The Welsh-Ryan Arena crowd has waited all season for something — anything — to grab onto.
With just under 15 minutes remaining in the second half of Northwestern’s Saturday afternoon tilt against Minnesota, its second Big Ten home test of a frustrating campaign that has given way to some muted home atmospheres, they appeared to have found it.
But, it was nothing more than a false dawn — a flicker of hope that soon faded away to compound the Wildcats’ (8-6, 0-3 Big Ten) misery in a season that has now spiraled out of control after an 84-78 defeat to the Golden Gophers (9-5, 2-1 Big Ten).
“I’ll take full accountability for it,” coach Chris Collins said postgame. “But if we want to win games in this league, we’re going to have to get a whole lot tougher, mentally and physically.”
After junior guard Jayden Reid grabbed a defensive rebound, he scurried up the court before tossing a lob to sophomore guard Angelo Ciaravino, who slammed down a flying two-handed dunk. Ciaravino quickly recovered on defense and reached in for a steal, sending junior guard Jordan Clayton up the court for a fastbreak layup opportunity that was ultimately followed in by star senior forward Nick Martinelli for two.
The Welsh exploded in a way it hadn’t yet this season, and the ’Cats led 53-46, their largest lead of the game.
That moment could have been a turning point for NU’s season, providing a fire that had been lacking previously. Instead, a familiar sound rang out as the ’Cats slumped to defeat in a must-win game: that of hollow silence.
Gopher guard Jaylen Crocker-Johnson nailed a 3-pointer with under four minutes to play to put the visitors ahead 69-68, and they surged forward from there. A late Minnesota turnover brought a six-point lead down to two, but the Gophers were ice-cold from the charity stripe as they closed out the game.
Martinelli led the way once again with a game-high 26 points, but it wasn’t enough. Junior center Arrinten Page returned after a team standards violation kept him out of NU’s last game, adding 19 points but he faltered on the defensive end as the ’Cats conceded dunk after dunk in the second half.
Little separated the two sides in the first half, as neither led by more than five at any point. The Gophers’ fast-paced ball movement overwhelmed NU at times, repeatedly creating open looks under the basket in a sight that fans at Welsh-Ryan Arena have become all too familiar with.
On the other end of the floor, the ’Cats’ offense appeared steadier and slower-paced than usual. Reid rarely ran the floor in transition other than his brief burst that sprung Ciaravino’s alley-oop, eschewing the style of play that has added a new dimension to NU’s offense but too often created chaos in late-game situations.
The ’Cats took good care of the ball throughout the afternoon, giving it away just four times in a return to the delicate standards that have carried coach Chris Collins’ teams to three NCAA Tournament appearances.
However, NU couldn’t capitalize on its high-water mark of momentum, and Minnesota’s 24 points in the game’s final 4:39 minutes won the day.
Here are three takeaways from Northwestern’s flop against Minnesota:
1. Minnesota exploits poor paint defense
In their previous Big Ten tilt against Ohio State, the ’Cats conceded a staggering 62 points in the paint, a mark which proved deadly in an 86-82 defeat.
That abysmal showing prompted soul-searching from Collins, who said he had the team return to basic defensive drills during the week before the team’s next game. Marginally improved performances followed against non-conference foes, but on Saturday, it was back to square one for NU.
Minnesota coasted into the lane for wide-open dunks and layups throughout the afternoon, finishing with 42 points in the paint.
“There needs to be a sense of urgency in our fight and defensive discipline and habits if we want to win a game in this league,” Collins said.
By the under-8 media timeout in the first half, the Gophers had scored 14 of their 19 points in NU’s paint. On consecutive possessions on either side of that break, Minnesota guard Langston Reynolds blew by junior guard Jordan Clayton for an easy layup, before guard Kai Shinholster took advantage of a glaring defensive lapse for a layup with not a single Wildcat occupying a square inch of its paint.
In the second half, NU conceded a staggering 50 points en route to its third conference defeat.
2. Page flatters to deceive in return from conduct-related absence
After Page missed NU’s previous contest against Howard due to a violation of team standards, he did not appear in Collins’ starting five for the second consecutive game. But on Saturday, he was substituted in after the first media timeout, marking an end to his time out in the cold.
Page had a game of extreme highs and lows, adding much-needed size in a productive offensive game but stranding his matchup in the paint repeatedly as the ’Cats let yet another late lead slip.
By the end, Page finished with a game-worst minus-13 despite a few flashy offensive moments in the first half. As the Golden Gophers lit up the box score in the final minutes, they frequently evaded him for simple paint buckets.
Page opened his account for the afternoon with an acrobatic layup that put the ’Cats ahead 15-11 with 11:40 remaining in the first half. He thundered home an alley-oop and touched in a layup in quick succession to close out the first period, showing off his range of talents and keeping NU afloat in a tight tussle that stood dead even at halftime.
But as the game wore on, Page looked spent as he repeatedly failed to protect the basket. Three dunks in a two-minute span from Gopher forward Grayson Grove kept Minnesota afloat, and further paint penetration in the final four minutes dealt the final nail in the coffin.
“AP was the biggest guy on the floor,” Collins said. “We have size — that’s not an excuse.”
3. NU fails to secure must-win home game ahead of daunting schedule
After a second straight dispiriting Big Ten home loss, the ’Cats have now sunk to 0-3 in conference play, and that’s before they face the meatiest portion of their schedule.
The gauntlet of top Big Ten teams looming on NU’s calendar gives Collins a daunting task to grapple with. Over their next five clashes, the ’Cats face four ranked opponents — No. 9 Michigan State and No. 24 USC on the road, as well as No. 13 Nebraska and No. 20 Illinois at home.
“You just gotta play the next game,” Collins said. “I couldn’t have even told you who four of the next five are.”
There will be no room for error as NU continues to search for answers against even higher-caliber opponents than those it has faced thus far.
The ’Cats’ nightmare stretch of fixtures begins Thursday, when they travel to East Lansing to face a Spartans (12-2, 2-1 Big Ten) team coming off a defeat at Nebraska.
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