Cats face red-hot Huskers in Big Ten tourney opener
The good news for the Northwestern in this Big Ten Tournament opening game is that the Wildcats are playing Nebraska, the only team they’ve beaten twice all season.
The bad news is that the Huskers may be the hottest team in the Big Ten.
Northwestern (14-15, 7-13 Big Ten), the 12th-seed in the tournament, will take on 13th-seeeded Nebraska (10-21, 4-16) tonight at 5 p.m. Central time at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. The winner will take on fifth-seeded Iowa on Thursday.
The Wildcats, who are coming off of an impressive season-ending win over Minnesota, have won five straight over the Huskers, including two this season. They destroyed Nebraska, 87-63, in Lincoln on Feb. 5, in what was arguably their best performance of the year. Then, they cruised to a 77-65 win in Evanston two weeks later.
But the Nebraska team Northwestern will face in Indianapolis is a different animal than the one it faced earlier this season. Somehow, some way, the previously hapless Huskers, who lost their first 12 Big Ten games, have caught fire, winning three straight, all on the road, to close out the regular season.
Nebraska’s streak began on Feb. 27 with a 93-70 win at Penn State, where the Huskers shot a blistering 58% from the floor and 65% on threes against the Big Ten’s top scoring defense. A fluke, many observers figured.
But the Huskers then went to Columbus and beat No. 23 Ohio State, 78-70, to snap a 24-game losing streak to ranked opponents. That raised a few eyebrows.
The real stunner, though, came on Sunday, when Nebraska rallied from a 10-point second-half deficit to beat No. 10 Wisconsin, 74-73, in Madison and deny the Badgers an outright Big Ten title (they had to share it with Illinois). And Nebraska did it without leading scorer Bryce McGowens, who hurt his hand or wrist in the win over Ohio State.
The catalyst of Nebraska’s unlikely rise has been point guard Alonzo Verge Jr. The Chicago native has averaged 18.0 points and 7.3 assists per game over those three wins, on 50% shooting. He torched Wisconsin for a game-high 26 points.
Whether the Huskers are playing to support embattled head coach Fred Hoiberg, who just took a pay cut to remain in Lincoln, or they just magically found their stride after three months, they are playing their best basketball of not only this season, but the last few years.
It’s certainly been a far cry from the Nebraska team that looked disinterested, particularly on the defensive end, in the two matchups with the Wildcats this season.
In the first game, in Lincoln, Boo Buie went off for 27 points, including six three-pointers, as the Wildcats rolled to a blowout win. Northwestern hit 10 threes in the first half and a season-high 13 for the game as the Huskers put up very little resistance. How convincing was the victory? The Wildcats didn’t score over the last five minutes of the game and still won by 24.
In the rematch, Northwestern led by 21 in the second half and coasted to a 12-point win. The Wildcats Big Three combined for 50 points, as Pete Nance went for 20, and Buie and Chase Audige had 15 apiece.
One of the keys to the Wildcats’ success against Nebraska has been the play of Audige. He’s been steady offensively, scoring a combined 31 points on 50% shooting in the two contests, but it’s his work on the defensive end that has been the real story.
Audige, who typically guards McGowens, limited the Huskers’ primary weapon and projected first-round NBA draft pick to just 10 points on 2-for-8 shooting in Lincoln. Then, in Evanston, McGowens scored 15 points, but it took him 16 shots to get them as Audige hounded him from baseline to baseline.
Audige figures to again do a number on McGowens, who averages 17.2 points per game but may still be feeling the effects of his injury. Wednesday’s game will likely be determined by who wins the point guard matchup between Buie and Verge.
Buie has put up 42 points in the two wins against Nebraska and figures to get his points. But he, or Julian Roper II, will need to limit Verge’s scoring and ability to get into the paint off the dribble.
If they can do that, Northwestern has a shot of extending its season and advancing to the next round.