Good game. Two squads playing physical basketball. Jahmir Young's outstanding game was not enough to overcome the more talented Northwestern rotation...
| Player | Minutes | NU pts | MD Pts | Raw +/- | Player Adjust | Game +/- |
|---|
| Barnhizer | 38 | 70 | 69 | +1 | +7.83 | +8.03 |
| Nicholson | 31 | 58 | 50 | +8 | +1.35 | +2.95 |
| Buie | 37 | 69 | 64 | +5 | +1.50 | +2.50 |
| Preston | 0+ | 0 | 2 | -2 | +0.00 | -0.4 |
| Berry | 32 | 60 | 58 | +2 | -1.49 | -1.09 |
| Hunger | 9 | 14 | 17 | -3 | -1.93 | -1.93 |
| Martinelli | 16 | 25 | 21 | +4 | -2.74 | -1.94 |
| Langborg | 37 | 64 | 64 | +0 | -5.13 | -5.13 |
Brooks Barnhizer claims top honors this week with 38 minutes of warfare against the Terrapins. 5 of 8 from the field, 1 of 2 from distance, 4 of 4 from the foul line, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 5 steals and 1 block.
Matt Nicholson played 31 minutes, one shy of his career high. He and his teammates put up a +8 and he was more active on both ends of the floor. Some noteworthy items... Because Julian Reese doesn't shoot 3's, Nicholson was able to stay in the paint more defensively and he didn't have to do as much switching. That helps him use his size more effectively. On the offensive end, NU was screening with a variety of players. Nicholson spent more time near the basket, although he continued his excellent screening - just less of it. This resulted in more offensive rebounds and disruption, plus several dunks.
Boo Buie had another good game, as we've come to expect.
Ty Berry was not as good as he has been lately - his shot suffered as he tried to slow down Jahmir Young... without much success.
But he contributed 3 assists, 5 rebounds and 4 huge free throws to seal the victory.
Ryan Langborg didn't shoot it well (3 for 10) but battled for 37 minutes in a physical game.
Nick Martinelli struggled at times - Collins was not thrilled when he ran out the shot clock...
Luke Hunger - we got outscored 14-7 when the new starting lineup was in the game (just over 5 minutes).
When the old starting lineup (Nicholson/Barnhizer/Bery/Langborg/Buie) was out there, we outscored the Terps 40-32 in 18 minutes.
The fact that a specific 5 man lineup would play 18 minutes together is a fairly dramatic change for Coach Collins. It reflects our limited depth.
"NU's best lineup" (Nicholson/Martinelli/Barnhizer/Berry/Buie) only saw 2:21 of gametime and tied 5-5.
Good win for Northwestern.
Oh one other thing - watching the replay - at the end of the game - Collins was trying to decide if he wanted to foul with 3 seconds left and (hopefully) a 3 point lead. He huddled with his assistants. Talor Battle was pretty animated, definitely voicing his opinion. Lowery responded to Battle. McIntosh leaned back a little and didn't say anything. Collins gave the word to foul. I thought the dynamic was pretty good.
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