Honestly, right now, I'm past the anger stage. We're not very good, not putting 40 minutes together, and we don't seem to adjust to anything the opponent does offensively. We don't get many stops late in games.

But mainly, I'm sad thinking that Barnhizer, Berry, and Nicholson will likely leave here after the end of the regular season and that's it. Forget the NCAA, the NIT looks pretty unlikely at this point ... and we aren't even favorites to get into the Big Ten Tournament at this point. Just sadness. Wish there were answers, but if Barnhizer isn't right - and he clearly isn't - this team just doesn't seem to have what it takes.

Shame. They deserve better. Hope someone figures something out. Two rough home losses are deflating as heck though.

TWO. HOURS. LATER. .....

Left the computer to catch the press conference and go out ....

And who knew that was only the tip of the sad iceberg.

These guys - Brooks especially, but also Ty and Matt for coming back - deserve the Boo moment at the end of last year. It honestly f'ing sucks that he won't get it. Hope the Cats fans can make Senior Night extra special. He deserves it as much as anyone who has ever worn the Purple and White (at least in the modern era) ... regardless of the rest of this year.

As for the future ... we'll be fine. Just keep Culture First.

The Six Nations rugby tournament has started and can be viewed on Peacock. Head injuries are common and HIA evaluations occur frequently. A player with a suspected head injury is removed from the game and evaluated by an independent MD and if cleared can return to play in less than 12 minutes.
I did not realize that World Rugby mandates the use of IMGs(instrumented mouth guards) that transmit data to identify players that have possible head injuries. Professional players must wear the IMGs at all practices and games and severe penalties are enforced for lack of compliance
I did not know IMGs existed but I would suggest mandatory use in college/professional football might be valuable to reduce the risk of CTE(chronic traumatic encephalopathy)

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

First, the NU games:

USC @ Northwestern
Tuesday, February 4
8:00 PM, BTN
PxP: Dave Revsine
Color: Brian Butch

Northwestern @ Washington
Saturday, February 8
9:30 PM, BTN
PxP: Aaron Goldsmith
Color: Jordan Taylor

And the rest:

Tuesday, February 4

Minnesota @ Penn State
6:00 PM, BTN
PxP: Jason Horowitz
Color: Austin Johnson

Purdue @ Iowa
6:00 PM, Peacock (streaming only)
PxP: Paul Burmeister
Color: Stephen Bardo

Indiana @ Wisconsin
8:00 PM, Peacock (streaming only)
PxP: Noah Eagle
Color: Robbie Hummel

Michigan State @ UCLA
9:00 PM, Peacock (streaming only)
PxP: Terry Gannon
Color: Darren Collison

Wednesday, February 5

Oregon @ Michigan
5:30 PM, BTN
PxP: Kevin Kugler
Color: Stephen Bardo

Illinois @ Rutgers
7:30 PM, BTN
PxP: Jeff Levering
Color: Robbie Hummel

Nebraska @ Washington
9:30 PM, BTN
PxP: Aaron Goldsmith
Color: Bruce Weber

Thursday, February 6

Maryland @ Ohio State
6:00 PM, FS1
PxP: Jason Benetti
Color: Bill Raftery

Friday, February 7

USC @ Purdue
6:00 PM, FS1
PxP: Cory Provus
Color: Nick Bahe

Saturday, February 8

Oregon @ Michigan State
11:00 AM, FOX
PxP: Brandon Gaudin
Color: LaPhonso Ellis

Michigan @ Indiana
12:00 PM, CBS
PxP: Spero Dedes
Color: Bill Raftery

Wisconsin @ Iowa
12:00 PM, NBC
PxP: Noah Eagle
Color: Nick Bahe

Penn State @ UCLA
3:00 PM, BTN
PxP: Guy Haberman
Color: Don MacLean

Illinois @ Minnesota
5:00 PM, BTN
PxP: Cory Provus
Color: Shon Morris

Sunday, February 9

Rutgers @ Maryland
11:00 AM, BTN
PxP: Jason Horowitz
Color: Stephen Bardo

Ohio State @ Nebraska
1:00 PM, BTN
PxP: Kevin Kugler
Color: Shon Morris

When Brooks Barnhizer was sidelined for the rest of the season, the Wildcats reverted to the roster we had for the first handful of games.
Here are the numbers...


