Cats drop fourth straight, 81-71, to Ohio State
Northwestern whittled Ohio State's 13-point second-half lead down to one point with 4:21 left on a Boo Buie 3-pointer that was his first basket in more than three games.
But the Buckeyes responded with an 8-0 run and outscored the Wildcats 14-5 the rest of the way to post an 81-71 win in Columbus.
It was the fourth straight loss for Northwestern, which began the Big Ten season with three straight wins. The Wildcats' last win was against these same Buckeyes, on Dec. 26.
Chase Audige scored a career-high 25 points to lead Northwestern, with 21 of them coming in the first half. Miller Kopp was the polar opposite, scoring 14 of his 16 points in the second period to go along with a team-high nine rebounds. Pete Nance was the other Wildcat in double figures, contributing 12 points.
Duane Washington Jr. scored 17 of his 23 points in the first half to lead four Buckeyes in double figures.
Here are our takeaways from the loss that left Northwestern with a record of 6-5, 4-3 in the Big Ten:
The Cats couldn't close the deal this time: Northwestern outscored the Buckeyes down the stretch to beat them in Evanston last month. They couldn't get the job done this time around at Value City Arena, but they made a pretty good run at it.
Nance, who battled foul trouble throughout the game, hit a 3-pointer to pull Northwestern to within 67-63 with five minutes left. Buie then followed with his triple -- his first basket in 144:39 of game time. It came shortly after he hit a pair of free throws for his first points after six halves worth of goose eggs.
But after a timeout, Ohio State answered with the run that put the game away. Justin Ahrens hit a 3-pointer from the corner, his fourth in five tries. After Audige missed a 3-pointer, Justice Sueing came down and sunk a layup in the paint. Then, after a long Buie 3 was off the mark, Kyle Young converted an old-fashioned 3-point play.
The Buckeye lead was up to 75-66 and the game was effectively over.
Audige was on fire in the first half: Chase Audige only needed 20 minutes to set his career high in points at Northwestern.
The sophomore guard lit it up in the first half, scoring 21 points on 9-15 shooting. Audige came out aggressively, hitting his first four shots from the floor, including a 3-pointer.
The William & Mary transfer wound up scoring Northwestern’s first 11 points all by himself, including a tough, step-back jumper that was his fifth basket in six tries. He drilled a second triple just before the half.
But Northwestern went into the locker room trailing 42-33 because the rest of the team scored just 11 points on 3-of-16 shooting, including 1 of 11 from beyond the arc. Buie, Kopp and Nance went a combined 0 for 11 from the floor and tallied just four points.
The other problem: Duane Washington Jr. poured in 17 first-half points for the Buckeyes, who hit 8 of 18 3-pointers (44.4%) as a team.
Defense is becoming an issue: Head coach Chris Collins said after the game that he is most concerned about how his team is playing defense during this losing streak.
The Wildcats allowed 81 points to the Buckeyes, the fourth straight game that they've allowed more than 80 points. They've allowed 83.5 points per game during the losing streak, compared to 74.3 during their three-game winning streak in Big Ten play last month.
What's more, each of Northwestern's opponents have hit at least 40% of their 3-pointers against the Cats. Ohio State hit 10 3-pointers on 25 attempts. Iowa, Michigan and Illinois all hit double-digit triples by shooting better than 40% against the Wildcats, too.
The Cats can't hit the long ball: A big component of Northwestern's success during its 6-1 start to the season was 3-point shooting. But while the Wildcats lived by the 3 earlier in the year, they're dying by the 3 now.
Northwestern hit just 6 of 23 shots from long distance against Ohio State for a woeful 26.1% average. Kopp hit 2 of 5 3-pointers and Nance was 2 for 2. But the rest of the team combined to hit just 2 of 16 from distance, or 12.5%. Buie went 1 for 6 and Audige 1 for 7.
The Wildcats have not shot better than 30% from outside the line in three straight games. In their five losses so far this season, the Wildcats have drained more than 40% of their 3-pointers just one time, against Iowa.