The stage is set for Northwestern's rematch with Iowa on Friday and the Wildcats have been revitalized by a pair of double-digit wins on the road.
After losing key players Brooks Barnhizer and Jalen Leach to season-ending injuries and plummeting to 17th in the Big Ten standings, Northwestern is suddenly in a four-way tie for 13th with three games remaining. Only the top 15 teams make the conference tournament this season, and after looking all-but-dead after a loss to Nebraska on Feb. 16, the Wildcats are right in the thick of things after notching wins in Columbus and Minneapolis in the last eight days.
“We started [our mentality] after the Ohio State win, going into Minnesota: we have four games left, approach each game like they’re postseason games," head coach Chris Collins said on Thursday. "If this was the postseason, what level of preparation would you give? How much sleep would you get? How excited would you be to play, to compete?
"I thought we carried that out in Minneapolis the other night. They played with a sense of urgency… That’s all we want."
Center Matt Nicholson feels that sense of urgency in his fifth and final season for Northwestern, his home away from home.
"We always have to take it one-by-one, but these three games not only determine if we make the Big Ten Tournament, it determines if I have more games in my college career," the fifth-year senior said. "These are the biggest games of my career so far... It's my last year here and I've called this my second home, in a way. We can finish what we wanted to set as the standard here, which is winning."
The Wildcats' next opportunity to uphold that standard is against Iowa on Friday night at Welsh-Ryan Arena. It was just three months ago they squared off the first time, but for Northwestern it feels more like three years since Josh Dix's buzzer-beater broke their hearts and gave Iowa an 80-79 win.
With 18 teams in the coast-to-coast Big Ten, the tiebreakers are labyrinthine. Right now, Northwestern would win the four-team tiebreaker with Iowa, USC and Minnesota for 13th place based on round-robin record. That house of cards will be kicked over by the rubber match with the Hawkeyes, though, so Collins wants his team taking it game-by-game rather than trying to plot out their future seedings.
"My kids make fun of me, they say the only reason I got admitted to Duke was my jump shot," Collins quipped. "We can’t get lost in how we get in, the tiebreakers. You go out and compete and hopefully win some games.
"It’s a tough league, you have to stay with what’s in front of you. I’m proud of how they’ve continued to fight and battle no matter what’s been thrown at them this year."
Culture beats curveballs: The Wildcats had lost six of their last eight games when they went on the road to Ohio State and shockingly trounced the Buckeyes by 21 points on Feb. 20. They backed it up with a 12-point win at Minnesota on Tuesday night for their first two Big Ten road wins of the season.
“Credit the resiliency and the culture, day in and day out," Collins said. "Really proud of Ty [Berry] and Matt and Nick [Martinelli], those three guys who have been part of a lot of winning and seen this year unfold with some craziness: unexpected injuries, crazy endings. It’s been one of those years with a lot of curveballs thrown at them.
"They had every reason to say, 'Maybe it’s not in the cards', but they haven’t done that. They keep battling, keep fighting and that’s what’s been fun for me to watch these last two games, to see them rewarded for that effort and commitment."
After a mercurial start to the season while recovering from an injury, Berry has found his level when Northwestern needed him most. In the past five games since Leach's injury, he has averaged 16.8 points and 35.4 minutes per game ,with 40% 3-point shooting and a perfect mark at the free-throw line.
Martinelli has been ascendant, resurrecting his case for All-Big Ten honors and solidifying himself as the conference's leading scorer. He has averaged 22.7 points and eight rebounds in the last six contests.
This season's road has been full of potholes, and the team had to reinvent itself "three or four different times" through injury and adversity, according to Collins. The team's bedrock culture has brought them back each time.
"They show up every night and fight for the name on the front of the jersey," Collins said. "You don't see that a lot in college basketball anymore."
Collins disagrees with the new Big Ten Tournament format: The conference's decision to cut their tournament field down to 15 and leave three teams out has added some late-season drama, but left Collins and other coaches unenthused.
"I’m not a fan at all. I think all of us [coaches] are unanimous," he said. "And we get it, the league is in a tough spot to put the puzzle together, 18 teams and TV windows… But I think the positives far outweigh those negatives.
"Look at our league. You’re probably going to have three teams left out with five to seven wins. You’re not talking about 1-19 or 2-18 [teams]... I think it’s a disservice to the players, but it is what it is."
In an ironic twist, Collins opined that the focus should be towards the teams at the top, instead of the bottom.
“The other part is, I’m big on rewarding the people who are winning. I’m a basketball junkie, so I watch a lot of games and I feel like every time I turn on a Big Ten game, all we talk about is the teams at the bottom of the league," he said.
"Why aren’t we talking about the job Coach [Tom] Izzo is doing and [Michigan State] being 15-3? Or [head coach] Dusty May at Michigan? How Purdue is winning without Zach Edey? What [head coach] Kevin [Willard] has done at Maryland to turn that around?
"Instead, we’re talking about the bottom five or six, fighting for the last three spots. And I get it, it’s what we do for the NCAA Tournament, it’s bubble time. But I think it’s wrong. We should talk about the best, the championship, not who’s going to get left out of the Big Ten Tournament."
Windham making the most of late-season reps: Northwestern and Collins' calling card for the past decade has been guard development, and freshman KJ Windham might just be next in line behind guys like Boo Buie, Chase Audige, Berry and Barnhizer.
After struggling to find consistency in the first 25 games of the season, Leach's injury has forced Windham back into the rotation, and he's started to find a rhythm. First, he erupted for 20 points at Oregon. Then he scored 15 in the big win at Ohio State. Lastly he put up eight points and seven assists at Minnesota.
That last game may seem like the undercard, but it's what has coaches and fans the most excited as the streaky scorer showed an ability to distribute the ball and create opportunities for others.
"I'm really proud of his growth in the last three games under pressure," Collins said. "He had seven assists last game, a big game at Ohio State, with his scoring. There’s no substitute for game experience, and with the way we’re constructed, he’s been in a position with the ball in key situations.
"There’s going to be good and bad, especially with a freshman, but it’s nice to see growth. These last eight to 10 games are really important for him and [fellow freshman] Angelo [Ciaravino]."
Emotional Senior Night for Collins on the horizon: It's always a tough time to say goodbye to a class of players, but this year will be especially sentimental with newcomer Keenan Fitzmorris, cornerstones like Nicholson and Berry, and the injured Leach and Barnhizer. Plus, Collins has a family connection to one of the team's managers who is also graduating: his son, Ryan Collins.
"It's going to be tough," Collins said. "It takes me back to when I was a kid with my dad. My first eight years coaching, I didn't know what it's like but then the last four, to have Ryan with me every practice...
"As you get older, they become your fiends. To be able to joke around, go on the road...what amazing memories we've created together."
Collins drew support across the college basketball community for the emotion he displayed at the press conference after the USC game, when he announced Barnhizer's season would come to a close. He thinks the Wildcat faithful will see him get emotional once again when he walks on the court with Ryan.
He closed in a joking manner, though, alluding to the shared penchant both he and his son have for showing off their shooting skills in warmups.
"People come up to me all the time, it's funny, they say, 'your boy can shoot!'" Collins said. "Because he's out there an hour before the game, and that's what I used to do [with the Bulls]...
"One of my greatest memories was a big game, the Bad Boy Pistons were in town, and I was out there in warmups and made like 10 threes in a row. And I was 13, the crowd started cheering me on.
"I'm always one to like the moment, so I played up to it. He shows off before the game, too. It's been a special four years... It's something I'll never forget."