First the good news. Jalen Leach played his best game at Northwestern and took home the game ball for the 2nd time in a week. Matt Nicholson also played well in defeat.
On the other side of the ledger, Angelo Ciaravino really struggled from the field, going 0 for 6 and he held back the lineups he was playing with - although he was +1 - it should have been more.
This suggests that he was able to do his job defensively and thats about it.
Unfortunately Nick Martinelli played 40 minutes, went 6 of 18 from the floor and thats just too many missed shots.
Justin Mullins was given plenty of run by Coach Collins, who seems to trust him, but the results were grim. We got outscored 57-42 when Mullins was on the court.
KJ Windham only got 9+ minutes of action, but we held our own when he was playing, outscoring the Badgers 13-12.
Windham needs to play more - simply to help run the offense.
Keenan Fitzmorris made a turnaround jumpshot, but we got abused 25-14 when he was in the game. He had difficulty switching on the perimeter, leading to at least 2 wide open 3 pointers for Wisconsin.

The new starting lineup Nicholson/Martinelli/Ciaravino/Leach/Berry managed to defeat the Badgers 18-10 in 8:14. That's encouraging.
When Nicholson and Ciaravino were teamed up, we outscored Wisconsin 32-21 in 15:30.
When Nicholson and Mullins were teamed up, we got outscored by Wisconsin 36-35 in about 19 minutes.
When Fitzmorris and Mullins played together we got annihilated 19-7 in 6:08.

NU was leading 12-7 at the 7:49 stoppage in the first half. Fitzmorris replaced Nicholson again and Wisconsin scored 11 points in 2 minutes to take an 18-15 lead.
Collins got the starters back in and NU responded with an 11-5 segment to reclaim the lead at 26-23.
To close out the half, Collins used Fitzmorris and Martinelli with the 3 guards (Windham, Berry, Leach) and NU posted a 5-0 segment. We didn't see that lineup again.

The game really turned when we had a 46-38 lead with 12:45 left.
Nicholson and Leach left the floor and Fitzmorris/Martinelli/Mullins/Berry/Windham got smoked 8-0 in one minute to tie the score.
Later, a 10-3 run against Nicholson/Martinelli/Mullins/Leach/Berry put the Badgers in command 64-55 with 5:34 left.

Mullins and Martinelli played about 17 consecutive minutes in the 2nd half and we went from leading 35-30 to trailing 75-69.

Wisconsin outrebounded NU 38-29.

@lou v checked in with some of Northwestern's visitors over the weekend to see what they had to say about their Prospect Day trip to campus.

Cheap calls, bad calls, calls I don't understand (Penn State). Game changers. Momentum killers. It just happens again and again and again.

There is no way Goldin gets ejected if that happens the other way around.

Unreal.

Bears request interview with Mike Kafka for HC position.
Login to view embedded media

Here are @mshelton33's takeaways from Welsh Ryan in a game that was overshadowed by the news that broke afterward.

I talked with 2025 guard commit Phoenix Gill about his 20-4 start for St. Ignatius, how he's upped his game as a senior and his goals for the home stretch.

I start this thread as I feel calm, despite us basically having pissed away our chances of a 3 peat.

The program gave us 2 wonderful years. For our modest expectations it was something else. This season it made us dream of over achieving again. I said I believed we had enough to get to 10 wins. In the past 11 was kind of the dancing cut off. This season, with the expanded conference, it might be 10. And I suppose we, indeed, had enough talent for that, but needed a bit of luck that we did not get.

So I'll just enjoy it for what it is:

• Team is competitive enough to get our opponent's best attitude, something that in the past would have been a blessing
• We have two all conference type of players
• We can hope to see (more of) the development of two very promising freshmen
• NIT would not be so bad

The things that can make me go sour:

• Lack of (apparent) effort like what we saw in Champaign
• Not getting to 7-8 wins. There are enough fairly winnable games left. We end up with 4-5 and everything positive I said goes out the window.

The Bears are hitting it out of the park with the new staff. They got the top young offensive mind in the game and landing Dennis Allen was huge. The guy has a ton of experience and runs an aggressive, attacking defense that gets after the QB. Plays a lot of in your face man coverage and not scared to blitz. Exactly what the bears need.

The young kid Johnson hired as offensive coordinator is a rising star. Sean Payton thinks the world of this kid which is a pretty good sign. Johnson was smart to keep HT as special teams coach who is very well respected around the league and by his players.

If the Bears have a decent draft and sign a couple key free agents on the OL and DL the NFC North is gonna be very interesting next year. Go Bears.

Here are @mshelton33's takeaways from Welsh Ryan in a game that was overshadowed by the news that broke afterward.

Opened at only -1.5, would've expected something closer to -3/-4. Interesting. Just need that guru guy to tweet about another of our players being out and cash in when the line rises.

