Wildcats prepare for rematch vs. Illinois, this time with Shannon Jr.
EVANSTON-With their second game in a month against a Top 10-ranked Illinois team that beat them by 30 looming, head coach Chris Collins knows the Wildcats' face a daunting challenge.
The Wildcats have filled a mixed bag in January with tough wins on the road at Penn State and at home against Maryland, and tough losses at Wisconsin and Nebraska. It all comes full circle back to an Illinois team that trounced them 96-66 in Champaign on Jan. 2.
Now, Northwestern have the Illini at Welsh-Ryan Arena, and the plan is for the game to go very differently.
"Hopefully we'll do the opposite of what we did last time around," Collins said at a press conference on Tuesday. "I thought everything we did played into the hands of what makes them successful."
Collins would have preferred a longer stretch between their matchups but has no qualms about facing a familiar foe on short notice, just 21 days apart and twice within their first eight Big Ten games.
"Ideally if you're playing in conference you'd like to go through most of the conference and then get everybody a second time," he said. "But it is what it is, that's how the dates lined up. There is familiarity, [Terrence] Shannon [Jr.] didn't play in the first game, so that will be something different."
Illinois regained Shannon, their star guard, after a judge entered a temporary restraining order against his suspension for his arrest on rape charges. Shannon had missed Illinois' last six games, including the matchup with Northwestern, before returning last Sunday, when he scored 16 points off the bench against Rutgers.
"The one element he brings is that he's a one-man fast break," Collins said. "His ability to generate offense off long rebounds, turnovers, when he gets the ball in the open floor he's really tough to stop."
Barnhizer's recovery has led to scoring success: As the wrap on his shooting hand after ligament damage suffered in December has decreased, Brooks Barnhizer's scoring output has increased.
"He's gotten a little healthier, which has been good," Collins said. "He was dealing with a bit of an injury to his right hand. It didn't inhibit his ability to play, but it was bothering him a little bit with his shooting and he had a couple week stretch there where maybe he wasn't shooting it as well, he missed some free throws.
"He was fighting through it. He's been able to get healthier and I really like how he's attacking right now."
Barnhizer said he has tried to be more aggressive as teams key in on star point guard Boo Buie.
"I've definitely tried to," he said about taking on that role as a second scorer. "I know that he is going to draw a lot of attention, so the more aggressive I can be the more confident I can be. It ultimately helps him and everybody else.
"I'm trying to be a leader in that aspect, especially on defense as well, and make it easier on everybody else."
Buie doesn't think fatigue has been a factor: The Wildcats executed well down the stretch against Maryland but struggled to score in the final minutes in close road losses to Wisconsin and Nebraska.
With Buie, and Barnhizer and sometimes Ryan Langborg asked to play minutes in the high 30s, if not the whole game, it might seem that tired legs have sapped Northwestern's scoring in big moments.
The star guard disagreed.
"No, I feel like I'm well conditioned," Buie said. "Coming into the season, I knew I was going to be a high-minute guy. I was doing a great job, and I think the coaches do a great job, in practices, of making it more tough than when I'm out there in a game.
"It's actually easier in the game than it has been at practice," he added with a chuckle.