+/- for the Poll-breaking Pummeling of Purdue

[PurpleWhiteBoy]

Player	Minutes	NU Pts	PU Pts	Raw +/-	Player Adjust	Net +/-
Buie	37	62	56	+6	+6.7	+12.7
Nicholson	27	45	37	+8	-0.5	+7.5
Barnhizer	22	40	33	+7	+0.2	+7.2
Berry	32	53	46	+7	-0.2	+6.8
Martinelli	11	17	16	+1	-0.4	+0.6
Audige	39	60	56	+4	-4.7	-0.7
Verhoeven	12	16	19	-3	+1.2	-1.8
Beran	19	27	27	+0	-2.4	-2.4

Boo Buie propelled the Wildcats to their biggest win in years, with 26 points, 4 rebounds, 3 blocks, 3 steals, 3 assists and 2 turnovers against (at the time) #1 Purdue. Northwestern may be ranked in the Top 25 as a result, but will have to jump over about 12 teams and the voters often refuse to admit they were wrong, so we'll see.

Nicholson, Barnhizer and Berry all enjoyed significant "+" games. Another team effort. Chase Audige had a miserable first half, his performance responsible for all 7 points of the halftime deficit, plus another point. To his credit he played the entire 2nd half and eventually righted the ship before exploding in the final 4 minutes.

Nicholson/Barnhizer/Audige/Buie/Berry was the lineup that turned a 51-45 deficit with 6:47 left into a 61-58 advantage with 30 seconds to play. Barnhizer has become a fixture in the lineup for at least the last 5 minutes of the 2nd half, but usually more, along with Buie and Audige.

In the 8 games since the Covid break, Buie has re-established himself as the best player on the team.
The 5 Lineups that have played the most minutes in those 8 games are...

Nicholson/Beran/Audige/Buie/Berry 106-90 in 64 minutes
Nicholson/Barnhizer/Audige/Buie/Berry 60-41 in 30 minutes
Verhoeven/Beran/Barnhizer/Audige/Buie 48-43 in 25 minutes
Verhoeven/Martinelli/Barnhizer/Audige/Buie 37-29 in 20 minutes
Verhoeven/Barnhizer/Audige/Buie/Berry 49-51 in 32 minutes

 

[NUCat320]

Nicholson was just awesome. Two fouls. Made things hard. Good hands on defense. Nicholbombs early on offense.

I was disappointed in Beran’s offensive performance. How could a four year starter only get one shot up in the biggest game of his career? He never even tried to be assertive. His effort had been consistent defensively, to his credit.

 

[ballerog711]

Going with one big and 4 guards is the best lineup. Allows them to switch everything and now you have 4 scores on the court.

Berans struggling offensively.

Also elite defense at the end of the game.

 

[cats_man_too]

Nicholson was just awesome. Two fouls. Made things hard. Good hands on defense. Nicholbombs early on offense.

I was disappointed in Beran’s offensive performance. How could a four year starter only get one shot up in the biggest game of his career? He never even tried to be assertive. His effort had been consistent defensively, to his credit.

Robbie gave Edey fits every time he doubled. He didn't have the ball in his hand or see the floor much, so I can't disparage his offensive outing. Love his length and defensive work.

At the end of the day, every player worked their tail off and earned this W.

 

[Purple Pile Driver]

Robbie gave Eddy fits every time he doubled. He didn't have the ball in his hand or see the floor much, so I can't disparage his offensive outing. Love his length and defensive work.

At the end of the day, every player worked their tail off and earned this W.

Clearly his main job (focus) was to help Big Matt with Edey. Gotta think that saps a lot of energy out of your offensive game.

 

[Hungry Jack]

This is a team. Everyone has a role. It’s not just about the stat line.

Now I have to convince a bunch of middle schoolers of this…

 

[SmellyCat]

Clearly his main job (focus) was to help Big Matt with Edey. Gotta think that saps a lot of energy out of your offensive game.

Count me among those who don’t mind RB took only one shot. NU doesn’t win the game without his defense. Full stop.

 

[CoralSpringsCat]

This is a team. Everyone has a role. It’s not just about the stat line.

Now I have to convince a bunch of middle schoolers of this…

Let me preface my comment that I am not comparing Beran to Bill Russell…but having watched the new Russell documentary on Netflix over the weekend, the “team first” mentality and the “let the individual stats worry about themselves concept” seems to have been adopted by many on the current NU squad. It’s all about getting the W. The Russell documentary is terrific…I highly recommend.

 

[NUCat320]

This is a team. Everyone has a role. It’s not just about the stat line.

Now I have to convince a bunch of middle schoolers of this…

Your job is to get LH buckets, LaVar.

 

[GatoLouco]

This is a team. Everyone has a role. It’s not just about the stat line.

Now I have to convince a bunch of middle schoolers of this…

Let me know how that goes. I have a cat at home that I need to persuade to stop scratching the stairs.

 

[PurpleWhiteBoy]

Nicholson was only credited for one steal but he did cause at least 3 turnovers by deflecting entry passes intended for Edey to Wildcat teammates. Beran had a steal on Purdue's backup center when that guy was trying to get a shot off over Nicholson and Beran just came over and ripped the ball away. Beran also came over and forced at least two errant passes from Edey, which (I believe) were credited to teammates as steals. In other words, that stuff doesn't show up in the box score for the guys who caused the turnovers.

I think Collins was not happy with Robbie's two turnovers, both wild passes while standing (unpressured) 25 feet from the basket. Otherwise Beran's limited playing time is something of a mystery.

He needs to put up more than 1 shot - he isn't Verhoeven - and we need willing shooters.
Over our last 10 games, he is 9 for 20 from outside the arc (45%). So the stroke is there, but in the last 5 games he's averaging only 4.4 points per game because he isn't taking 3's.

 

[phatcat]

Nicholson was only credited for one steal but he did cause at least 3 turnovers by deflecting entry passes intended for Edey to Wildcat teammates. Beran had a steal on Purdue's backup center when that guy was trying to get a shot off over Nicholson and Beran just came over and ripped the ball away. Beran also came over and forced at least two errant passes from Edey, which (I believe) were credited to teammates as steals. In other words, that stuff doesn't show up in the box score for the guys who caused the turnovers.

I think Collins was not happy with Robbie's two turnovers, both wild passes while standing (unpressured) 25 feet from the basket. Otherwise Beran's limited playing time is something of a mystery.

He needs to put up more than 1 shot - he isn't Verhoeven - and we need willing shooters.
Over our last 10 games, he is 9 for 20 from outside the arc (45%). So the stroke is there, but in the last 5 games he's averaging only 4.4 points per game because he isn't taking 3's.

He doesn't need to score a lot, and his defense is critical, but this team is scoring challenged. He can't get shut out. I figured he'd be in Edey's shorts the whole game. Tough assignment even for 2 guys. It's over, we won, but even 3-4 points from him might have made the difference. Take the W. I don't expect much scoring from him but zero is tough.

Edey had 8 rebounds...and SIX turnovers