Per Jon Rothstein

Pray for us, if that’s your thing 🙏

The Pat Spencer fan club grows one by one. The legend begins!


Login to view embedded media

Who steps up? We need to get a run going like the past 2 years. Still capable, no quit in this group.

6’6” tight end, Ian Premer out of Great Bend, KS picks up an NU offer tonight. He has a very impressive offer list to include Michigan, Stanford, Oklahoma, Oregon, Penn State and Wisconsin (to name just a few).

Login to view embedded media

I know one former walkon OL that would be a fan of this award.

I’m nominating RaShawn Slater.

Login to view embedded media

@lou v checked in with Greenwood (Ind.) Center Grove defensive lineman Kobe Cherry about his Junior Day visit to Northwestern, his versatility at the next level, and a potential offer.

I eliminated the last 43 seconds because Collins was subbing offense for defense repeatedly and we fouled many times intentionally.
I'm starting to think the NCAA should take 5 seconds off the clock every time the team that is losing commits a foul.


The game ball goes to Jalen Leach who went 8 for 12 from the field for 23 points, with 4 assists and 2 turnovers, but zero rebounds or steals.
He survived an eye poke which took him off the court for a few minutes in the 2nd half. The refs did not even bother to review the contact, which may have been deliberate.
Its impossible to judge intent.... yada yada yada.... but no review.
The other player who played a winning game, Angelo Ciaravino, was very active throughout, with 3 rebounds, 3 blocks, 2 assists, a steal and no turnovers.
Ciaravino looks good out there.

Matt Nicholson was +7. Luke Hunger was -4 in 4 minutes and we got outscored 16-6 when Keenan Fitzmorris was on the court for 6 minutes.
In other words, when Nicholson was playing we outscored Rutgers 57-50. When he wasn't, we got hammered 29-15 in roughly 10 minutes.
Beyond that, though, there was the Nicholson/Mullins problem - and it bit hard.
When Matt and Justin were on the court together, we got scorched 21-11 in 7:30.
As I have stated repeatedly - it is not a good idea to play Nicholson and Mullins at the same time.
Neither player is a serious threat to score and it becomes much easier for the opponent to shut us down.

The starters (Nicholson/Martinelli/Barnhizer/Ciaravino/Leach) got off to a flying start, seizing a 13-4 lead at the 14:25 mark.
To his credit, Collins had not subbed at the tv timeout, which is uncommon for him. But Ciaravino picked up his 2nd foul and the coach subbed in Berry and Fitzmorris.
Things went downhill immediately, with Rutgers outscoring us 11-5 over the next 3:32.
Collins then put Nicholson back in, but swapped in Mullins for Leach, making Barnhizer the only ballhandler.
I don't know if Windham was sick, but he didn't play. For me KJ would have been the obvious choice to replace Leach.
Rutgers then hit us with another 13-6 spurt over a bumbling 4:30 stretch.
We went back to that same lineup (Nicholson/Martinelli/Barnhizer/Mullins/Berry) to close out the first half, gave up a three pointer and Martinelli turned it over.

We came out of halftime with the starting 5 (Ciaravino) and Leach made a 3 to cut the deficit to 5, but then got jabbed in the eye and had to leave the game.
That broke our momentum.

For the game, the starting lineup (with Ciaravino) put up a 26-14 advantage in just over 12 minutes.
The old starters (Berry in for Ciaravino) outscored Rutgers 16-11 in 6:07 of game time.
All other lineup combinations got roasted 54-30 in about 21 minutes.

Ace Bailey looked phenomenal out there, but Rutgers struggled against our top two lineups.

I sure wish KJ Windham had seen the court. If Collins simply decided not to play him, that was a troubling decision. If something else was going on, so be it.

Northwestern (12-8, 3-6 Big Ten) hosts Rutgers (10-10, 3-6 Big Ten) tonight at Welsh-Ryan Arena. The game will tip off at 8 pm and air on BTN.

I checked in with Northwestern 2025 commit Tyler Kropp about hitting two key free throws for a rivalry win, averaging about 20 and 10, and his strong season so far for Olentangy Liberty.

These are Matt's stats per 40 minutes in Big Ten games.



The only obvious area of improvement is in his rebounding numbers.
Much of the stark decline in his Field Goal Attempts has to be attributed to the departure of Boo Buie, who would look for (and find) Nicholson from time to time.
Nicholson set the school record last year for field goal percentage... this year, not so much.

Obviously the question is "Why didn't Matt improve?"

The defense has been exposed way too many times this year. Ace Bailey is incredibly talented, but we're meeting him with no resistance - and that's disappointing,