Game thread: Northwestern vs. Arizona State

[mshelton33]

Northwestern (8-2) hits the road for the first part of the "neutral site" series with Arizona State (6-4). The game will be played at the Footprint Center in Phoenix, next year's will be at the United Center.

Tip off is scheduled for 7:30 pm CT and the game will air on ESPN 2. There will not be postgame availability from Chris Collins or players.

 

[ballerog711]

Can't win this one playing 3 in 5 on offense. MN and/or Ty Berry have to step up

 

[GatoLouco]

Death, taxes, and shooting 3’s from NBA range if the NBA line is on the court: guaranteed

 

[SDakaGordie]

Defense is here tonight - good to see. Offense is putrid.

 

[SDakaGordie]

We’ve reverted to good offense. Defense still strong overall.

 

[catfans5]

Chicago State is better than ASU.

 

[SDakaGordie]

We can play better, but it was a great show. ASU couldn’t play worse.

 

[drewjin]

We might be looking at three double doubles!

 

[SmellyCat]

We can play better, but it was a great show. ASU couldn’t play worse.

It never seemed like NU was playing great. It was just merely good compared to putrid. That was a horrid first half for ASU.

 

[EagerFan]

Chicago State is better than ASU.

They were pretty good last week. Wouldn't it be great if CS rampages thru the rest of its season and shocks everyone?

 

[EagerFan]

It never seemed like NU was playing great. It was just merely good compared to putrid. That was a horrid first half for ASU.

Yeah, the narrative sounds like the Cats pounded ASU, but they're just playing a decent game while ASU is sucking hard. Some of that is good defense, but man, they've missed a lot of open shots and clean looks.

 

[SDakaGordie]

It never seemed like NU was playing great. It was just merely good compared to putrid. That was a horrid first half for ASU.

We’ve lost bigger leads than this, so hopefully we can avoid any significant lapse, knowing ASU will respond.

 

[SmellyCat]

NU had more turnovers, shot 25% from the line, and 40% of their starting lineup is scoreless. I wouldn’t have expected +23 at this point.

Let’s keep the D and rebounding going in 2H.

 

[NUCatswin]

Chicago State is better than ASU.

don't look now but Chicago State plays at Wisconsin Friday night!

 

[NUCatswin]

did the ESPN studio analyst just claim this game was in Vegas?

 

[BosCat]

did the ESPN studio analyst just claim this game was in Vegas?

Also said we lost AT Miss St. Guess it was a quick 2hr drive from Bos to Miss for me🙂

 

[DaCat]

Weird game.

 

[SDakaGordie]

We need to get starters back in and put this away for good.

 

[bjm989]

Strong game, Cats!

 

[SDakaGordie]

I like that layup / and one by Barnhizer. We just need Brooks to be better offensively to be a truly excellent team. He has to consistently pick up slack because Buie will be targeted. And he has to make his free throws!!

 

[SmellyCat]

NU did not play well in the second half, but fortunately they didn’t have to. I’m not sure ASU ever got within 15. I’ll take it.

 

[EagerFan]

Brooks had some good opportunities that rimmed out, as did Langborg.

 

[stpaulcat]

19 point victory--not too shabby. Good to great rebounding. The bad news--ASU won the second half.

 

[EagerFan]

ASU got very very aggressive in the second half and didn't really pay much of a price for it.

 

[Catreporter]

Yep, nice win. I was worried about this one especially since Adam Miller just got eligible, but we controlled the game with our defense. That's two games in a row like that. Now, hopefully Barnhizer can get that hand healed up and we get some rest before tackling a Jackson State team that upset Missouri earlier this year.

 

[mesacat]

We did not suffer those long scoring droughts that have plagued us forever. Also, I have never seen an NU team handle a full court press as well as this bunch,

 

[Cat Fan in Buckeye Land]

Is anybody else a little concerned about Barnhizer and his recent free throw shooting? Some of these misses have been kind of bad.

 

[phatcat]

@CoralSpringsCat do the people on The Rock know what is wrong with Nicholson? You don't have to tell me the answer, just if there IS an answer.

Right now, are two Bigs are Statue of Liberty and a Statue of Limitations

 

[stpaulcat]

Is anybody else a little concerned about Barnhizer and his recent free throw shooting? Some of these misses have been kind of bad.

Yah, but nah.

 

[Medill '03]

@CoralSpringsCat do the people on The Rock know what is wrong with Nicholson? You don't have to tell me the answer, just if there IS an answer.

Right now, are two Bigs are Statue of Liberty and a Statue of Limitations

I'm guessing he's simply a limited player, and with NU so strong with three guards and other teams scouting him, it's easier to take him out of the game flow.

 

[phatcat]

I'm guessing he's simply a limited player, and with NU so strong with three guards and other teams scouting him, it's easier to take him out of the game flow.

But he's noticeably worse than last spring against generally worse competition.

 

[stpaulcat]

You are all being too hard on Nicholson.

 

[bjm989]

Is anybody else a little concerned about Barnhizer and his recent free throw shooting? Some of these misses have been kind of bad.

Don’t lose sleep over it. His fingers on his shooting hand have been taped. That can cause a player to lose some touch on a shot, or lose a little confidence until healed and the tape is off.

I’ve been thinking more about the loss to Chicago State which knocked us out of the AP 25. We went away from keeping a true 5 in the game to try to match their 5 players who could all drive pretty well. It didn’t work.

I’m wondering whether we should have left our bigs in and gone to a zone…to prevent the 1-1 driving mismatches and force them to make outside shots / threes. We needed to disrupt their flow and momentum, and switching to their style by removing our bigs only played into their style.

CCC might need to think about this if we run into another team built like that…

You could see how the defensive switch made by AZ ST last night really affected us to start the second half. We never did that to Chi St.

 

[benoitdenizetl]

Don’t lose sleep over it. His fingers on his shooting hand have been taped. That can cause a player to lose some touch on a shot, or lose a little confidence until healed and the tape is off.

I’ve been thinking more about the loss to Chicago State which knocked us out of the AP 25. We went away from keeping a true 5 in the game to try to match their 5 players who could all drive pretty well. It didn’t work.

I’m wondering whether we should have left our bigs in and gone to a zone…to prevent the 1-1 driving mismatches and force them to make outside shots / threes. We needed to disrupt their flow and momentum, and switching to their style by removing our bigs only played into their style.

CCC might need to think about this if we run into another team built like that…

You could see how the defensive switch made by AZ ST last night really affected us to start the second half. We never did that to Chi St.

I thought about a zone, too. It seems like we want to play man all the time (great!) but that could have been one game where we showed them a zone for a portion. That way we could have left Nicholson in the game when Chicago State played 5 guards, and on offense we could have just lobbed the ball into NicholBomb for easy dunks. I understand we want to play man basically all the time, but that’s one situation (when they play five guards) where it seems like some zone could have made the difference.

 

[ballerog711]

I think NU struggles rebounding as is. Rebounding out of zone could have added an additional challenge.

They had a 10 point lead in the first half and a 8 point lead with minutes to go, Just stopped sharing the ball and had to many silly turnovers.

 

[bjm989]

I think NU struggles rebounding as is. Rebounding out of zone could have added an additional challenge.

They had a 10 point lead in the first half and a 8 point lead with minutes to go, Just stopped sharing the ball and had to many silly turnovers.

They do struggle at times, esp when Nicholson stands almost under the rim. Another poster made that comment that he often seems to low to effectively go after rebounds. But it’s a toss up to me whether taking out your 7 footer or moving to a zone (which can make it tougher to find a body to box out) has the greater negative effect on rebounding.