Postgame reaction on Purdue game
Northwestern sophomore Tim Doyle discussed the Cats' season after the Purdue game with the Chicago Sun-Times.
"We talked about last year, and everybody said what a great year we had," Doyle told the Sun-Times. "We were 8-8 [in the Big Ten], but we were 3-5 at this time. So being 2-6, we knew that if we just string some wins together, we'll be right back where we were last year."
Northwestern at 10-11 (3-6 in Big Ten play) has slim hopes for an NIT bid. With eight regular season games left before the Big Ten tournament, NU has realistic chances at victories over Iowa, Penn State, Michigan, Indiana and a non-conference game against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. They have to win all five or pull off an upset over Minnesota, Illinois or Michigan State.
This week's games on the road against the Gophers and Hawkeyes are key, especially in light of Iowa's suspension of leading scorer Pierre Pierce.
Links from Sunday:
Wildcats nearly let victory slip away - By Brian Hanley, Chicago Sun-Times
Cats feast on turnovers - By John Mullin, Chicago Tribune (subscription)
Boilers bring sickly effort - By Michael Pointer, Indianapolis Star
Comments
Doyle's comments are interesting. However, unlike last year when it felt that the team was starting to put things together by this point in the season, this year has been all over the map. There's no sense of consistency -- either from game to game or from possession to possession. The Cats certainly could make a run for the postseason, but they'll have to make HUGE strides over the next few games. Last year, it was a matter of putting some final touches on a team that seemed competitive when it was 3-5 in the Big Ten. It's different this year.
Posted by: Matt | February 7, 2005 12:07 PM