Northwestern Takes Down Illinois in Champaign, Waltzes Back into Tournament Talk
In a narrow 74-70 win, Northwestern notched its first victory in Illinois’ Assembly Hall since 1999. To the backdrop of fans chanting, “Chicago hates purple,” Northwestern fought to defend its title of “Chicago’s Big Ten Team.”
The game featured an evenly matched first half in which the Illini were led by Meyers Leonard who did not miss a shot until 6:43 left in the second half. Reggie Hearn led Northwestern with 4-of-4 shooting from three-point land in the first half, and the ‘Cats held a 36-33 lead at half.
The second half witnessed a Northwestern hitting a quick layup and then experiencing a scoring drought that lasted 7:32. Illinois held the lead for 8:18 in the middle of the half, but the Wildcats stayed one step ahead of Illinois in the last five minutes of the game.
When Illinois was forced to start fouling, the ‘Cats began hitting free throws and stunned Assembly Hall.
How each player looked
John Shurna has not stopped scoring this year. He leads the Big Ten with per-game averages of 19.6 points and 2.6 three-point shots made.
He dropped another 24 points on Illinois and surpassed Evan Eschmeyer for second place on the all-time Northwestern scoring list. Five of those 24 came when he stepped up and nailed two big shots in consecutive possessions to end Northwestern’s scoring drought in the second half.
He has also showed versatility in the past several games, putting in minutes in the inside while Davide Curletti sits. On his drives and off-balance shots, Shurna has mastered using his length to get away from defenders and creating easier shots.
Aside from Dave Sobolewski and his transition from high school to Big Ten play, no one has stepped up even close to as much as Reggie Hearn. Formerly a walk-on, Hearn is one of only three players to start every game this year. Sobolewski and Shurna are the other two.
He missed only one shot all game and added 20 points, including 12 from behind the arc. Hearn is one of the main reasons Northwestern’s postseason hopes are still alive.
Drew Crawford’s athleticism shined against the Illini. The best athlete on the team, Crawford is averaging 17.4 points per game this year and scored a hard earned 13 in Champaign.
Although he had two turnovers from out of control drives in the paint, he is stepping up and trying to be the spark on offense Northwestern needs to get out of its long scoring droughts.
Dave Sobolewski is doing the little things right. He is showing the confidence necessary to drive the basket more, and he added 14 points in this contest. More importantly, he recorded zero turnovers and spent the entire game fighting with Leonard, the center who is listed as a foot taller and 60 pounds heavier than Sobolewski.
Alex Marcotullio did not add an offensive presence, but he pulled in seven big rebounds and helped the ‘Cats win the rebounding contest, something they do not often do.
Curletti slowed down Leonard with his tight defense, but he needs to begin making more of a difference on offense.
What still needs to improve
Even a good win is not perfect, and Northwestern continued troublesome trends of scoring droughts, consistently weak interior play and spotty free throw shooting.
After Sobolewski set off the second half with a beautiful drive around an Illini defender, Northwestern went the next 7:32 of game play without a score. In this stretch, the Wildcats missed two free throws and five shots, four being three-pointers.
Having to settle for threes is a result of weak play in the paint that has been a continuing problem for the ‘Cats. Again Luka Mirkovic did not play, and Curletti took zero shots from the floor, grabbed zero offensive rebounds and added only one point off a free throw.
With so little offensive production from the interior, coach Bill Carmody once again started a small lineup with no center. Shurna is a consistent enough scorer to continue adding buckets from the post, but when a guard subs in for Curletti or Mirkovic, Sobolewski and another guard end up dealing with other teams’ giants on the defensive end.
While the ‘Cats only shot five free throws before 0:42 left in the second half, they missed every one of them. Even though they buckled down and went 8-of-10 in the closing seconds, their usually dead-on free-throw shooting has been shaky recently.
Tournament chances
With two straight conference wins, an ailing team suddenly received a much-needed injection of life. However, with eight games left, Northwestern needs to finish 5-3 in order to claw back to .500 in the Big Ten.
