EVANSTON-Ty Berry scored a season-high 23 points and Brooks Barnhizer notched his sixth straight double-double as Northwestern capped off the 2024 calendar year with an 85-60 win over Northeastern on Sunday at Welsh-Ryan Arena

The Wildcats fell behind early, 17-4, but flexed their defensive muscles to come back and dominate down the stretch. Northwestern hounded the Huskies into 22 turnovers and scored 34 points off of them, to Northeastern's five.

Fifth-year guard Berry, who also scored his 1,000th career point, led the way with five 3s, while do-it-all forward Barnhizer recorded 22 points and 10 rebounds, to go along with seven assists and five steals.

Northwestern finished 9-2 in their non-conference slate and head into 2025 at 10-3 (1-1 Big Ten) and unbeaten at Welsh-Ryan Arena.

Here are our takeaways from Northwestern's last game of the year.

Collins' tough love to Berry bears fruit: Collins has been adamant in his support for Berry over the years, and the veteran coach shared post-game that his support can veer into tough love, too.

"I love Ty. He's been a really good player in this program and obviously he got knocked to the pavement with that knee injury," Collins said. "Even though he played well at Iowa, pretty good game against Georgia Tech, I just didn't think he was in the right frame of mind that he needed to be as we approached these last 20+ games.

"I got after him a little bit out of the break. Maybe he was stunned, but it was a jolt from someone that cares for him... I just love how he responded. He didn't mope, it wasn't all of a sudden he hates his coach because I got on him in front of the guys... He's been a key part of a lot of winning and culture building. Hopefully this is a springboard, because we need him."

The message got through to Berry, who hit 5-of-7 3s against the Huskies.

"Coach is always keeping it real," Berry said. "Especially me, because I've been here the longest. He knows when I'm at my best, and when I'm not and I feel like keeping me accountable is extremely important. He's been doing that, and for me, it's about staying confident, knowing what I bring to the table is important to the guys, then going out and executing."

Barnhizer and Nick Martinelli might be the top two of this team, but Berry is often the barometer. The Wildcats are 6-1 this season when he makes multiple 3-pointers and 5-1 when he scores 10+ points.

When Berry is on, this team is very hard to beat.

The Cats have built a connection with the community: On a dreary December day with students on break and an unappealing non-conference foe in the building, 5,944 fans filed past the Ryan Field construction outside and into Welsh-Ryan Arena.

"It's a great testament to what our players have done to capture the North Shore and Chicago area," Collins said. "How can you not watch Brooks and Nick, with how hard those guys play? They're a group you want to cheer for...

"People said to me when i first got here, and no one came to the games, how can you get a better environment? I always answered the same: win."

And win the Wildcats have. Stretching back to 2022-23, Northwestern is 53-27, winning nearly two-thirds of their games. One of the engines driving their success has been a more-and-more raucous home court, where the Wildcats finished 16-1 in the 2024 calendar year.

"People like watching a product that's fun, they like watching wins," Collins said. "There are a lot of people in this area that really love sports. I know you went to other schools as your undergrad, but let us be your hometown team... To have people from this area bring their kids to the game and say, 'I went to Michigan State but my kids love the Cats.' They love Brooks, they love Ty Berry. That was always one of my biggest goals."

After turning Central & Ashland into an inhospitable climate for any Big Ten foe, the Wildcat faithful have taken the next step and blanketed Welsh-Ryan in purple for games against DePaul and Northeastern that would have bordered on a graveyard shift just three years ago.

The connection that Northwestern, Collins, and these players have built to the community has been truly special to witness.

Barnhizer continues sensational run: A Barnhizer box score is often a work of art, in and of itself.

There's the aforementioned double-doubles, five of those, and six straight games with 20 or more points. He's recorded at least three steals in six of his first nine games. He's become a much more capable passer, tying his career-high with seven assists. It was his third game of six or more dimes in the past six contests.

"Brooks has been phenomenal," Collins said. "What more can you say? There are other great players in the country, but I'm not sure anyone is affecting the game the way he does for us."

There are concerns about how, or for how long, Barnhizer can maintain this level of play in conference. Big Ten play is, to use his words, a "20-round fight".

Since the Arizona Tip-Off, Barnhizer is averaging 39.1 minutes per game over the last seven games. Barnhizer finished among the top 15 in the nation last year in minutes, and at his current rate he'd rank fourth.

To twist Collins' compliment, there may not be a staff in the country that asks more of a player than Northwestern's does of Barnhizer.

But he delivers. Through 13 games, he's blown away any reasonable prediction for his production heading into the season and has established himself not just as the leader of this team, but as the latest legend in this program's history.

Wildcats have established style, for better or for worse: Two recurring thorns in Northwestern's side was on display on Sunday, despite the 25-point win: breaking the press and bench scoring.

The Wildcats' slow start was in part fueled by two over-and-back calls on guard Jalen Leach, after he was trapped just across half-court.

"Give them credit," Collins said. "They've sprinkled it in. We had prepared for it, but not as much as we should have. We were mindless early."

The Wildcats quickly righted the ship and finished with just six turnovers, but there will be Big Ten teams that are bigger and better physically than Northeastern whose presses won't be so easily dismissed. Northwestern's best press break remains putting the ball in Barnhizer's hands when they should be working to take things off his plate, not add more to it.

The even more significant struggle is bench scoring. Center Luke Hunger was scoreless in 16 minutes, and although he was a +5 in that stretch, he went 0-for-3 from the field. All three of his attempts were 3-pointers, and he now falls to an horrid 9.1% from deep.

Guard Justin Mullins continues to be a virtuoso defender and snagged four steals, but scored just 4 points. Collins played freshman guards Angelo Ciaravino and KJ Windham late in the game, with the result well in hand, and Ciaravino found a pair of points. But it's clear the trust isn't there yet to get competitive minutes in conference with a healthy rotation ahead of them.

Through the first 13 games, Northwestern has entrenched its style to ride their veterans. Collins said looking ahead at the upcoming Big Ten schedule causes him to be physically ill, and it is filled with experienced coaches with legions of staffers ready to burn hour after hour of tape on how to stop Northwestern's top players.

Collins is betting big on his own experience, and his players' experience, to stay ahead of that curve and take the Wildcats to their third straight tournament.

"Being older guys, we know what it takes to win," Berry said. "Brooks and Nick are ethereal players. Playing off them is the key to our success in the Big Ten... That's the time for them to rock out. We know our formula, it's now about perfecting it."