Ty Berry shines in 74-63 win over Jackson State

EVANSTON-Northwestern took their season into the New Year with a 74-63 win over Jackson State at Welsh-Ryan Arena.

It was a chilly night for typical stars Boo Buie and Brooks Barnhizer, but Ty Berry was there, alongside Ryan Langborg, to pick up the slack.

Berry led the Wildcats with 20 points, finishing 7-for-12 from the field and 5-for-10 from three. Langborg chipped in 17, the fifth time in the last six games he's scored 14 or more points.

Head coach Chris Collins was quick to laud Berry, who has seen spikes of nearly 10% in his field-goal and three-point percentage from last season to this one.

"I thought 29% [from three] last year was not indicative of who he was," Collins said. "I thought he was very streaky last year and his shot got flat.

"That's something he worked on in the offseason is getting a little more lift on his shot, shooting a softer ball, getting a little bit more arc on it. He's got such a beautiful stroke when his feet are set and he's taking good shots... I was confident coming into this year that he was going to get back into the high-30, low-40% range from three."

Berry has done just that. After tonight, he's averaging 10.8 points per game on 45% percent shooting from the field and from beyond the arc.

Berry said the difference is the volume of work he put in during the offseason.

"It's just reps, it's all reps," Berry said, who also lauded the importance of his teammates' faith in him, "I feel like my teammates just do a great job of finding me and trusting me to knock down shots."

So far, Northwestern has gone as their guards have gone. If Berry can continue to deliver as teams key in on Buie and Barnhizer, the Wildcats could be shaping up for another special run.

Here are our takeaways from the Wildcats' third straight win:

Wildcats head into 2024 at 10-2: It's deja vu, all over again. For the second-straight year, the Wildcats start conference play at 10-2, 1-0 in conference. After a brutal upset by Chicago State, Collins feels good about his squad's standing, riding a three-game winning streak into 2024, but isn't satisfied.

"I think we have to continue to get better," he said. "The teams that end up emerging and being the teams that do well in conference continue to improve.

"We did that last year, we got better as the season went along and we're going to have to do that [again]. We have really good leadership in our locker room, we have veteran guys."

Collins then dusted off a reliable old coaching strategy and complimented the Big Ten's parity.

"You can say this team's down or this team's up, every game you play in the Big Ten, it doesn't matter. Everybody's good in this league," he said, playing the hits. "You have to play well in order to win one game and that's what we're going to focus on as we head to Champaign."

Berry echoed his coach.

"Going into Big Ten play, we know it's a gauntlet," he said. "Every game is just as important as the other, and every team we play will be really good."

Collins felt connection with the late Joey Meyer: Joey Meyer, the former DePaul head coach and Northwestern radio analyst, passed away on Friday at 74, surrounded by family in Hinsdale, per DePaul Athletics.

Collins developed a relationship with Meyer during his time as a Wildcats broadcaster and spoke earnestly about the bond they shared.

"I just got the news as I walked off the floor and my heart sank a little bit," Collins said. "I got to know Coach Meyer really well as he became our radio guy...

"I just remember a lot of conversations talking basketball with him. I felt like we had a connection because of our upbringings, we both had famous fathers."

Meyer's father, Ray, is the all-time winningest coach at DePaul with 724 wins, the 32nd-most by a coach in NCAA history. Joey followed his father as the Blue Demons' head coach.

"We had a lot of great conversations about blazing our own trail and being our own coaches while taking what we learned form our dads," Collins continued. "Always felt we had a great connection. We became really good friends and I'm heartbroken to hear about his passing.

"I'm really thinking about the Meyer family tonight and really loved my time getting to know him and learn from him."