. NU’s matchup zone looked strong in the beginning of the first half. Michigan’s Duncan Robinson, who normally shoots 38 percent from beyond the arc, shot 0-for-6 from 3-point range. That changed when the Wolverines began to knock down some of their open shots and went on a 16-5 run, ending the half with 10 unanswered points. Michigan made four of its 10 attempts from deep in the second and shot 50 percent from the field overall. In the previous two games, the Cats adjusted to lock down opponents in the second half, but it was quite the opposite against Michigan.

3. Aaron Falzon could be a key offensive contributor. After scoring eight points without attempting a field goal in Tuesday’s win over Minnesota, Aaron Falzon hit two big 3-pointers coming off the bench for the Cats against Michigan. His six points were NU’s only bench points in the loss. He still struggles off the dribble and in the post, shooting 0-for-3 on two-pointers, but his 3-point shooting opens up the floor a little for the Cats’ offense.

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