Feels like EIU can't miss and NU can barely even get a shot up. And when EIU misses, they get the board.
NU vs EIU Game Thread
- Thread starter lou v
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I would have been a lot more worried going into the season if I knew Brooks was out a while and Nicholson and Berry would be among our least reliable players. This team has a an uphill climb ahead of them.
I thought it was going to be one where he threw it in and he got it right back for the game-winner. Oh well. He's done plenty tonight, and it was a good look for Berry.
This way he was not even bait. Ultimately we got a decent look anyway. But it was not the guy with the hot hand taking it.
It wasn't pretty, but the D came through when it mattered: 0 points for EIU in OT!
Does KenPom and the like distinguish between a 9-point win in OT vs. regulation? Genuinely don’t know.
Ok, so that is three really good halves in a row for Leach. Granted this was a so-called "easy" opponent (ha ha), but if this is the Leach we're getting for the rest of the year, that's pretty exciting. On a night when Martinelli couldn't get a shot off, Nicholson couldn't catch a pass, and Barnhizer couldn't even get off the bench, we found another scorer.
I'm not the expert, but doesn't KenPom use the player/team stats in the game more than just saying, "win good, loss bad?"
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Very interesting that Mullins and Ciavarino were on the court for the bulk of OT, primarily for defense.
Nice to see Leach assertive and doing “Boo-like” things.
This team is gonna be a pain once Brooks is back.
Nice to see Leach assertive and doing “Boo-like” things.
This team is gonna be a pain once Brooks is back.
Yeah, I believe this is correct. Our KenPom rating is never going to financially recover from this
I would not be surprised to see Mullins being the leader in minutes tonight. He played a ton.
Jello is going to be a double-double machine when he gets older. Four on the offensive glass tonight. He gets the turnovers down and we'll really have something.
Free throws interesting. 9-for-10 in the first half. Then NU started the second half 3-for-9 before hitting its final eight shots. Thank you Jalen Leach.
20-for-27 for NU and 5-for-8 for EIU. There you go. Everything else was fairly even between the two teams.
20-for-27 for NU and 5-for-8 for EIU. There you go. Everything else was fairly even between the two teams.
Jalen Leach took over the offense late in the 2nd and OT. That performance in O.T. Boo would have been proud of. JL has to be aggressive for this team to win. Ty still searching for his shot and Nick struggled tonight.
Mullins played a very nice game and Ciaravino played quite a bit down the stretch and O.T.
So it's a win which is always nice. Now if we can knock down some open 3's it would be less stressful for an old man like me.
Mullins played a very nice game and Ciaravino played quite a bit down the stretch and O.T.
So it's a win which is always nice. Now if we can knock down some open 3's it would be less stressful for an old man like me.
I tried to record the game on Peacock but could only access a feature called “Key Plays,” which is the most laughably bad feature I have ever seen. In 28 “key plays,” I saw about three baskets scored and no indication how the game even ended. The snippets seemed totally random. What a god-awful service.
Leach hit a great shot at the end of the first half, made the huge three near the end of regulation, and he took over overtime. Yeah, Boo would have been proud.
It's nice to learn lessons in wins. The Cats were terrible in the second half, and they never really got going from the field the whole game. They learned they can't just show up and win against teams like this or Chicago State.
Also, if NU got cute in holding out Barnhizer one more game because it was expected to be a laugher, I sure hope they're done with that. I hope he's playing Tuesday. Tired of hearing how close he is.
What happened to Ty. Was he injured. He played very little in the second half and I think none at all in OT
That was a great win for this team. We always have trouble with small, quick teams, and EIU had some guys who could really twitch. They figured out in the second half they could beat our man defense, so they spread the floor, isolated guys, got switches, and did a great job of finding the open looks. Credit to them.
But we made the plays when we really needed them. I’m not sold on Leach as a point guard, but he showed me something tonight with those shots he made with the game on the line. Not many guys have that.
And Mullins really has established an identity as a northwestern basketball player. I think there is more to come from him.
Poor big Matt handles a basketball like inspector Clouseau. But his defensive presence is a real asset.
I am happy to have had five extra minutes of Northwestern basketball tonight.
But we made the plays when we really needed them. I’m not sold on Leach as a point guard, but he showed me something tonight with those shots he made with the game on the line. Not many guys have that.
And Mullins really has established an identity as a northwestern basketball player. I think there is more to come from him.
Poor big Matt handles a basketball like inspector Clouseau. But his defensive presence is a real asset.
I am happy to have had five extra minutes of Northwestern basketball tonight.
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Just think that Collins wanted to go with a different rotation with Mullins and Ciarvino. Ty struggled with his shot all night long and was late covering the wing on a three by Eastern with about four minutes to go in regulation. He was very involved as the guys broke the huddle when NU used a couple timeouts late. Looked physically O.K. to me on the T.V. broadcast as I was wondering the same thing.
Pretty sure Ty played about 20 seconds in OT as a defensive substitute to give Leach two breaths.
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In a game that was nearly a complete, unmitigated disaster, we at least found a way to win.
But our two biggest guys (three counting Fitzmorris) accounted for 2 points in 44 minutes. Nicholson and Hunger HAVE to find a way to do a little more than that. An experienced Big Ten 5th year 7-footer ... no points in 28 minutes. Sure, he's big in other areas ... but we have to find a way to make him something of a threat to score. Somehow. Not buying the recovery aspect at this point, because he played 28 minutes and grabbed 12 rebounds and was effective defensively.
But our two biggest guys (three counting Fitzmorris) accounted for 2 points in 44 minutes. Nicholson and Hunger HAVE to find a way to do a little more than that. An experienced Big Ten 5th year 7-footer ... no points in 28 minutes. Sure, he's big in other areas ... but we have to find a way to make him something of a threat to score. Somehow. Not buying the recovery aspect at this point, because he played 28 minutes and grabbed 12 rebounds and was effective defensively.
He (not we) is the one who should have found a way to develop an offensive move other than rolling to the hoop for a dunk. His (few) free throws were still pathetic even at this stage of his career. That being said, he is an excellent passer and solid defender. He will help us in many ways but not in others - he is who he is and thankfully we are not trying to rely on him more for offense.
It was funny when he was the one trying to bail out NU before the shot clock expired. It almost went in!
Nicholson was one of the most valuable Cats on the floor last night. It just wasn't because he was particularly good on offense. His rebounding was better than most Cats (and not just from the number he had). Way too many tipped rebound attempts from others, while Nicholson pulled 'em down and made sure they didn't get knocked out of his hands.
Weird game all around for Nicholson. There was a 5 minutes stretch when he looked like trash. But he played really well much of the game. Played the full overtime, I think.
Not sure how some people gush about how great our coaching staff is "developing our bigs" and others put all the blame on the individual player for not being able to do some basic, fundamental things.
It can't be both.
Not sure how some people gush about how great our coaching staff is "developing our bigs" and others put all the blame on the individual player for not being able to do some basic, fundamental things.
It can't be both.
