Don’t look now: The Cats are on a winning streak
To quote Will Ferrell in Old School, "We’re going streaking!”
Northwestern turned in a remarkably un-Northwestern-like performance to defeat the Maryland Terrapins 60-55 on Wednesday night at Welsh-Ryan Arena and extend their winning streak to two.
The Wildcats just ended a 13-game losing streak last Thursday night with a win over Minnesota. Now, with one game left in the regular season, they’re trying to string together some wins heading into the Big Ten Tournament next week.
Things got off to an abysmal start for the guys in purple. Maryland jumped out to a 9-0 lead punctuated by a breakaway dunk by Darryl Morsell after a lazy pass by Miller Kopp.
After the under-16 media timeout, Boo Buie missed a triple, but Pete Nance grabbed the offensive board and put it back up and in. That was a sign of things to come for the Cats.
Offensive rebounding is not typically a strength for the Wildcats, but they grabbed eight of them against the Terrapins, tied for their most in Big Ten play this season. Northwestern also out-rebounded the Terps overall, the second straight time they've done that — and also just the second time they’ve done it in Big Ten play this season.
That stick-back by Nance ignited an aggressiveness in NU that had been missing since December. Nance extended the run he started to 13-2 with a triple from the left wing, giving the Cats a 13-11 lead. Next time down the court, he buried another three from about the same spot to answer an Aaron Wiggins triple for Maryland, and the Wildcats retook the lead at 16-14.
Shooting from behind the arc was another aspect of the game where Northwestern was suddenly proficient. The Cats hit eight of 19 three-pointers in the first half to take a 28-26 lead at the break. They cooled off in the second half, but still finished a respectable 10 for 29.
Even more out of character for Northwestern was a suffocating defensive performance. Maryland managed only 55 points despite shooting a reasonable 42% from the field because of a Wildcat defense that forced 15 turnovers.
To top it all off, because things weren't weird enough already, Northwestern executed down the stretch. After Maryland took a one point lead with 2:32 left, Buie and Ryan Young calmly ran a pick-and-roll, and when Maryland switched Wiggins onto the much bigger Young, Buie got him the ball and Young backed his way in for a left-handed layup.
Maryland didn't make a field goal for the final 4:02, and Young and Buie combined to hit four clutch free throws to put the game out of reach. It was a breath of fresh air for a team who has struggled so much to close out games in the last two seasons.
Buie led Northwestern with 15 points, while Chase Audige had 14 and Nance 12.
Aaron Wiggins poured in a career-high 26 points to lead Maryland, which had its five-game winning streak snapped.
Here are our takeaways from the win that improved Northwestern's record to 8-14 overall and 5-13 in Big Ten play:
Ryan Young makes good things happen: Young was moved out of the starting lineup to help get better matchups against Maryland's small-ball lineup. That turned out to be a mistake.
Northwestern was down 9-0 before Young entered and then ripped off a 13-2 run once he checked in. Since Young had a size advantage over Maryland's small lineup, they doubled him whenever he caught it in the post. Instead of panicking, Young channeled his inner Nikola Jokic and accurately kicked the ball out to open shooters on the perimeter. Young was +8 for the game, second-best on the team behind Anthony Gaines.
Young also scored the game-wining bucket, hit a pair of clutch free throws and grabbed the last two rebounds of the game. He was the reason Northwestern closed out this win.
Nothing about Young is flashy; he has dunked one time this season. But there’s no question how important he is to the Wildcats. He's the best rebounder on the team, he's a consistent threat in the post, he's a smart player who always looks to make the right play and he plays with maximum effort at all times.
Simply put, Northwestern would not have beaten Maryland without No. 15's steady presence on both ends of the court.
NU turned weaknesses into strengths: The problems that plagued the Wildcats during their 13-game losing streak were well documented. They didn't rebound, they didn't get to the free-throw line, they played poor defense and they turned the ball over too often.
On Wednesday, Northwestern was the better team at all of those things. They grabbed one more rebound than the Terps, including three more offensive boards. NU shot four more free throws and scored six more points at the line than the Terps. Additionally, Northwestern forced 15 Maryland turnovers and turned it over only 12 times themselves.
If it seems simple, it's because it is. Northwestern has corrected the areas where they were getting outplayed consistently, and now they are winning. It's a shame it took two months and 13 losses to get back on track, but Northwestern is playing winning basketball once again.
Kopp disappeared: What made Northwestern’s win all the more improbable is that the junior from Houston went scoreless.
After an efficient 15-point outing against Minnesota, Kopp was 0 for 11 from the field on Wednesday night and did not score. Kopp struggles on the defensive end, so when he can’t hit shots on offense, it really hurts his value to the team.
The only positive spin is that Kopp didn't get discouraged; he kept shooting. He also managed to pull down six rebounds, tied for second-most on the team.
But Northwestern hopes that Kopp’s shots start going in again.
Cats found their touch from deep: Head coach Chris Collins recently expressed the desire to get his starting backcourt of Buie and Audige playing well at the same time. He got that against Maryland.
The pair of sophomores did most of their damage from behind the arc. Audige shot a blazing 80% (4-5) from behind the line and Buie was a very good 43% (3-7).
Add in a pair of triples from Nance and a corner three from Ty Berry, and it was a great shooting night from the Cats.
He's ba-ack: As Buie goes, so go the Cats.
In Northwestern's wins this season, the sophomore is averaging just under 16 points per game. In losses, 7.4 points per contest. That is not a coincidence.
In the last three games, Buie is averaging 19.7 points per game and shooting 45% from the field and 42% from deep. He appears to be back to the guy who was powering Northwestern to a top-20 ranking in December.
Buie can be an electric scorer; his trio of deep triples in the first half and crazy behind-the-back dribble to split two defenders and then hit a floater showed that. He just needs to do it more consistently.