After a nearly eight-month hiatus, Northwestern basketball is back.
Although Wednesday’s result against McKendree is ultimately meaningless, the midweek affair provided a first look at coach Chris Collins’ 11th squad.
The Wildcats opened up an early 16-5 lead by the first media timeout and never looked back against the Bearcats, winning 85-63.
Junior guard Brooks Barnhizer was the standout for the ‘Cats, jumping passing lanes and scoring at will. The 6-foot-6 Indiana native posted a game-high 29 points, five steals and four blocks, with seven boards and four assists to boot. Graduate student guard Boo Buie tacked on 10 points and a game-high nine assists in the 22-point victory.
Here are three takeaways from NU’s exhibition against McKendree:
1. First impressions of transfer trio
Collins’ three transfer portal additions — graduate student guard Ryan Langborg, graduate student forward Blake Preston and sophomore guard Justin Mullins — all made their debut in purple and white Wednesday, with Langborg logging the lone start among the trio.
Mullins, the hometown kid returning to the Chicagoland area after a one-year stint at the University of Denver, showed his two-way ability early. The Oak Park native notched seven points, three rebounds and three assists in the first half. While he’s still adjusting to assistant coach Chris Lowery’s defensive scheme, Mullins’ ability to be a quality on-ball defender was evident.
Preston’s first play as a ‘Cat was emphatic. The Liberty transfer swatted a Bearcat shot off the glass, sparking a transition break which ended in a Mullins layup. Preston logged 13 minutes for NU as senior center Matthew Nicholson’s backup, posting six points, two boards and a block.
Langborg, although hampered by some first-half foul trouble, displayed the shooting Collins brought him to Evanston for. Starting alongside Buie and senior guard Ty Berry, the Princeton transfer knocked down five of his nine attempts from the floor, including 3-of-7 from beyond the arc.
2. Berry’s 3-point shooting
One of the biggest storylines entering the 2023-24 campaign was whether Berry could shake off last season’s 3-point shooting woes.
In the game’s opening minutes, it looked like Berry had done just that, knocking down two of his first three attempts from distance. But the Newton, Kansas, native’s shot fell flat soon after, as he missed his next six shots before the intermission.
The second half wasn’t much better. Berry finished Wednesday’s contest with nine points on a dismal 3-of-11 shooting from beyond the arc. With the addition of Langborg, the ‘Cats have an abundance of options on the perimeter, but Berry remaining a threat from deep as the season progresses will play an integral role in determining the ceiling of this team.
3. Collins runs thin rotation with multiple players sidelined
Sophomore forward Nick Martinelli and freshmen guards Parker Strauss and Jordan Clayton did not dress for the ‘Cats Wednesday, instead donning black jumpsuits from the bench.
Collins opted to run a thin seven-man rotation in the first frame, with Buie, Berry and Barnhizer playing nearly all 20 minutes. That trend continued in the second half until sophomore forward Luke Hunger entered at the 7:20 mark — his first on-court appearance since suffering a season-ending injury last year.
While Martinelli, Strauss and Clayton remain day-to-day, according to Collins, NU’s thin rotation is something to monitor ahead of the season opener against Binghamton on Monday.
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