The losses have continued to pile up for Northwestern, which gave up a 17-3 second-half run to No. 8 Nebraska in a 77-58 loss Saturday.
A now-seven-game losing streak to open conference play resumed in blowout fashion as an optimistic first half gave way to a brutal second period for the Wildcats (8-10, 0-7 Big Ten)
Coach Chris Collins ran it back with four of the five starters from Wednesday’s loss to Illinois, but brought in sophomore guard Angelo Ciaravino to replace junior guard Jordan Clayton.
The ’Cats started early with a midrange shot from freshman forward Tre Singleton before giving up an easy basket on the trip down.
After a turnover by junior center Arrinten Page, the Huskers responded with a turnover of their own. Senior forward Nick Martinelli capitalized on the mistake by drilling a top-of-the-key 3-pointer.
However, the next two NU possessions ended with Martinelli misses, and the Huskers capitalized on the lack of offense to build a 7-5 lead that they would extend to 10-5. The ’Cats would respond by making their next five shots to keep the game close.
The teams continued to trade shots throughout the rest of the half, with the largest lead being seven points. Martinelli continued to have a strong game, focusing his efforts in the paint. He finished with 22 points.
A four-point play off of a late foul by Clayton led to a Huskers four-point lead that NU could not overcome for the remainder of the half. The ’Cats never trailed by more than seven or less than two after the four-point play, ending the first half behind 34-29.
In the second half, an early 3-pointer from freshman guard Jake West was unable to mitigate a seven-point barrage from the Cornhuskers (18-0, 7-0 Big Ten) that put the ’Cats down 41-32 early in the half. The teams traded shots before NU continued to struggle, going down 46-36 as Martinelli went scoreless for the first five minutes of the half.
As the half went on, it became clear why this Huskers team is undefeated and ranked eighth in the nation. Nebraska dominated the ’Cats physically, consistently pushing the play to the interior and outmuscling overmatched NU players on their way to the basket.
The lead grew to 56-44 with 10:26 left as the ’Cats were unable to generate any offense, with three turnovers by junior guard Jayden Reid being compounded by a shot clock violation and Martinelli suddenly being unable to score.
As the lead grew to 19, with Nebraska on an 11-0 run, Collins called a timeout to settle his players. Instead, his team had to listen to a Husker-heavy crowd chant “go Big Red” for most of the timeout.
The next few possessions were much of the same, as NU did not recover from its early struggles and was unable to close the gap. A late run proved too little, too late and the final score ended up being 77-58.
“We played pretty well for 20 minutes, and in the second half, they wore us down,” Collins said. “We haven’t been mentally tough enough to fight through those situations.”
1. Focus on inside shooting early disappears, leads to offensive struggles
Coming off a game in which the team shot 36% from deep, NU adapted its game early and built an efficient offense. The team shot just three threes in the first 10 minutes and six total in the half, compared to 12 in the first half of the last game.
While avoiding the deep ball, NU followed Martinelli’s lead and worked in the paint. In the first half, the team finished with 10 points under the basket. Nearly every possession for the ’Cats ended with the team driving to the basket, powering through a Huskers defense that ranks third in the Big Ten in scoring defense.
Despite the clear effort to push play inside the free-throw line, NU struggled to capitalize on its shots. The team shot 42.6% in the field and came up empty on possessions where the crowd was hungry for points.
“We haven’t shot the ball very well at all, which surprised me,” Collins said. “I didn’t see that coming with the guys we have out there.”
No one exemplified these struggles more than Clayton, who attempted only two shots in the first half, both from beyond the arc, and missed both of them. The only NU player to make a 3-pointer in the first half was Martinelli, with the ’Cats’ only two makes from deep in the period.
Martinelli also fell victim to the shooting struggles, not scoring a point in the second half until 14:26 remained, by which time it was too late to stop the Huskers’ bleeding.
2. Rebounding starts as strength before becoming liability
The first half was marked by NU attacking the glass early and often, outrebounding the Huskers 21-13.
Ciaravino and Martinelli led the effort by combining for 13 rebounds to match the Huskers at the half. The duo was consistently successful in the first half at boxing out Nebraska and limiting its ability to capitalize on NU’s poor shooting.
In the second half, however, a switch appeared to flip for the Huskers, who garnered the first five rebounds of the half as NU fell apart against Nebraska’s physicality. The Huskers are a consistent force at the rim, ranking in the middle of the conference in rebounds but second in the Big Ten in fouls.
As the half went on, NU remained unable to cover the glass, being outrebounded 15-9 in the second half and consistently struggling to handle a Husker team that was flying through the paint. This included a mid-air shot by forward Berke Büyüktuncel off an offensive board that sucked the air out of the home portion of the Welsh-Ryan Arena crowd.
Moments later, the timeout was accompanied by an exodus from a portion of the student section. Husker fans responded to that exodus by growing even louder, giving their players standing ovations after and rousing cheers after each offensive board.
3. Man defense leads to open shots, fastbreak points
The ’Cats continued to run man defense, and it cost them early. Several times, an NU player would rush to help their teammate defend the ballhandler, and in their haste, forget about their own defender.
That newly wide-open man would capitalize on the opportunity and make a nearly wide-open shot that no one could defend.
“We’ve really struggled to keep the ball out of our paint with the drive,” Collins said.
As the ’Cats struggled offensively, the team proved unable to defend successfully, often giving up points due to the sloppy man defense. That included Nebraska’s big three of forward Braden Frager, forward Pryce Sandfort and guard Jamarques Lawrence shooting 52.6% in the first half.
In addition to leaving open shots available, NU gave up plenty of points on the fastbreak. The ’Cats scored just three points off the break, but also gave up 15. After NU’s shooting struggles led to a miss, the next play would often be a Nebraska layup.
“We haven’t had the resolve that we’ve needed in these conference games to have the grit to get those stops,” Collins said.
Next week, the ’Cats head out to California for a two-game trip that includes a game against USC on Wednesday before a battle with UCLA on Saturday.
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