Takeaways: Pitt 87, Northwestern 58
Well, that didn't go very well.
Northwestern was thoroughly outplayed by a mediocre Pitt team from the jump en route to a blowout 87-58 loss on Monday night at Welsh-Ryan Arena in a Big Ten/ACC Challenge game.
Pitt came into the game sporting a 4-3 record and ranked 121st in Kenpom. They looked nothing like a team that had lost to West Virginia by 25 and Michigan by 31 earlier in the month.
Pitt was dominant from start to finish, with four of their starters scoring over 14 points. Blake Hinson led the way for the visitors, scoring 22 points. He was one of five Panthers in double figures.
Chase Audige and Boo Buie were the only Wildcats in double figures, Audige had 14 and Buie 10.
Here are our takeaways from the second straight NU loss after a 5-0 start:
The Cats came back to Earth: To paraphrase former NU football coach Dennis Green, the Cats are who we thought they were. And that is not a good basketball team.
A 5-1 start featuring a hotly-contested loss to a ranked Auburn team had optimism high in Evanston. But a thrashing at the hands of a underwhelming Panthers squad is not a good sign for the future of the season.
Defense had been the Wildcats' strength, but they were little more than speed bump for Pitt. The Panthers scored a season-high 87 points and shot the lights out, hitting 48.1% from the field and a white-hot 63.6% from beyond the arc.
The Panthers got any shot they wanted and had 22 assists on their 26 baskets.
Offense is a serious problem: Simply put, shooting 34.4% from the floor is not going to win a lot of basketball games. That abysmal performance from NU came on the heels of a game against Auburn which featured the Wildcats shooting 8% from beyond the arc in a one-point loss. This loss wasn't nearly as close because the defense disappeared, but a usually solid defense can't overcome a continual inability to put the ball in the basket.
Northwestern doesn't really have anyone who can consistently beat their man one-on-one. Buie and Audige have their moments, but this is a team that is going to have to get the majority of their baskets by running sets to create open looks. That hasn't happened consistently yet this year, and even when it does, Northwestern has struggled to convert open looks into makes.
The defense should bounce back, but whether or not Northwestern can score enough to capitalize on strong defensive performances remains a very real question. NU lost two of their best offensive players in Pete Nance and Ryan Young to North Carolina and Duke, respectively, this offseason, and not replacing those two through the portal has come home to roost.
Martinelli makes a strong impression: Very few things went well for Northwestern on Monday, but freshman Nick Martinelli was certainly a bright spot.
The youngster from nearby Glenview (Ill.) Glenbrook South played with a lot of energy early, scoring his first career points on a putback. With Julian Roper II still out with an injury, head coach Chris Collins needed someone to pick up some minutes on the wing and Martinelli delivered with seven points, four rebounds and a pair of assists.
While Roper II should hopefully be back soon, it was encouraging to see one of the newest Wildcats hit the ground running in his first real game action.