A great response
Let’s start off by addressing the elephant in the room: that conference record was starting to look really bad.
Anyone following the Northwestern Wildcats this year has probably seen the way Nick Martinelli has talked in interviews, the burden he has placed on himself as a leader of this team. It’s clear that this dry run was weighing heavy on the roster. This win means a lot to this squad — go look at the locker room celebrations on the Instagram page if you need any more proof of that.
But the way
the team got this win makes it that much more refreshing. It feels like almost every loss this season has been because of late-game execution or intensity slipping from half one to half two. That wasn’t the case on Wednesday.
It took until late in the first half for the NU to even gain a lead. The ’Cats shot above 50% from the field in the second half, got to the line more often and shot nearly perfect from the stripe. When the game was close down the stretch, the team got timely buckets, and Tyler Kropp was able to record what was essentially the game-winning stop on defense.
It wasn’t just enough for NU to win a conference game — the ‘Cats needed to show improvements in the areas that put them in the 0-7 position in the first place. This game felt like a direct response to the Rutgers, Ohio State and Michigan State losses. A response that was desperately needed.
Is this offense replicable?
In the last three takeaways article, a lot was said about the state of the team’s “second option” spot. It seemed like Arrinten Page had it filled to start the year until his production slipped. Jayden Reid has had high highs and low lows. No one has truly filled the role.
If Wednesday is any indication, the spot may not even need to be filled by one particular player.
Northwestern’s offense was essentially run by committee against USC. No one outside of Martinelli was asked to do an extreme amount on the offensive end.
Instead, players found their spots. Reid used the pick-and-roll to set up midrange floaters. Players were able to attack closeouts to get to the basket, and the ‘Cats moved the ball to the tune of 22 assists, a season high in conference play. The game-sealing bucket came off a timely Tyler Kropp cut to the basket after Martinelli drew help.
Northwestern was able to get through by leaning on the hot hands. In the first half, that was Jake West and his seven points. In the second, Kropp was a perfect 3-for-3 from the field while Martinelli poured in 17.
The question the rest of the way: will there always be a hot hand to feed in games? The answer hasn’t always been yes this season, but if players can step up, then this could be NU’s offensive identity the rest of the way
Looking forward
This is partially a continuation of the first takeaway. The most important thing that NU can take from this win is confidence.
A win on the road against USC is impressive in its own right. It becomes more impressive when you take into account this same Trojan roster went toe to toe with No. 4 Purdue just four days prior to this one. As a team trying to turn a corner, it’s good that the ’Cats were able to take down a team that has shown it can play with the best of the best on a good day.
Additionally, the ’Cats should look at their upcoming schedule a little differently now. Games like Penn State, Oregon and Indiana shouldn’t be treated as equal quality opponents. The Wildcats now have a reason to hold themselves to a higher standard. Washington, Indiana, even UCLA should be treated as the true tests of NU’s ceiling.
If the team can internalize this win, use it as fuel and build momentum off it, the seeding for the Big Ten Tournament could look a lot better come March.
