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Game Thread: Northwestern vs. No. 9 Illinois

Our lack of bigs is going to be a problem this season if we don’t see something change. You can’t win 10-11 B1G games playing 4 on 5. The Carmody teams showed us that. You win 7 games with that.
 
Teams have begun doubling Buie and forcing other players to score and it really hasn't happened. We didn't score much in any of the wins since Chi State (where we had significant problems on offense down the stretch). Audige was a pretty reliable option last year, but he's not out there. And Barnhizer, who scored 13 against Dayton and looked like a solid option this year, really hasn't done much since then.
 
Maybe they will try playing at a faster pace in the second half, since they are down so much.

Might help players get into rhythm and Collins will see the players can handle it.
 
I'd like to see Mullins get some PT in the second half. We need more scoring off the bench!
 
We’re shooting 31% from the field. Need to get Langborg going, he’s 0-3 in the first half. Buie has 13 but felt like his shots weren’t falling. Maybe in the second half.
 
And we should have taken care of business against Chicago State. That game didn't pass the smell test for me something was off.
Fair. And obviously we should have beaten them. But almost every team has a bizarro loss. Ole Miss lost to Detroit Mercy this year at home. Mizzou to Jackson State. Last year, Iowa lost to North Florida at home and was an 8 seed. Just can’t have multiple ones like that.
 
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The biggest issue that I see is other than the center position all of their players are much taller than our player at the same position. Boo is trying to guard a guy six seven for example. Even barnhiser discarding someone taller than him they just look much taller and much more physical and much more athletic than us.
 
The biggest issue that I see is other than the center position all of their players are much taller than our player at the same position. Boo is trying to guard a guy six seven for example. Even barnhiser discarding someone taller than him they just look much taller and much more physical and much more athletic than us.
Life as a Northwestern hoops fan.
 
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We led Chi State by seven, 61-54 with 7-plus to go and proceeded to score a grand total of 12 points in the final 7 minutes. Berry had zero points in that game and missed a three that would have tied it in the final minute. We are lacking OFFENSE this year, and right now, I'm not seeing where it is going to come from, but we'll always have Purdue....
 
I'm not sure why they keep coming around his left at the hoop when he always goes right? Seems like a bad move.
 
Someone is always going off against this year. Tonight it’s Domask.
 
Even if MN wasn't scoring off pick and rolls or lobs from Boo at least he was defending the paint and rebounding last year what happened to him
 
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Doesn’t help that Illinois simply cannot miss.

Nice little hook inside by MN though.
 
Matt Nicholson has one rebound in this game. One.

What the hell happened to him?
 
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I would take out Boo. Take out MN. Play everyone else and tell them to shoot. I don't care if we lose by 40, but the others have to learn how to score. Nothing will be learned with Boo in the game and MN offers nothing. Lose by 44. It will be good for the team. Maybe such a loss will get them to play with some fight.

Further, Hunger should start over MN.
 
NIT bound (I hope)
Oh stop lol. We had several “gut check” moments last year and rose to the occasion. Lost that heartbreaker to Rutgers at home, a competitive game at Michigan. Beat Wisconsin at home. Blown out by Iowa on the road and Michigan at home. I get this is a different team but you’re going to have nights like this in an 18 game season. Need to come out ready (and frankly pissed off) against MSU.
 
Audige was the only other guy we had besides boo that could create his own shot and we badly missed it this game
 
I would take out Boo. Take out MN. Play everyone else and tell them to shoot. I don't care if we lose by 40, but the others have to learn how to score. Nothing will be learned with Boo in the game and MN offers nothing. Lose by 44. It will be good for the team. Maybe such a loss will get them to play with some fight.

Further, Hunger should start over MN.
We might lose 544 even with boo playing
 
Matt Nicholson has one rebound in this game. One.

What the hell happened to him?
My hot take is that I’m not confident that he was ever very good. He showed some flashes in big games and we all wanted him to take the next step. Instead he got fat and slow. He’s going to have to find a way to move his feet faster or we’re going to have to look to someone else imo. And it’s not about this game.
 
We should play zone. This team can't match up to significantly more athletic teams and survive on man to man D.
 
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Teams have learned from Detriot Mercy, Chicago St. Etc spread out NU they have trouble defending individually
 
Teams have learned from Detriot Mercy, Chicago St. Etc spread out NU they have trouble defending individually
This is nothing new. We always have had trouble defending one-on-one. We had Audige (a true stopper we’ve never ever had), Beran and a healthier/faster Nicholson last year.
 
This has been a terrible game. We have played horrendous and Illinois has played absolutely fantastic and is shooting over 60%.

It has been a tough game to watch and there should certainly be some concern after a game like this. But it’s one game where zero went our way. If we come out with a similar effort against MSU, I’ll start to worry. But for now, it’s a game we played awful and our opponent played as well as they could.

Gotta get better at a lot, but I think we have the guys to do it. Moving on.
 
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