Thursday’s game is huge against a Hawkeye team that is showing more promise than Iowa has seen in years. Both Iowa and Northwestern are riding two-game winning streaks and are fighting to keep postseason hopes alive.
If the ‘Cats can find a true home-court advantage at Welsh-Ryan Arena and pull off a third straight Big Ten win, they will have the momentum necessary to face a tough road trip through the Hoosier State at Purdue and Indiana.
A win on this stretch would pay huge dividends for the Wildcats, and an upset in one of the final three home contests—Minnesota, Michigan, Ohio State—could make dreams of Northwestern’s first ever bid to the NCAA Tournament become a reality.
Read more College Basketball news on BleacherReport.com
View full post on Bleacher Report – College Basketball
Northwestern Beats Illinois, Waltzes Back into Tournament Talk
With its first win in Assembly Hall since 1999, Northwestern pulled off a narrow 74-70 win over Illinois. To the backdrop of fans chanting, “Chicago hates purple,” Northwestern fought to defend its title of “Chicago’s Big Ten Team.”
The game featured an evenly matched first half in which the Illini were led by Meyers Leonard who did not miss a shot until 6:43 left in the second half. Reggie Hearn led Northwestern with 4-of-4 shooting from three-point land in the first half, and the ‘Cats were up 36-33 at half.
The second half witnessed a Northwestern scoring drought that lasted 7:32. Illinois held the lead for 8:18 in the middle of the half, but the Wildcats stayed one step ahead of Illinois in the last five minutes of the game.
When Illinois was forced to start fouling, the ‘Cats began hitting free throws and stunned Assembly Hall.
How each player looked
John Shurna has not stopped scoring this year. He leads the Big Ten with per-game averages of 19.4 points and 2.6 three-point shots made.
He dropped another 24 points on Illinois and surpassed Evan Eschmeyer for second place on the all-time Northwestern scoring list. He stepped up and nailed two big shots in consecutive possessions to end Northwestern’s scoring drought in the second half.
He has also showed versatility in the past several games, putting minutes in the inside while Davide Curletti sits. On his drives and off-balance shots, Shurna has mastered using his length to get away from defenders and easier.
Aside from Dave Sobolewski and his transition from high school to Big Ten play, no one has stepped up even close to as much as Reggie Hearn. Formerly a walk-on, Hearn is one of only three players to start every game this year. Sobolewski and Shurna are the other two.
He missed only one shot all game and added 20 points, including 12 from behind the arc. Hearn is one of the main reasons Northwestern’s postseason hopes are still alive.
Drew Crawford’s athleticism shined against the Illini. The best athlete on the team, Crawford is averaging 17.4 points per game this year and scored a hard earned 13 in Champaign.
Although he had two turnovers from out of control drives in the paint, he is stepping up and trying be the spark on offense Northwestern needs to get out of its long scoring droughts.
Dave Sobolewski is doing the little things right. He is showing the confidence necessary to drive the basket more, and he added 14 points in this contest. More importantly, he recorded zero turnovers and spent the entire game fighting with Leonard, the center who is listed as a foot taller and 60 pounds heavier than Sobolewski.
Alex Marcotullio did not add an offensive presence, but he pulled in seven big rebounds for the ‘Cats.
Curletti slowed down Leonard with his tight defense, but he needs to begin making more of a difference on offense.
What still needs to improve
Even a good win is not perfect, and Northwestern continued troublesome trends of scoring droughts, consistently weak interior play and spotty free throw shooting.
After Sobolewski set off the second half with a beautiful drive around an Illini defender, Northwestern went the next 7:32 of game play without a score. In this stretch, the Wildcats missed two free throws and five shots, four being three-pointers.
Having to settle for threes is a result of weak play in the paint that has been a continuing problem for the ‘Cats. Again Luka Mirkovic did not play, and Curletti took zero shots from the floor, grabbed zero offensive rebounds and added only one point off a free throw.
