Northwestern (3-1) hosts Montana State (1-3) tonight at Welsh-Ryan Arena. The game is set for an 8 pm tip off and will air on BTN.

All times CENTRAL. Rankings come from the CFP poll. All games available nationally unless otherwise indicated.

First, the NU game:

Northwestern @ Michigan
Saturday, November 23
2:30 PM, FS1
PxP: Tim Brando
Color: Devin Gardner

And the rest:

Friday, November 22

Purdue @ Michigan State
7:00 PM, FOX
PxP: Connor Onion
Color: Mark Helfrich

Saturday, November 23

#5 Indiana @ #2 Ohio State (ESPN College GameDay & FOX Big Noon Kickoff)
11:00 AM, FOX
PxP: Gus Johnson
Color: Joel Klatt

Iowa @ Maryland
11:00 AM, BTN
PxP: Guy Haberman
Color: Yogi Roth

#25 Illinois @ Rutgers
11:00 AM, Peacock (streaming only)
PxP: Andrew Siciliano
Color: Michael Robinson

#4 Penn State @ Minnesota
2:30 PM, CBS
PxP: Brad Nessler
Color: Gary Danielson

Wisconsin @ Nebraska
2:30 PM, BTN
PxP: Jeff Levering
Color: Jake Butt

USC @ UCLA
9:30 PM, NBC
PxP: Paul Burmeister
Color: Colt McCoy

#1 Oregon and Washington are off this week.

@lou v and I log our picks before Northwestern takes on Michigan in Ann Arbor.

@lou v and I log our picks before Northwestern takes on Michigan in Ann Arbor.

Didn't expect to be doing this box score either, but the Bobcats looked like a D1 team out there, so here goes...


Welcome back Books Barnhizer, who earned his first "star of the game." If thats rusty, leave the WD-40 in the toolbox.

Most notable things I saw...
The starters (Nicholson/Martinelli/Barnhizer/Leach/Berry) kicked some Bobcat tail. Believe it or not, NU won 36-21 when that group was on the floor for 16+ minutes.
Martinelli and Barnhizer were most effective when playing with that lineup. And therefore all 5 starters had similar Raw +/- numbers.

Ciavarino did some decent things in the first half, but got benched and didn't see the court in the 2nd half. Not sure what triggered that.

Nicholson played from 8:54 until the final 36 seconds, when his free throw shooting "form" demanded that he be removed from the game. Thats a long stretch for Matt - and he was pretty effective.
Ty Berry played the entire second half.

@lou v talked to Brock Heileg of Maize&BlueReview.com to preview Northwestern’s matchup with Michigan this week.

I talked to 2025 WR Brennan Saxe about his PWO commitment to NU, his place in the IHSA record books, growing up playing with Johnny O’Brien, and more.

Here's @mshelton33's story from Welsh-Ryan.

Carter Meadows out of Gonzaga College HS picks up an NU offer. Meadows has a very impressive offer list that includes Georgia, Ohio State, Penn State and Michigan.

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A friend and aspiring cat fan is looking for two for tomorrow in the Wilson Club. If you want to sell extras, please message me.

Thank you.

If you are a Northwestern fan and watching the game on TV (or streaming it), you are welcome to join us for a live Zoom discussion during the game. It's a great way to share the experience with others as you watch.

One thing you should be aware of is that TV and streaming are not always in sync with real time. It is not unusual for some viewers to be 30 seconds ahead of others, which leads to an interesting dynamic during the game watch. You can often tell by the reactions of others if something good or bad is about to happen. To me, it just makes it more interesting.

I hope that you can join us on via Zoom on Saturday at 2:30 PM CT.

Topic: Zoom In-Game Discussion: NU at Michigan Saturday Nov 23, 2:30 PM CT
Time: Nov 23, 2024 02:30 PM Central Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting

Meeting ID: 894 3867 0341
Passcode: 510043


Go 'Cats

- Astro

WLP got me thinking about all the hoops things that need to improve, and to me they kind of fall into two groups, one group I'm optimistic can easily be fixed, and the other I'm not so sure about.

Issues That Should Be Achievable to Improve
- Defensive cleanliness and chemistry. Lou quote Collins on this in his article. Even Brooks had a couple breakdowns likely due to rust. They have the athletes and the effort, seems like this should improve pretty naturally.
- Ty's shooting. We need deadeye Ty from last year in a big way. Getting 2023-24 Ty last night in the last 10 minutes on both ends of the floor was a massive difference maker. I don't know where his stroke went, but we need it back. I feel like we should be able to get it, he doesn't look hurt and he's been that guy.

Issues I'm Not Sure Where Improvement Comes From
- Who handles the ball, specifically to create for others? Books can do some handling and they probably have enough competent ball handlers that they aren't going to be overly vulnerable to the press, but I'm still not sure who consistently initiates the offense. Brooks mostly handles for himself, as does Nick. Leech is not bringing any bit of the ball handling we thought we were getting in his acquisition, which we really needed. Windham has the ability to do it and probably will in the future but unless he seriously develops over the season he doesn't feel reliable for more than token spells to be the key instigator yet. I'm just not seeing where it comes from. If Ty and Leech start really draining everything then maybe we have enough ball movement and spacing to not need more creation that we already have, but I'm not sure.
- Leech needs to be better. I'm... not seeing it with him so far, although he has proven he's a guy who is very happy and capable of stepping up to seek and take the big shots late. Of course, Langborg looked similarly questionable at times early last year, so maybe it's a learning curve. But it's not like we're even playing Big 10 teams yet. I'm not saying he's BAD, I'm just not sure we're getting as much out of acquiring him as we hoped for or probably need.

I talked to 2025 WR Brennan Saxe about his PWO commitment to NU, his place in the IHSA record books, growing up playing with Johnny O’Brien, and more.

Heads up for those that like to stop at Bluestone or someplace else along Central for a pre-game drink. No need to feed the meter, two hours free parking.

@lou v talked to 2026 Ohio DT Elijah Berman about his visit to Northwestern at Wrigley, his recruitment by the Wildcats, and more.

Here are my takeaways from today's 13-6 win over Miami (Ohio).

Tonight against Montana State.

By comparison, in the NCAA First Round, NU had 20 assists on the same 29 field goals.

This is very rudimentary analysis, of course, but it does seem like this squad is playing a lot of one-on-one thus far.

That’ll fly in the noncon but we are going to have to do better in conference when Brooks and Nick can’t steamroll their way to the basket as easily.

Many of you will be traveling to visit friends and relatives for Thanksgiving. During your travels, if you see a member of our armed forces, buy them a cup of coffee, lunch or dinner. These men and women sacrifice their freedom so we may have ours. They will appreciate your gesture and you will feel pretty good as well.

@lou v talked to 2026 Ohio DT Elijah Berman about his visit to Northwestern at Wrigley, his recruitment by the Wildcats, and more.

Multiple sources reported this week that Brendan Sullivan has been ruled out for the remainder of the year due to an ankle sprain. So far no-one on the Iowa boards has blamed Robert Fitzgerald. Maybe we can finally focus future discussions on the quarterback position at NU to the kids who have chosen to stay and play for the Wildcats?

Grayson McKeough out of LaSalle College Prep in Wynwood, PA receives an NU offer. At 6’8” McKeough has been playing both ways. I’m guessing he was offered as an OT. Hopefully Matt can get us an answer soon.

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CJ Givers of Milton, GA picks an offer from NU. Duke offers an hour later.

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Check out the film and offer list on this one...Keanu Koht out of Vero Beach, FL.

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TEAM - 62.2

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