Takeaways: Northwestern 81, Minnesota 61

Northwestern won their third straight Big Ten game by demolishing Minnesota, 81-61, at Welsh-Ryan Arena on Saturday.

The Wildcats got off to a bit of a slow start with just five points in the first five minutes, but were off to the races after the first media timeout. Chase Audige poured in 15 points in the first half, and finished with 24 as the game's leading scorer. Boo Buie was right behind with 21 points, and both members of Northwestern's dynamic backcourt were incredibly efficient. In fact, the whole team was. Northwestern shot 52% from the field on 60 shots, one of their best offensive outputs of the season.

Minnesota looked simply outclassed after their early spurt, and committed 15 turnovers which led to 18 Northwestern points. Jamison Battle led the Golden Gophers with 20 points, but Minnesota never threatened once the Wildcats established their lead.

Here are our takeaways from the win that raised Northwestern's record to 15-5 (6-3 Big Ten):

Offensive woes have faded away: The nightmarish offensive start to the season seems so long ago as this team has woken up and started to score consistently. After a frigid start to the seasond defined by slow starts, Northwestern has scored 78 or more in three of their last four games and set their record for most points in a half in back-to-back games.

"We shot the ball so incredibly [poorly] the first month of the season," Collins said. "I've always felt, and maybe this was because I was unconsciously a volume shooter...I always felt that if I missed 10 in a row, at some point in time I was going to make 10 in a row, because I was a 50% shooter."

That patience has paid off, and the Wildcats were exemplary on offense. The Wildcats shot 52% from the floor, 45% from three and 83% at the line and looked like they were on cruise control the whole way. Audige's 24 points came on 9-for-14 shooting from the field, while Buie's 21 was built on a 9-for-20 shooting night with eight assists. They have enjoyed a weaker strength of schedule over their last couple games, but Northwestern has definitely found a rhythm offensively.

"We talked to the guys [early in the season], it's the next shot," Collins said. "Make sure we're taking good ones, make sure we're taking our shots and let's take them with confidence.

"You're starting to see guys that weren't shooting the ball as well kind of break out and get back to their normal water level."

Defense locked in and locked down Minnesota: The Gophers got off to a good start and had an early 9-5 lead, but the Wildcats swiftly clamped down. They won the turnover battle 15-4 and outscored Minnesota 18-3 on points off of those turnovers.

Audige is normally the defensive headliner, but this time it was Buie causing chaos from Northwestern's backcourt. The senior guard had three steals, and did a phenomenal job causing havoc and converting fast breaks. Tydus Verhoeven also played well as Minnesota went small, protecting the rim and blocking three shots.

After giving up 80+ points to Indiana (albeit in a win) and Michigan, Northwestern's defense has responded by keeping their opponents to 63 or fewer over their last three games. The Wildcats offense was clicking, but their defense continues to be the rock on which they build their church.

Rotation without Roper has taken shape: Nick Martinelli continues to get around 10 minutes of playing time to make up for the absence of Julian Roper II with an injury. Martinelli has had a long runway into the rotation given that this game and the previous were against the two worst teams in the conference by a wide margin, but he has shown he will not be a defensive liability and can even make an impact on the glass.

Martinelli played 11 minutes, scored two points and grabbed five rebounds. He seems to have a real sense for the offensive glass; four of those five were offensive boards and he led the game in offensive rebounding despite playing a little more than a quarter of it.

One of the few frustrations from today's dominant win were the high minutes totals for Buie and Audige. They both played exceptionally, and this team does have limited depth, but it is frustrating to seem them log a combined 73 of 80 possible minutes in a game that the Wildcats led throughout. Collins acknowledged that he's asking a lot of the players as Northwestern gets back on track after COVID postponements.

"You worry coming into the game today," Collins said. "The guys, their legs, their fatigue, the preparation, all those things for college guys. They're not used to playing these games over a short span of time, but our guys were fantastic about it."

Minnesota was never really even able to seriously threaten Northwestern's substantial lead, but Collins stuck to his guns in a way that might make even Tom Thibodeau blush. The closest the Gophers got in the second half was 15, and with a grueling schedule of three games in the next eight days, Collins should have rested his backcourt more.

Student section created an awesome environment: It was a Saturday morning game against the worst team in the Big Ten, but that didn't prevent Northwestern's student body from filling the stands. The student section was packed to the brim, and student ticket availability ran out in less than 15 minutes after Northwestern Athletics opened the site.

"When we saw the tickets sold out in the first 15 minutes, that was a huge boost to us," Audige said. "Coming out and playing, seeing all the students and that energy, we definitely appreciate it."

The student body has been much maligned throughout Northwestern's recent history, but there is no doubt that they are behind this team and excited to pack Welsh-Ryan.

"It was everything I envisioned when we built this arena," Collins said. "You envision atmospheres like that, games like that where the students are going crazy and everyone is wearing purple."

Northwestern needed two wins and got two wins: After their grueling win over Wisconsin on Monday, Northwestern needed to take care of business against Nebraska and Minnesota, and that's exactly what they did. They handled the Huskers by 15, and now got rid of the Gophers by 20. Each time they came out early, established a tone and controlled the game.

"It was a big week for us to play three games in six days," Collins said. "And to be able to come out of that stretch 3-0 was really important."

They showed poise, found scoring opportunities and avoided getting tripped up by looking past opponents at the bottom of the conference. As this team continues to build its tournament resume, it is crucial that they get wins in these games, and they did it twice with authority.

Wildcats move into a tie for second in the Big Ten: With this win over cellar-dwelling Minnesota, Northwestern has moved up into a tie for second place in the Big Ten with Rutgers. It's hard to believe that Northwestern would be here after losing two major contributors to the transfer portal, but they are sturdily in the conference's upper echelon through nine games.

There are tougher opponents than Nebraska and Minnesota ahead. The Wildcats have Iowa, Michigan and Wisconsin next week alone. But for now, Northwestern is sitting pretty and has earned every bit of it.

"I tell our guys all the time that if they want to play in March, you have to win in November, December and January," Collins said. "We've set ourselves up in the first three months of the season for our February to really matter. We have a big stretch coming up, we have to stay the course."