With so little offensive production from the interior, coach Bill Carmody once again started a small lineup with no center. Shurna is a consistent enough scorer to continue adding buckets from the post, but when a guard subs in for a center, Sobolewski and another guard end up dealing with other teams’ giants on the defensive end.
While the ‘Cats only shot five free throws before 0:42 left in the second half, they missed every one of them. Even though they buckled down and went 8-of-10 in the closing seconds, their usually dead-on free-throw shooting has been shaky recently.
Tournament chances
With two straight conference wins, an ailing team suddenly received a much-needed injection of life. However, with eight games left, Northwestern needs to finish 5-3 in order to claw back to .500 in the Big Ten.
Thursday’s game is huge against a Hawkeye team that is showing more promise than Iowa has seen in years. Both Iowa and Northwestern are riding two-game winning streaks and are fighting to keep postseason hopes alive.
If the ‘Cats can find a true home-court advantage at Welsh-Ryan Arena and pull off a third straight Big Ten win, they will have the momentum necessary to face a tough road trip through the Hoosier State at Purdue and Indiana.
A win on this stretch would pay huge dividends for the Wildcats, and an upset in one of the final three home contests—Minnesota, Michigan, Ohio State—could make dreams of Northwestern’s first ever bid to the NCAA tournament become a reality.
Read more College Basketball news on BleacherReport.com
View full post on Bleacher Report – College Basketball
Hot-shooting Northwestern tops Illinois (AP)
John Shurna scored 24 points to lead Northwestern past Illinois 74-70 on Sunday. Reggie Hearn added 20 points on 7 of 8 shooting for the Wildcats (14-8, 4-6), who shot 60 percent from the floor to win back-to-back Big Ten games for the first time this season. Brandon Paul scored 22 points and Meyers Leonard had 21 for Illinois (16-7, 5-5).
View full post on Yahoo! Sports – NCAA Men’s Hoops News
Wildcats Welcome Nebraska Cornhuskers to Big Ten in Style, Look Toward Illinois
Nebraska’s first-ever game in Evanston as a member of the Big Ten was an affair both dominated by and almost lost by the Wildcats.
In a contest that featured six lead changes, it was a one-possession game midway through the first half. The ‘Cats and their crowd finally came alive, going on an 11-3 run that featured three three-pointers and a Drew Crawford dunk. Nebraska had to call a timeout to stop the rush.
Going into the locker room with a 15-point lead, Northwestern comfortably controlled the game. However, the Wildcats again came out flat and were outscored by 14 points in the first 9:30 of the second half.
Back up by 12 with only 5:32 left to play, the Wildcats seemed to be completely in control and ready to simply wind down the clock. Another run by the Huskers, this time 11-2, brought the game once more to only a one-possession difference with 1:33 left to play.
Northwestern was able to hold on, but the team’s third conference win was unnecessarily close.
The Negatives
Nebraska, 11-9 going into the game, should have been an easy opponent at home. Weak interior play, injuries, mistakes and lackluster fan support let the Huskers keep the game tight.
Neither Davide Curletti nor Luka Mirkovic started the game, so John Shurna was forced to give up some of his perimeter role to post up in Bill Carmody’s Princeton offense.
When Curletti finally came in, he added no field goals, no offensive rebounds and no blocks. While he did have eight assists, he needs to secure the starting spot at center by providing a real interior presence that draws defenses away from the perimeter.
Although Mirkovic suited up, he never got into the game and is recovering from an ankle injury. He is one of several Wildcats battling injuries, which led to only six players seeing action against Nebraska.
Alex Marcotullio seems to be recovering nicely after putting in 28 minutes on the floor, but he has fought a toe injury and a concussion. JerShon Cobb is a big loss with his hip problems, and did not suit up against the Huskers.
Freshman Tre Demps’s shoulder surgery put him out for the season, and preseason expectations had him helping fellow freshman Dave Sobolewski shoulder the load at guard. Sobolewski had another 38-minute outing this game, and Carmody rarely sits him.
