After the blowout loss to Illinois last week, I thought the Cats' weaknesses were daunting and the immediate prospects dismal. It seemed, with upcoming road games against PSU and Wisconsin, that a loss yesterday would be the gateway to a 1-4 start to the conference season.

The weaknesses I saw were the inability to deal with double teams on Buie, the seemingly lost play of Nicholson, the slow rotations on the defensive perimeter, and the abandonment of the offensive boards in an attempt to avoid yielding transition points, among others.

I thought the team's prep for MSU was remarkable. The team recognized double teams, moved in reaction, and were rewarded with open looks the whole game, even though they missed the first 7. Hunger and Martinelli both provided interior offense that had been sadly lacking. The defense coordinated against high ball screens decisively, and reduced the number of breakdowns after double teams. The work on the offensive boards was focused and successful.

This team is different from last year and still faces a lot of challenges, but yesterday's game gave me some hope. MSU helped by playing dreadfully, but part of that was that NU changed course and played a different game than those they had played recently.

I just think this is something to remember when we talk about any and all college athletics and what the kids do and go through to get where they are.

I prefer our 2-1 record over 3-1 Indiana or Minnesota.

Beat Penn State.

All times CENTRAL. Rankings come from the CFP poll. All games available nationally unless otherwise indicated. This is the final week of the regular season.

First, the NU game:

Northwestern @ Illinois
Saturday, November 25
2:30 PM, BTN*
PxP: Cory Provus
Color: Jake Butt

And the rest:

Friday, November 24

#17 Iowa @ Nebraska
11:00 AM, CBS
PxP: Tom McCarthy
Color: Ross Tucker

#11 Penn State vs. Michigan State @ Detroit, MI
6:30 PM, NBC
PxP: Noah Eagle
Color: Todd Blackledge

Saturday, November 25

#2 Ohio State @ #3 Michigan (ESPN College GameDay)
11:00 AM, FOX
PxP: Gus Johnson
Color: Joel Klatt

Indiana @ Purdue
11:00 AM, BTN
PxP: Chris Vosters
Color: Brock Vereen

Maryland @ Rutgers
2:30 PM, BTN*
PxP: Connor Onion
Color: Matt Millen

Wisconsin @ Minnesota
2:30 PM, FS1
PxP: Jeff Levering
Color: Mark Helfrich

*These are regional telecasts; check your local listings or the BTN GameFinder.

@lou v talked to UteNation publisher Alex Markham about Utah's season and what to expect in the Las Vegas Bowl.

Career nights for Hunger, Buie, and nearly Berry, plus some of the highlights from an all-time post game presser from Tom Izzo. Here are our takeaways from last night's 88-74 win over Michigan State.

It’s possible he may be out as part of the Commanders front office changes. He would make a great athletic director candidate.

Eamonn Brennan used to write this column for the Athletic, but then left and now has his own Substack. Today was the first day of this year's bubble watch:

I like the note about our Shot Quality (from here), which in theory speaks to strong fundamentals, though apparently we're 286th in % of possessions that result in either a 3-point shot or shot at the rim, and therefore the model predicts some negative regression moving forward. This is the first time I've heard of this website, so I can't speak much to its results, just passing on the data points.

The last sentence, though...less humorous. We are 2-4 at PSU and 4-4 at Wisconsin under CCC, and we haven't won at PSU since 2017.

What a fun game yesterday. It felt like Michigan game in 98 lol.

This guy was amazing, saw him play when I was a kid, it was incredible.

Luke Hunger got his first start for Northwestern and the team bounced back admirably from a poor effort in Champaign, throttling the Spartans 88-74.
It was an important win, certainly NU's best effort since the Purdue game.


NU's success came from 3 lineups.
Hunger with Barnhizer / Berry / Buie / Langborg put up 24 points and allowed 19 in just over 8 minutes.
The prior success of this lineup was highlighted here after the Illinois game.
NU scores points at a high rate when that group of 5 is on the court.

The most successful lineup against MSU was actually our prior starting lineup...
Nicholson/Barnhizer/Berry/Langborg/Buie punished the Spartans 23-11 over 8 minutes.
Nicholson again battled foul problems although his 2nd foul was ridiculous.
The third approach that produced for NU was Hunger with Barnhizer and Martinelli. That trio put up a 17-9 advantage over 8.5 minutes.
NU did not play particularly well when Preston was at the 5.
Nicholson did not play with Martinelli and Barnhizer at the same time, unfortunately.

