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Blame it on the short layover from Thursday's big win over Wisconsin or the expected letdown from such a win, but Northwestern (13-13, 5-9) came out flat Saturday in one of the most important games of the season, a 68-55 loss to Penn State.

Senior Evan Seacat hit six three-pointers and finally showed that much-ballyhooed shooting stroke fans have been talking about for four years now, but the Cats didn't have a double-figure scorer besides Vedran Vukusic and his 15 points. Mohammed Hachad, who scored 25 against Wisconsin, managed only six Saturday. Fifth-year senior Michael Jenkins, junior Vince Scott and freshman Craig Moore all went scoreless in the game.

Moore looks like he's hit a wall in his freshman year. He'll need to fight through it, but missing six shots total and five from three-point range is a concern.

The losses to Penn State this year have been very hurtful to NU's postseason chances and now a win in one of the final two conference games (both at home) is a must. Wednesday night's game against Ohio State is looking extremely important. A big crowd and energy from the Cats like the team had Thursday against Wisconsin is hugely important.

Otherwise, the NIT hopes will fall by the wayside.

Posted by Greg Shea at 04:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

Mohammed Hachad played another inspiring game and the Cats scored a huge win over Wisconsin Thursday, 62-51. Hachad scored a career-high 25 points and combined with Michael Jenkins to stifle Wisconsin with a hustling defense.

"The last few games he's been playing extremely well," coach Bill Carmody said of Hachad. "H was terrific out there tonight."

Vedran Vukusic continued his pursuit of the Big Ten scoring title and conference Player of the Year honors by adding 13 points. He tied Todd Leslie as the all-time Cats three-point leader with one three-pointer in the game.

So, where does this leave Northwestern's NIT hopes? Well, they look a lot better now. NU improved its record to 13-12 on the season, 5-8 in the Big Ten. With three conference games remaining, NU has to be a near-lock for an NIT bid. Wins over Iowa and Wisconsin help their cause. The Cats would need to win one of their final three games and win one game in the Big Ten tournament. Saturday's game against Penn State looks like the best bet of the final three ganes.

The Cats showed the most intensity of all season on the defensive end. Jenkins and Hachad set the pace for the intense effort, but the Cats also scrambled to edge the Badgers in rebounding. Jenkins and Tim Doyle, of all people, led the Cats with five rebounds apiece.

It was also nice to see Northwestern convert free throws in the clutch. NU hit 18-of-24 free throws on the night (75 percent).

Why is an NIT bid so necessary for Northwestern and not an NCAA bid? Yes, of course, a tournament bid would be wonderful, but an NIT bid is more realistic and would show a positive progression for the program.

And, yes, coach Bill Carmody's program is showing signs of turning the corner. Caromdy is now concentrating on recruiting players who fit the system (Craig Moore) rather than trying to take players with athletic ability and forcing them to fit into the Princeton offense (Mike Thompson).

Next year will be a rebuilding year with Vedran Vukusic graduating. However, freshmen Moore and Sterling Williams have shown some real flashes of talent. Moore is one of the team's headiest players and the best shooter outside of Vukusic. Williams is a budding defensive stopper and looks to be grasping the offense better. He is one of the few players who can penetrate to the basket and just needs to develop his mid-range jumper.

But the win over Wisconsin presents many reasons for optimism, not just for the postseason this year, but in upcoming years.

Listen to coach Bill Carmody's postgame comments

Posted by Greg Shea at 10:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

I missed this one from the Daily Herald's Adam Rittenberg, the best Northwestern beat reporter.

Northwestern has received a verbal commitment from 6-foot-8 forward Nikola Baran, according to sources close to the program. Boban, a Croatian native, recently visited campus with his mother. With three open scholarships, the Wildcats are also pursuing David Booker, a 6-8, 215-pound forward from Moss Point, Miss.

Both players would be step-in-and-play-immediately players. They'd have to be with NU's frontcourt.

Posted by Greg Shea at 11:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Michigan State overpowered Northwestern (10-10, 3-6) Saturday night, 77-66, before a "home" crowd of mostly Spartan fans.

State towered over and outrebounded the Cats, 40-24. No Cats player had more than five rebounds.

"We've been last in league rebounding every year I've been here,'' coach Bill Carmody told the Chicago Sun-Times. "We'll have to do something about that."

But would you play a 1-3-1 zone? NU switched out of it to man-to-man with similar success, but the 1-3-1 zone looks like a gimmick that should be shelved and only pulled out as it was in the second half to try to force turnovers. Against Michigan State's heady point guard, Drew Neitzel, and a huge Spartan frontcourt, it didn't seem like a great strategy.

And speaking of the Michigan State rebounding edge, is it time to end the Vince Scott experiment? Scott logged only seven minutes, while Bernard Côté finally showed the promise we had been expecting with 10 points in 19 minutes.

Côté was a key player in the Cats making a run at Michigan State. He hit a three-pointer at the start of the second half cut the lead to one, but Michigan State pulled away with 12 straight points and never looked back.

"It's hard coming back, even at home," Vedran Vukusic told the Tribune. "We knew we'd make a run, but couldn't come up with enough plays."

Vukusic fdinished with 23 points and was involved in a shoving match with Michigan State's Travis Walton at the end of the first half that resulted in offsetting fouls and a technical on a Michigan State assistant for leaving the bench.

The near-fight didn't give NU any more intensity, intensity that only seemed to show itself in the final minutes of desperation pressing.

"The way you’re playing when you’re down by 17 or whatever it was, you have to play that way all the time," Carmody told the Daily Herald. "With that kind of intensity, that kind of urgency."

But you have to ask where does that fault partially lie? The players, for the most part, but mellow coaching isn't motivating this team. The team has no fire and no intensity.

As usual, Michigan State's Maurice Ager killed the Cats with 21 points and Shannon Brown passed 1,000 career points in the win with 22.

The Cats face Iowa at home on Wednesday.

Related Links:

Wildcats lacking vs. Spartans - By Adam Rittenberg, Daily Herald

MSU's Brown hits milestone - by Terry Bannon, Chicago Tribune (subscription)

Push comes to shove - Spartans prevail, By Joe Goddard, Chicago Sun-Times

Posted by Greg Shea at 10:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Was there ever a moment that you really thought Northwestern had a chance at pulling out a win Wednesday night?

NU could never seize the momentum in the game and missed the opportunity to beat a struggling, beatable Indiana team at Assembly Hall, losing 72-63. It was the 34th consecutive loss for Northwestern at Indiana.

"We've hung with this team for awhile -- the last 3-4 times here -- but we just can't put 40 minutes together," coach Bill Carmody said. "I really thought this was a night we could have gotten them.

On the bright side, NU (10-9, 3-5 Big Ten) looked better than it did against a beleaguered Purdue, a team with a multitude of injuries and suspensions.

"I think we did [play better than the win against Purdue]," Carmody said. "We just missed some shots tonight. I think in the first half, we settled for some threes. We just weren't getting in there for layups."

Indeed. NU shot 3-for-15 in the first half from beyond three-point range. The Cats improved in the second half, hitting 5-of-8 threes.

Vedran Vukusic finished with 18 points to lead NU scorers, with Mohammed Hachad scoring 14 and Craig Moore chipping in 11.

Northwestern's defense did not force Indiana into bad shots with the Hoosiers hitting 52 percent from the field on the game and 40 percent from beyond the arc. There needs to be improvement on defense or NU will never be able to compete with the good teams in the Big Ten. And we're not sure Indiana is even one of the good teams.

Michigan State, Northwestern's opponent Saturday, is one of the good teams. It will be a big test.

Posted by Greg Shea at 09:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)