This perhaps led to several rare mistakes by Sobolewski at the end of the game. Also, Northwestern’s mostly tough defense left Huskers open at the end of the shot clock, and Nebraska shot 51.9 percent from the field and 42.3 percent from three-point land.
It also seems that Northwestern’s historically laughable fan support is trending back towards its former self. After three straight sellout crowds, Welsh-Ryan Arena saw just under 3,000 fewer fans than capacity welcome Nebraska to the Big Ten.
The Positives
Not all can be bad if a team collects a Big Ten win. Shurna and Crawford were their consistent selves and added 28 and 21 points, respectively.
The team regained some of its three-point shooting confidence and pulled the trigger 31 times, hitting 45.2 percent.
Aside from two costly turnovers, Sobolewski has been as consistent as a freshman can be asked to be in the Big Ten. He added another five assists and looked comfortable shooting, recording seven three-point attempts.
The offense was not an issue, and if the defense can finish playing the last few seconds of the shot clock, opposing offenses will find it hard to get off any decent shots.
The Second Half of the Big Ten Season
Northwestern travels to Champaign for an in-state matchup against Illinois. The Orange Krush always make Assembly Hall a tough venue, but the question is who needs this game more.
Illinois has fallen to 5-4 in the Big Ten and wants this game, but if Northwestern can hold a presence in the paint, then the ‘Cats have the potential to take this game off the Illini and keep their NCAA Tournament dreams alive.
A home game against Iowa should give the ‘Cats some momentum for a tough road stretch in Indiana, where Northwestern has two straight road games against Purdue and Indiana.
Rematches follow against Minnesota, Michigan, Penn State, Ohio State and Iowa.
Postseason Outlook
Northwestern needs to go at least .500 in conference play to have a chance at going Dancing. However, the Wildcats are 3-6 in Big Ten play, and would need to turn that around with a 6-3 finish.
Last year, they made a decent run in the Big Ten Tournament, so if they could recreate that without Michael “Juice” Thompson, their NCAA Tournament chances would greatly improve.
However, the Big Ten is not lacking in strong opponents, and the ‘Cats need to step up in the second half of conference play to stake their claim in conference.
Read more College Basketball news on BleacherReport.com
View full post on Bleacher Report – College Basketball
Draymond Green Injured in Michigan State’s Ice Cold Effort Against Illinois
No. 10 Michigan State (17-5, 6-3) came to Illinois after a week off. The long reprieve certainly didn’t help the Spartans’ shooting effort, as they were cold from the field.
How cold?
The rap duo Outkast said it best:
ICE COLD!
The Spartans shot 14-58 for a freezing 24.1 percent from the field.
Incredibly, the Spartans grabbed 18 offensive rebounds, but couldn’t make the easy layups afterward. The poor shooting, coupled with Draymond Green’s angry outburst five minutes into the game, left the Spartans without their leader and without hope.
Sophomore guard Keith Appling has played poorly during the last few games. Appling was only able to score four points against Illinois, and missed the game-winning shot from about three feet away.
The bad luck kept piling up, as Green injured his knee late in the contest.
It appeared that Green twisted his knee with about five minutes left in the game, and limped off without putting any pressure on his knee. Green didn’t return, which forced Appling to take the game-winning shot.
It’s clear that the Spartans need a go-to player with time winding down, and I’m not sure if Green and Appling are capable of making the game-winning shot. Appling had his chance against Illinois, and Green had his against Michigan, and Butler in the 2010 Final Four.
The Spartans had a clutch player the last four years in Kalin Lucas. He was always up to throw the dagger in clutch time.
I expect Green to recover and play this Sunday against Michigan, but he needs to redeem himself for his poor performance against Illinois and Michigan.
The game was not all negative. Derrick Nix and Adreian Payne played excellent defense against 7’0″ Meyers Leonard, limiting him to only four points. That’s the second time the Spartan duo has shut down a future NBA prospect, shutting down Indiana’s Cody Zeller earlier this season.
