The Northwestern train just keeps rolling.
The Wildcats ran Iowa off the floor in an 80-60 win at Welsh-Ryan arena on Sunday night. After losing to these same Hawkeyes in Iowa City by 16 just 20 days ago, the Wildcats completely demolished them in Evanston for their fifth straight victory.
Boo Buie led all scorers with 23 points, Ty Berry was right behind him with 16 and Iowa head coach Fran McCaffrey was ejected on a night when everything was coming up purple. The Wildcats wrapped up a seven-day period in which they beat then-No. 1 Purdue, then-No. 14 Indiana and, now, perennial nemesis Iowa.
Northwestern's defense was swarming, forcing 15 turnovers and holding Iowa to 43% from the floor and, crucially, 13% from beyond the three-point arc. The Wildcats built an 11-point first half lead and then stepped on the gas even more down the stretch.
Iowa star Kris Murray had a subdued night as the student section serenaded him with "Keegan's better" chants, referencing Murray's older brother who was selected No. 4 overall in last year's NBA draft.
"To be able to hold them to 60 points was quite a feat," head coach Chris Collins said. "It shows a lot about our guys and the way they hustle, though [Iowa] did miss a lot of open shots."
The Hawkeyes made a push coming out of the second half and got the lead down to seven with 13:47 left. But the Wildcats kept their composure, unlike McCaffrey. After the referees failed to call a 10-second violation that he thought his press had forced and eventually led to a Tydus Verheoven slam, McCaffrey lost his cool and let the frustration of the game boil over.
He earned a double technical and an early trip to the locker room, and for the second straight game a pair of technicals helped Northwestern secure a win. Buie knocked down all four free throws, also for the second straight game, and pushed Northwestern's lead to 19 and set the win in stone.
Here are our takeaways from the victory that pushed Northwestern's record to 20-7 overall and 11-5 in the Big Ten:
Buie is at a First-Team All Big Ten level: Collins talked preseason that he'd need his guards to play at an all-conference level, and Buie has answered that call.
Not only should Buie get All-Big Ten recognition, he's the favorite for the first-team. McCaffrey said as much after the game.
While Audige and Matt Nicholson got into foul trouble, something that might have rendered the offense immobile earlier in the season, Buie poured in an effortless 14 points in the first half to build a commanding 37-26 halftime lead over the Hawkeyes.
After building his career and reputation on his three-point shooting, Buie has been a quintessential three-level threat this season. Rather than putting up volume numbers and counting on the law of averages to swing games, Buie now uses the threat of his shot to drive, to create and, on this night, to dominate.
He put up 23 points and never seemed particularly bothered by an Iowa defense completely focused on shutting him down. His connection with his teammates, his coaches and this crowd was just sensational.
With the shot-clock winding down on Northwestern's win, Buie knocked down yet another three with 36 seconds left and reveled as Welsh-Ryan exploded. He practically pranced to the other side of the floor, calling on the crowd already ready to go to war for him to find yet another level as he yelled, using my amateur lip reading skills, "Let's f***ing go!".
He was subbed out for Roy Dixon III shortly thereafter, and the thunderous ovation resumed.
"I just wanted to show a little appreciation for the crowd, they've been amazing all year," Buie said. "I hit a big shot down the stretch and that was kind of the finishing [touch], I wanted to get the crowd back into it before I got [subbed] out of the game."
Buie has always been one of the program's best guards, players or leaders. Now he's the conference's and maybe even one of the country's best.
Ty Berry left it all on the floor: Normally it is Buie and Audige who are expected to take on a Herculean workload, but it was Berry who was the iron man tonight. He played all 20 minutes in the first half, putting up eight points on 50% shooting, to go with three assists and a steal.
Berry finished with 35 minutes in the game but may have gone the distance if the game didn't run into garbage time. He was the team's, and the game's, second-leading scorer with 16 points. He cracked double digits for the first time since he went off for 26 points against Nebraska almost a month ago.
"It goes for any good shooter," Berry said. "When you see the first one go in, after that, the hoop is like an ocean."
Collins was thrilled to see Berry find his shooting stroke again, but made sure to credit Berry's work as a disruptor defensively.
"They do such a good job running the ball down right after you score," Collins said. "We used Ty as our guy to go back there and jam the ball and take away the initial thrust of their offense."
It was a historic night in Evanston: As Northwestern basketball writes an incredible new chapter in its history this season, the athletic department took a moment to honor two program legends. Billy McKinney, Northwestern's all-time leading scorer for a 35-year stretch and a man many regard as the best Wildcat ever, will have his No. 30 retired next season.
Larry Kurka, who lead Northwestern in scoring in the 1952-53 season, was recognized on the video board for celebrating his 90th birthday at the game. Vic Law, a star from NU's 2016-17 NCAA Tournament team was also on hand.
It was truly special to see a program that has spent so long working toward the spotlight celebrate two of its legends with a sold out Welsh-Ryan Arena and a packed student section chanting their names as the 2022-23 Wildcats hit 20 wins for just the fifth time in program history.
Revenge was served cold: The Wildcats were on running on fumes in their first matchup with Iowa, and their meter hit empty in the second half when the Hawkeyes ran away for a 16-point win. Tonight, Northwestern was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, and they completely turned the tables.
Northwestern came out ahead in a lot of stats, but none were as crucial as the three-point differential. Iowa couldn't buy a bucket, finishing an anemic 3-for-24 from long distance. It's hard to fathom this Wildcat team authoritatively knocking down 10 of their 20 threes, given it was earlier this season when they posted their own impressively cold mark of 2-for-24 against Auburn.
This team is like the DC villain Doomsday: whatever kills it becomes its strength in the next fight. This team was offensively landlocked and reliant on hero ball. Now, it's a roster with depth and plenty of players ready to be the next man up.
After Iowa thrashed the Wildcats because of Northwestern's exhaustion, tonight it was Northwestern who ran them off the floor.
This team has evolved from an afterthought, to a plucky defensive-focused squad, to an apex predator fiercely defending its home turf and hunting for revenge. Iowa was one of the few teams to have beaten the Wildcats, now they're just another name off the list. Only Illinois, Maryland, Penn Staten and Rutgers remain on the schedule, and they're in this team's sights.
"We just want [people] to know we’re serious," said Buie. "This isn’t a joke."
Northwestern should be getting greedy: The Wildcats pushed their winning streak to five with an authoritative 20-point win over Iowa on the heels of two top 15 wins. The AP Poll will come out on Monday, and Northwestern should feel confident they will have a place securely within its ranks.
But Collins and this team aren't satisfied with 20 wins.
"We want more," Collins said. "We can all reflect at the end of the year when this thing is all done, we can look back and talk about the ups and downs and everything we went through.
"But we're trying our hardest to stay in the moment because we feel like we're playing for a lot right now. These games really matter for the Big Ten standings, the Big Ten tournament and the NCAA tournament."
With this win, Northwestern has kept their sole possession of second place in the conference and kept the pressure on Purdue, which has just a one-game lead on the Cats in the loss column. They hold a tiebreaker over the Boilermakers, and the third-place Indiana Hoosiers.
Northwestern has an inside line towards a double-bye in the Big Ten Tournament, and will have a legitimate bid to win the conference. There are very few worlds left to conquer in this conference. This team has proven that it can play with anyone in the conference, and maybe the country. It's time for this team to set its sights as high as they can go and dare themselves to come up short.