With Hunger at the 5, the offense was much more fluid and we did some damage on the offensive boards.
I'm pretty sure there were also changes made to the offense when Nicholson was out there.
He set multiple screens away from the ball to free up shooters who were running around trying to lose their defender.
That stood in contrast with the standard "Nicholson sets ball screen for Buie while 3 guys stand and wait for a kickout."
We did some of that too, but I loved seeing the increased motion from Berry, Langborg and Barnhizer.

Really an impressive win for NU and a good night for Chris Collins. Ty Berry had another good game.

I just saw a thread from the end of last month that posted a link to a local reporter's article about the hazing scandal. That thread is now locked to replies.

It's likely that we'll see more articles from this same reporter, and they will probably defend Coach Fitzgerald-- as long as that defense also puts NU and the NU administration in a bad light. Now, make no mistake, I'm not implying that the admin doesn't deserve a heavy dose of criticism. However, please be aware that this reporter has a very strong bias against both the school and the football program.

Also, be aware that the reporter in question has a history of deceit. He has appeared on message boards in the past, under multiple aliases. During his first assignment on the NU beat years ago, he would appear on message boards under one fake name, post a link to his articles (typically blasting Randy Walker, the program, and the university), then praise the articles (and insulting any replies critical of the article) using other fake names.

It's important to consider this when reading ongoing coverage.

Or asterisk?

Fake champion.

Finds out that Lujan is from Alaska! We might need a separate board just for photos from the guy’s hometown!

@Alaskawildkat

*

Igwebuike just had an extremely impressive 42 yard TD run for the Lions. Broke several tackles and made a few guys miss!

I’ve gained a ton of respect for Norvell over the past few weeks.

The live camera of the FSU room when the selection committee picked Bama tells you all you need to know. He’s sitting down, he dips his head for half a second and then immediately stands up in front of the room to address his men.

He had every right to sit and sulk and let his players do the same and he chose to lead.

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Career nights for Hunger, Buie, and nearly Berry, plus some of the highlights from an all-time post game presser from Tom Izzo. Here are our takeaways from last night's 88-74 win over Michigan State.

Looks like the Cats check in at #14. Just ahead of the Utes!

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All times CENTRAL. All games available nationally unless otherwise indicated. I will add announcers as they are assigned.

First, the NU games:

Northwestern @ Penn State
Wednesday, January 10
5:30 PM, BTN
PxP: Jason Horowitz
Color: Stephen Bardo

Northwestern @ Wisconsin
Saturday, January 13
11:00 AM, BTN
PxP: Kevin Kugler
Color: Brian Butch

And the rest:

Tuesday, January 9

Indiana @ Rutgers
6:00 PM, Peacock (streaming only)
PxP: Noah Eagle
Color: Stephen Bardo

Purdue @ Nebraska
8:00 PM, Peacock (streaming only)
PxP: Jac Collinsworth
Color: Robbie Hummel

Wednesday, January 10

Wisconsin @ Ohio State
7:30 PM, BTN
PxP: Kevin Kugler
Color: Robbie Hummel

Thursday, January 11

Michigan @ Maryland
6:00 PM, FS1
PxP: Jason Benetti
Color: Robbie Hummel

Michigan State @ Illinois
8:00 PM, FS1
PxP: Tim Brando
Color: Bill Raftery

Friday, January 12

Minnesota @ Indiana
5:30 PM, FS1
PxP: Lisa Byington
Color: Stephen Bardo

Nebraska @ Iowa
8:00 PM, BTN
PxP: Mike Hall
Color: Brian Butch

Saturday, January 13

Penn State @ Purdue
1:15 PM, BTN
PxP: Dave Revsine
Color: Robbie Hummel

Sunday, January 14

Rutgers @ Michigan State
11:00 AM, BTN
PxP: Dave Revsine
Color: LaPhonso Ellis

Maryland @ Illinois
1:00 PM, BTN
PxP: Kevin Kugler
Color: Robbie Hummel

Behind the Football Board in reporting Lujan as new OC?

Get to know Northwestern's top target at offensive coordinator.

I absolutely love Izzo. This presser is magical. I would love every coach to take a page from his presser how to book. Absolute gold.

I'm hearing that Luke Hunger will start tonight, his name is on the student section cheering sheets.