Also, freshman Branden Dawson continued his hot streak scoring 12 points, and attacked the rim.
The Spartans are clearly the better team than Illinois considering they only shot 24.1 percent from the field, yet still played almost 30 minutes without star Draymond Green, and lost by one point.
That says something. Last year’s team would have lost by 25. These Spartans keep fighting through the worst.
Read more College Basketball news on BleacherReport.com
View full post on Bleacher Report – College Basketball
Illinois quiets No. 10 Michigan State
Brandon Paul scored 18 points and Illinois won a 42-41 victory over No. 10 Michigan State on Tuesday night.
View full post on USATODAY.com Feed
Illinois upsets No. 9 Michigan St. 42-41 (AP)
Brandon Paul shook off a poor-shooting game to score 18 points, including two free throws with 45 seconds left that gave Illinois the lead in a 42-41 victory over No. 9 Michigan State on Tuesday night. Paul had two chances to extend the lead for the Illini (16-6, 5-4 Big Ten) but he missed the front end of 1-and-1s with 26 seconds and 11 seconds to play.
View full post on Yahoo! Sports – NCAA Men’s Hoops News
College Basketball: Illinois Knocks off Michigan State in Defensive Clinic
Illinois got the best of No. 10 Michigan State 41 to 42 tonight in what was a typical Big Ten grinding match-up featuring some great defense.
To put it in perspective, earlier in the season against Ohio State, Brandon Paul recorded 43 points in an Illini victory, one more than his team scored tonight against the Spartans.
In a game that senior Draymond Green was injured early, Michigan State failed to get started offensively, but was able to stay in the game with superb defense and a bit of struggling on the part of Illinois.
Brandon Paul had 18 points, nine rebounds, five assists and two steals for the Illini and was the key to the victory. Paul played all 40 minutes of the game.
What really stood out in this game was Illinois’ defense.
They were able to create 15 turnovers and had six blocks on the day, compared to turning the ball over just 12 times. That three turnover margin sealed the deal for Illini in this sloppy match-up.
Combined these teams shot just 27 percent from the field and were under 20 percent from beyond the arc.
This game was huge for the Illini, as they had just dropped out of the rankings and needed to prove themselves to everyone again.
With Michigan State being the second top 10 team to drop inside of Assembly Hall in Champaign, the Illini are establishing themselves as a team not to mess with, especially at home.
Read more College Basketball news on BleacherReport.com
View full post on Bleacher Report – College Basketball
Illinois Basketball: Why It’s Time to Say Goodbye to Bruce Weber
I remember when Illinois basketball was actually fun to watch.
However, those days are long gone.
Now watching an Illinois game is more like going to the proctologist—you know it’s not going to end well and you’re just waiting for it to happen.
Many times you even feel like Chevy Chase in the 80′s classic Fletch, when he asks the doctor if he’s using the whole fist during the examination.
In other words, it has just become an absolutely painful experience to sit through an entire Illinois basketball game.
The big question is, how did it get to this point?
Since the 2005-2006 season—which incidentally was Dee Brown’s last season on campus—Illinois has exactly one NCAA tournament victory.
That’s right, one.
In addition to that, they do not have a conference title during that span, and they have finished second only once, and that year they actually tied for second.
This is pretty sad for a program that claims to be a “basketball” school.
Many fans have been clamoring for Bruce Weber to leave town for a few years now, but I was never really one of those people—until now.
Weber seems like a great guy, and he has done some nice things at Illinois, but I think it’s clear that Illinois needs to go in a different direction.
At this point, I don’t really know how anyone can defend him.
Honestly, what has he done to make you believe that the Illini will be anything more than mediocre?
He has had numerous players come and go, but the results have all been pretty much the same—middle of the pack in the Big Ten.
Illinois is better than that and shouldn’t have to settle for anything less, which apparently Weber has.
He seems content to finish in the middle of the conference, get an average seed in the NCAA tournament, (maybe) win a game in the tournament, and call it a season.
