In Northwestern’s season-opening 70-47 win over Mercyhurst on Monday, coach Chris Collins delivered on his promise to deepen his rotation.
The 13th-year sideline guru put 11 different Wildcats (1-0, 0-0 Big Ten) on the floor, including two garbage time minutes for freshman guard Phoenix Gill. Collins made substitutions at a frenetic pace, ultimately changing his rotation on 27 occasions and rolling out 23 unique combinations of five players.
This is what those nearly two-dozen distinct lineups looked like in chronological order:
Of those lineups, only three saw the floor for a period longer than three minutes. Those rotations ultimately delivered the highest plus/minus figure of any three, converting their extended minutes into significant momentum shifts.
No lineup contributed more to the ’Cats’ second-half push than one featuring junior guard Jayden Reid, sophomore guard K.J. Windham, senior guard Justin Mullins, senior forward Nick Martinelli and junior center Arrinten Page. That five-man group finished a plus-12 in two second-half spurts totaling five minutes and 59 seconds.
Among the biggest questions facing Collins this season is the team’s lack of center depth. With Page the only true center likely to feature, Collins has said he will rely on the size of his forwards to compensate when Page is off the floor — specifically naming Singleton, Martinelli and freshman forward Tyler Kropp as potential small-ball centers.
On Monday, Collins used five combinations of those three players without Page, including one with all three on the court and another with just Kropp.
Page finished a plus-22 on a night when NU won by 23 points, meaning the team performed significantly better with him on the floor. Yet, Collins’ plan of replacing center depth with all-around size is illustrated by the fact that lineups with Page on the floor had a nearly identical average height to those without him.
In fact, across the game, NU’s rotations with a lower average height performed better in plus/minus.
Collins was short one key rotation piece in sophomore guard Angelo Ciaravino, who missed out after taking a hard fall in NU’s final exhibition game versus Illinois State. Collins said he is hopeful Ciaravino will be back on court when the ’Cats return to action Friday to take on Boston University at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
Below, the full chronological order of NU’s Monday rotations is listed, including each group’s time on court, plus/minus and average height.
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