On the heels of its most deflating loss of the season, Northwestern will look to regroup and respond against Iowa on Sunday. While the Hawkeyes aren’t as elite as No. 5 Illinois, they are equally a juggernaut
at home, where they’ve been 11-1 this year. That, plus a five-game win streak and tournament hopes on the horizon, make Iowa a tough draw for anyone seeking a reset.
Still, the ‘Cats have plenty of areas where drastic improvement is needed, and remediating any of them could make this a competitive game. Let’s unpack three of them.
Production behind Nick Martinelli
Without belaboring too much about the offensive woes against Illinois, Northwestern simply cannot afford to have that kind of shooting performance against Iowa. It dug the team in a hole that was unrecoverable, especially when Illinois’ shooters settled in and started to heat up from the perimeter.
It was an especially poor night for Martinelli, who had just four points on 2-of-10 shooting — only the second time this year where he hasn’t reached double figures. Chris Collins noted in his postgame press conference on Wednesday that Martinelli is physically gassed after carrying so much of the team’s offensive load, and called upon his role players to step up their offensive production behind the top-10 scorer in the nation.
This has been a consistent point throughout the season, but if Martinelli’s legs are still not 100%, the scoring has to come from somewhere else. Collins emphasized setting the tone early, noting how freshmen in particular gain increased confidence after seeing their first basket go in. That clearly didn’t occur in Champaign, as NU started 5-of-28 from the field and scored just one bucket in over 10 first-half minutes. This was partly because of a stagnant offense scheme that lacked ball distribution and instead forced shots, but there were opportunities for NU’s shooters to make an impact. The ball simply couldn’t find the basket.
Tre Singleton has shown signs of his offensive potential this year, as have Arrinten Page and Jayden Reid. Meanwhile, freshmen Jake West and Tyler Kropp can knock down shots from deep, especially if they can find their strokes early. A successful offensive showing against Iowa must entail more than just a strong game from Martinelli — the scoring has to be more balanced.
Learn from defensive mistakes
While Illinois raining down three-pointer after three-pointer is likely etched in the Wildcats’ minds, they’ll have to confront another sharpshooting team on Sunday. The scariest aspect of the Hawkeyes is that their 51% field goal percentage and 38% shooting from deep BOTH rank ahead of the Fighting Illini. Iowa is third in the league in made three-pointers and is in the top half of the league in assists-to-turnover ratio and free-throw percentage. Not only that, but the Hawkeyes’ offense has been on a tear as of late, shooting 59% from the field and 46% from three in its last two games, while committing just nine turnovers overall.
Therefore, there’s an argument to be made that Iowa might be better than the Illinois offense NU just relinquished 17 treys to. The Hawkeyes will pose another serious test for Northwestern’s embattled defense. As our own Eliav Brooks-Rubin analyzed, Collins admitted being outcoached against the Fighting Illini, as his creative scheme of calling double teams against Keaton Wagler was quickly sniffed out by Illinois’ coaching staff, who adjusted the team’s play style to have the centers slip into short rolls and present options for Wagler.
NU will need to find some way of slowing down the Hawkeyes both schematically and physically. It cannot bite down on the blitz, must stay aware of its surroundings, making the right switches and be excellent with perimeter defense. These are all points the Wildcats have been seeking improvement in over the last few weeks. The defense needs to take a step up against Iowa.
Exploit Iowa’s rebounding issues
Another point I don’t wish to belabor, but Northwestern’s season-long rebounding struggles boiled over into a catastrophic effort against Illinois, where the Fighting Illini out-rebounded NU 50-23. NU’s lack of size has proven to be this roster’s biggest weakness, as it simply cannot reckon with the three-to-four-inch height advantage so many teams have over them, especially against NU’s small-ball lineup of West-Reid-Martinelli-Singleton-Kropp.
Thankfully for Northwestern, Iowa also struggles on the boards. In fact, the Hawkeyes actually rank lower than the ‘Cats in overall rebounds. While NU ranks 16th in the conference with 32.6, Iowa is 17th with 29.9. The offensive rebounding is also a liability for both teams, but Northwestern still finishes four spots ahead of 17th-place Iowa in that category.
If there’s any game where NU has the potential to stifle Iowa’s rebounding and outscore it in second-chance points, it’s this one. Defensive rebounding goes hand-in-hand with forcing misses and not getting complacent once the ball is in the air, and instead sticking with the play and anticipating that Iowa will crash the boards instantly. On offense, since NU will still have a size disadvantage, being aggressive is paramount. NU has been on the losing end of the rebounding battle in most games, and Sunday provides an opportunity for the ‘Cats to get the long end of the stick.