That infuriates most Illini faithful and it should.
It’s not like the Illini roster is full of guys who can’t play.
Early on Weber was criticized for not landing the big recruits, but since 2009 he has landed nine top 100 recruits, and yet the results are the same.
Nothing changes. The Illini continue to look like the same team every year, no matter who is on the court.
So is it the system or the players?
At this point I think you have to say it’s the system—meaning the coaching staff.
They continue to run the “motion” offense even though their personnel may be better suited for something else.
Meyers Leonard should not continue to get the ball 25 feet from the basket with the shot clock winding down. I’m not sure why this is so difficult to understand. The guy is an athletic freak and at 7’1″ he needs to continue to be fed the ball underneath the hoop. He’s still got some developing to do with his game, but for the love of everything holy, GET HIM THE BALL DOWN LOW!
Read more College Basketball news on BleacherReport.com
View full post on Bleacher Report – College Basketball
Illinois Basketball: Minnesota Loss Solidifies Midseason Meltdown
And here we go again.
I doubt there was a mind in Illini Nation that wasn’t thinking those words after Illinois 77-72 loss to the Minnesota Golden Gophers.
Anyone who has followed the Orange and Blue for the last five years knows how famous Illinois has been for choking away close games and promising seasons. This loss confirmed that this team was no different then those that Illini fans have suffered through for the later half of the past decade.
I hate to admit it, but life just got a lot tougher for Illini fans as they suffered through the beginning of the end for this team.
You see, this game was the pivot point for the season.
Win, and Illinois is back on track.
With a win, the players are able to get over tough loses to Penn State and Wisconsin and fan support picks up where it left off after the Illini’s epic upset over Ohio State.
Illinois would also be propelled back into the hunt for a Big Ten title (being 5-3 in conference play and only a half game back) that is completely up for grabs this season.
But a loss would put the Illini at 4-4, which is good enough for sixth place in the Big Ten as of Saturday night.
At sixth, Illinois is only two games back, but nine of the conference’s 12 teams are within three games of the conference lead, so it will be all but impossible for Illinois to claw back to the top with so much competition.
A loss would all but shatter any of the remaining momentum from their Ohio State win and put the confidence of the underclassmen (whom dominate the team’s depth chart) in severe jeopardy.
And a loss is exactly what Illini Nation got.
This team is now on a downward spiral, which could soon be a complete free fall. There is no way to deny that. And what makes it so painful is that there were so many chances for these guys to “right the ship.”
If Illinois can just sink one layup vs. an under-performing Penn State team as time expires, everything changes.
If the Illini sharpshooters can keep from being outscored 27-9 from three-point vs. Wisconsin, everything changes.
If Bruce Weber could just play a little zone defense when we have a 7-1 center who is an absolute monster when it comes to delivering punishing blocks verses the Badgers, everything changes.
And finally, if Meyers Leonard can keep from making the most gut wrenching play of his career as he fouls Austin Hollins during his drive to the basket with five seconds left in the Minnesota game, giving him the chance to tie the game with a three-point play…everything changes.
But those things didn’t happen…and Illinois is left with three-game losing streak and a sickening feeling going into its home game against No. 11 Michigan State.
With 10 games left in the regular season, six of which are against ranked opponents, I fear for these Illini players and this fan base.
Illinois could easily pull out an upset against some of those top teams, because that has been the overwhelming trend this year in the Big Ten, but it is becoming harder and harder to envision that happening.
A more likely scenario is that the Illini fall just short of securing 20 wins for the season and are on the bubble come selection Sunday.
Unfortunately, fans of the Fighting Illini have become all to used to that situation and the Weber head-hunters reemerge in full force.
Obviously, winning changes everything in this sport and Illinois still holds their future in their own hands, but don’t be surprised if this meltdown continues.
I know many Illini fans won’t be surprised though, as they continue to mutter…
And here we go again…
Read more College Basketball news on BleacherReport.com
View full post on Bleacher Report – College Basketball
