Northwestern overcomes foul trouble to pick up key win at Indiana

BLOOMINGTON-Boo Buie picked up his second foul with 11:37 left in the first half, not returning until 11 seconds left before the break. Brooks Barnhizer picked up his second foul with 7:52 left in the first half with Northwestern leading 20-14. He was done for the half.

The carefully constructed six-point lead at Assembly Hall seemed assured to collapse as a ragtag lineup of Ryan Langborg, Justin Mullins, walkon Blake Smith, Nick Martinelli and Blake Preston took the floor. Preston was quickly swapped for Matt Nicholson and, instead of faltering, they held the line.

With two players from their deep bench replacing the program's cornerstones, the Wildcats went from a 20-14 advantage with 7:52 to a 34-26 lead at the break. It was a lead they wouldn't relinquish in a 76-72 win over the Hoosiers.

"We had a lineup on the floor maybe the last eight to 10 minutes of the first half that, never in my wildest imaginations would have thought would be on the floor at Indiana in a late season game we needed to win," head coach Chris Collins said. "But credit to those guys, man, when Boo and Brooks got in foul trouble...that stretch of the game, to go to half up eight, was huge."

Mullins and Smith held serve while the remaining three starters put on a show.

Langborg expertly piloted the offense in lieu of Buie and Barnhizer, finishing with 26 points, his most since transferring to Northwestern and tying his career high in college. He also had six assists and no turnovers in all 40 minutes.

Martinelli struggled from the field, finishing 4-for-13, but chipped in a key 13 points and 13 rebounds for the first double-double of his career.

Also reaching the double-double mark for the first time was Matt Nicholson, who may have played the best game of his career in purple and white. Nicholson finished with 14 points, 16 rebounds, two blocks and two steals.

Indiana center Kel'el Ware was incredible with 22 points, 16 rebounds and four blocks to pace the Hoosiers.

Here are our takeaways form Northwestern's win on the road at Indiana:

Northwestern has never needed Langborg more: The key to Northwestern's nearly eight-minute run of holding serve with Buie and Barnhizer benched was Langborg's total control of the offense.

He was brought in as a grad transfer from Princeton to provide much-needed floor spacing next to Buie, knocking down catch-and-shoot threes, while letting the all-conference guard do his thing at the point of attack. He's been so much more than that this season, and he put it all on display today with maybe the best game of his career outside of last season's March Madness run.

Collins' message to his team this season in those situations has been simple: let it rip.

"He talks to all of us about letting it rip," Langborg said. "Be aggressive, make plays, take care of the ball but put pressure on the defense. Twenty-six points and no turnovers without leaving the game, mission accomplished.

"We needed this one coming off of the Rutgers game," he said. "We had to get one and it was important and credit to the other guys, they made my job easier."

Speaking of Rutgers, Langborg's controversial ejection that caused him to leave the game after just 10 minutes came with a silver lining.

"First time I've ever been ejected in my life, weird feeling," Langborg said. "I came into this game, felt the best I had all season after all that rest."

Collins said Langborg has been exactly the player he hoped out of the transfer portal.

"Just put that Creighton film on from the Sweet Sixteen, or the Arizona game, or the Missouri game," Collins said. "He did it at the highest level with the biggest stakes [for Princeton] in the NCAA Tournament.

"I knew he could really shoot the ball. Fortunately for me, I have a lot of contacts. My first boss, Tommy Amaker, is at Harvard. I called him and he said one of his biggest mistakes was not recruiting Ryan and letting him go to Princeton... He told me I'd be pleasantly surprised that he can do a lot more than catch and shoot.

"He can play in pick and roll, he has a savviness in his passing...six assists, no turnovers...we knew what we were getting. The day he said he was coming to Northwestern, I was jumping for joy because he was what we needed."

Collins pushed Indiana's scouting to the limit: Smith had seven career minutes at Northwestern but played 13 against the Hoosiers.

Collins' bizarre lineup seemed to confuse Indiana, who did not significantly adjust their defense to Smith, a walkon, or Mullins, a former deep bench player. The pair wound up playing 30 combined minutes.

"I'm not a coach that sits guys the whole half," Collins said. "I was going to put [Buie and Barnhizer] back in if need be. But that group played so well and we kept the lead that enabled us to rest those guys the rest of the half."

Buie and Barnhizer entered the game as the Big Ten's leaders in minutes per game. Buie played 28 minutes, Barnhizer 24. It was the first time that either had played fewer than 32 minutes in a Big Ten game this season.

Collins and Nicholson used Ware's strengths against him: Ware is one of the most formidable shot blockers, not just in the Big Ten, but in the NCAA. He had four today and it was a rare shot in the paint he didn't impact.

But the Wildcats used that against him, finishing with 14 offensive rebounds and 12 second-chance points.

"They have one of the elite shot blockers in the country," Collins said. "And what happens with elite shot blockers, they're coming over to block everything.

"One of the things we talked about with our bigs was: be ready on the back side. If the shot is missed, you're a free rebounder on the back side. And I thought that was a big reason Matt [Nicholson] had free rein when [Ware] was going for blocks to head to the offensive boards."

Seven of Nicholson's 16 rebounds came on the offensive glass, a dominant performance form the resurgent big man. Collins benched Nicholson about six weeks ago for being lethargic, and there they were sharing laughs postgame after the Leviathan-sized center powered Northwestern to a win.

"He'll be the first to tell you he was off to a slower start to the season," Collins said while Nicholson smiled and nodded. "He wasn't in peak condition and he's really worked hard to get himself back in that kind of shape. That was shade's of last year seeing him get those slip dunks, he's moving a lot better...his little jump hook at the end of the game was one of the bigger shots."

Nicholson took an opening shortly after to jab at his coach for not drawing up more looks for him.

"When it comes to me, it comes to me," Nicholson said of the offense with a smile. "I don't really have any plays drawn up for me."

"That's not true," Collins interjected, playfully indignant before Nicholson shushed him.

"I know," Nicholson said with a smile. "I just try to do as much as I can. The dump offs got to me and I was able to finish those."

"He's our presence," Collins said. "He protects our basket, he's an elite rebounder, everybody on our team knows how important he is to us."

Where the Wildcats stand: After a grueling three-point loss at Rutgers, Northwestern desperately needed this one. They prevented their second set of consecutive losses in Big Ten play and kept themselves on track for both of their tournament goals: a Big Ten double-bye and an NCAA berth.

The Hoosiers are clearly reeling, losers of six of their last eight, but road wins are always "precious" this year, Collins said, no matter the opponent. There was still loads of talent and extraordinarily hostile crowd at a packed Assembly Hall to give the Wildcats plenty of adversity. Still, even with Buie and Barnhizer waylaid, they staved off a late Indiana run and secured the win.

The Wildcats stand at 18-8 (9-6 Big Ten), in a three-way tie for third place in the Big Ten, down a tiebreaker to Wisconsin and up one on Michigan State.

Buie was expected to eclipse John Shurna's all-time scoring record against Indiana, but foul trouble and a physical Indiana defense left him just four points short at 2,034.

Even better, the stage is set for Buie to take sole possession on Thursday night in front of the Wildcat faithful at Welsh-Ryan Arena against Michigan.

Northwestern improved to 3-1 since Ty Berry played a fully healthy game. The senior guard's season-ending injury has devastated the team emotionally but its clear that their resolve and intensity has been hardened even further on his behalf.

The Wildcats used the win, against an Indiana team on a week's rest that desperately needed a win of their own to stay alive in the race to a tourney berth, to make the latest statement this season that they have no quit and will continue to fight to reach their goals.