Men’s Basketball: How can the ‘Cats get back on track?

Losing four of its last five and sitting at 5-4 overall, Northwestern men’s basketball finds itself at a crossroads.

A preseason “on the bubble” squad for the NCAA Tournament, NU was expected to be a middle-of-the-pack conference team that made noise in the Big Ten on its way to earning a bid to the tournament. Northwestern has dropped three close games so far, with only the Wisconsin matchup getting away from them. Still, each loss has come against quality competition across the top two quadrants: Virginia and Wisconsin in Q1, and Oklahoma State and Ohio State in Q2.

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The four losses could’ve easily became five, had it not been for a clutch play from Nick Martinelli and Arrinten Page late in the second half against South Carolina — which would’ve been NU’s worst loss of the season as a quad three team.

The reality for ‘Cats faithful has become as such: the turnover of this team has left clear chinks in the Northwestern armor that Big Ten teams have found and hammered at. The Badgers did the best job of this, taking NU completely out of its game in a uncompetitive first half that propelled them to victory. Ohio State took time to zone in on the right game-plan, but found it in the final 10 minutes of its matchup against the ‘Cats to secure the win in Evanston.

There’s a clear formula that teams have found to beat Northwestern. The question now becomes: how does Northwestern refine its system to make it harder for conference opponents to hack? Let’s dive into it.

Defense

Northwestern’s calling card under Chris Collins has always been defense, but the last six games have told a very different story. After holding the first three opponents to 47, 53 and 63 points, NU has allowed at least 77 in each of its last six outings.

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The most recent example came against Ohio State, where the ‘Cats surrendered 86 points on 57 percent shooting. The Wildcats gave up a staggering 62 points in the paint, repeatedly getting beat down the floor…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/men-basketball-cats-back-track-180453799.html

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Publish date : 2025-12-11 18:04:00

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