What's happened to Pete Nance?

Pete Nance has lost his way.

The 6-foot-10 sophomore, arguably the most talented player on Northwestern’s roster, scored just three points in Wednesday night’s 79-54 loss to Michigan at Welsh-Ryan Arena. It was the fifth straight game in which Nance failed to score more than three points.

After starting the first 20 games of the season, Nance has come off the bench in the last three as a backup. The one-time featured player has been largely relegated to setting ball screens for other players.

Nance’s recent struggles have been obvious – he’s a player that wears his emotions on his face like a tattoo – and they looked ready to overwhelm him in the first half against the Wolverines.

After playing just three minutes, Nance was whistled for his second foul on a jump shot by Isaiah Livers in what looked like a ticky-tack call. Stunned, Nance briefly clenched his fists over his head and walked to the sideline, visibly upset and looking ready to explode.

Head coach Chris Collins grabbed Nance’s hand and pulled him in close to his body. He talked to Nance positively, trying to get him to settle down, and he slapped Nance on the chest several times, encouraging him to keep his head in the game.

In a contest where his team was outplayed in all phases, it may have been the best bit of coaching Collins did all night.

The rest of the half didn’t go well for Nance, as often happens once something goes wrong for the high-strung player. He failed to deliver an accurate pass to Miller Kopp off of a screen. He was whistled for traveling before putting the ball on the floor at the top of the key. He missed his only shot of the half just before the shot-clock horn went off late in the period.

Things would get better in the second half. Nance hit a three-pointer, ripped a rebound out of the hands of Michigan’s Jon Teske and blocked a Livers layup.

Nance’s box score line wasn’t pretty by the end of the game. He finished 1-for-4 shooting for three points in 23 minutes. He pulled down five rebounds, second-most on the team, and committed two turnovers.

Over the last five games, Nance has hit just 5 of 25 shots (20%) for a total of 14 points (2.8 per game). He’s been a steady rebounder, with 23, but he’s also committed nine turnovers, a big number for a big man who doesn’t handle the ball that much. His low point was against Michigan State, when he turned the ball over five times in 23 minutes and failed to score.

While things have clearly been going south for Nance, Collins struck a positive tone after the Michigan game. The product on the floor hasn’t always been good, be he has liked Nance’s mentality.

“I think he’s just working,” said Collins, whose team lost its eighth game in a row. “He’s a young player that’s just trying to figure it out.

“He’s been putting the time in, his attitude has been great. He wants to be a good player. He’s just got to keep working and keep fighting.

"He’s still very much in the early part of his career. We’re behind him. He’s going to become a better player. I’ve been pleased with his attitude throughout some of his struggles.”

Still, it’s been a steep fall for Nance, the second highest-ranked recruit of Collins’ career. With great size, obvious athleticism and NBA bloodlines, Nance was a four-star recruit out of Akron (Ohio) Revere and ranked as the No. 67 player in the country, just one spot behind Kopp, his teammate. He chose Northwestern over Ohio State and Michigan in what was seen as a big recruiting coup for the Wildcats.

Nance, the son of former NBA All-Star Larry Nance and the brother of current Cleveland Cavalier Larry Nance Jr., had a rocky freshman year in 2018-19. He missed nine games because of mono and averaged just 2.9 points and 1.8 rebounds in 12.9 minutes per game, playing behind big men Dererk Pardon and Barret Benson.

This year, with Pardon graduating and Benson electing to leave as a graduate transfer, Nance looked to be primed for a big year as he put on a reported 25 pounds in the offseason.

He started fast, registering a double-double in two of the Wildcats’ first four games. But since then, his production has been spotty at best.

He shined in the first two Big Ten games of the season back in December, when he put up 14 points in back-to-back games against Purdue and Michigan State, hitting 6 of 12 shots in each game, and pulling down a total of 13 rebounds. He looked to be on his way to fulfilling all that potential.

But he has only hit double-figures in scoring twice since the start of the new year, with 11-point outings against both Iowa and Maryland in January. Not coincidentally, those are also the only two games he shot better than 40% since mid-December.

When guard Boo Buie went down with a foot injury and missed the first five games of January, many thought that Nance would have an opportunity to step up his scoring. Instead, Nance took another step back, hitting just 13 of 47 shots (27.7%) and averaging 6.2 points per game while Buie recuperated.

Nance often seems like his own worst enemy. When a call goes against him, he turns the ball over, or he misses a couple shots, he seems to press, trying to do too much to make up for it. An emotional player, he often plays worse when he’s frustrated, and things snowball from there.

Nance's recent performances stand in stark contrast to Jared Jones, whose star is on the rise. The true freshman big man has set career scoring highs in three straight games, culminating in a 12-point performance against Michigan in just 20 minutes. Jones is hitting the fast lane while Nance, a year older, is stuck in neutral, if not going in reverse.

Collins, though, expressed nothing but confidence in Nance. Whether it was his fervent belief or just a public show of support for a player going through a rough patch, the coach thinks better days are ahead.

“He’s been in the gym, and he’s working,” said Collins. “He’s going to break through really soon.”