In a pre-Super Bowl Sunday afternoon matchup, Northwestern hung with an 18-5 Iowa team from start to finish, but wasn’t quite able to completely close the gap down the stretch. After trailing by as much as 14 in the second half, a Jake West three with 2:04 remaining cut the Hawkeye lead to just three points. However, Bennett Stirtz and Tavion Banks’ late game playmaking kept Iowa out in front down to the final buzzer.
Here are three takeaways from another close loss in Iowa City.
Even when you out-shoot your opponent, you can’t win if you don’t rebound
It feels like I’m
a broken record, left with no choice, once again, but to lament Northwestern’s awful rebounding.
On Sunday, the impact of the ‘Cats’ poor rebound can be explained via simple mathematics. For one of the first times all season, Northwestern thoroughly outshot its opponent from the perimeter, connecting on 8-of-14 three-point attempts to Iowa’s 5-of-16 shooting splits from deep. Though less dramatic, the ‘Cats also outshot Iowa straight-up, shooting 47% from the field to the Hawkeyes’ 45%. And yet, Northwestern trailed the whole game and lost by six points, despite only making three less free throws than Iowa.
How can that be?
The Hawkeyes attempted eight more field goals than Northwestern, as a result of their 13 offensive rebounds. The ‘Cats were only able to secure three offensive rebounds, losing the overall rebounding battle by a total 12.
In the grand scheme of college basketball, Iowa’s forwards aren’t overly imposing physically. Iowa has one true Big Ten center, in terms of height, in the 6-foot-10 Spaniard Alvaro Folguieras. However, the man that gave Northwestern the most rebounding trouble was 6-foot-7 Banks, who’s listed as a guard on Iowa’s depth chart. Banks’ domination on the boards, grabbing seven total rebounds, demonstrates that Northwestern’s rebounding woes are rooted in more than just a lack of size, but more fundamentally an absence of the physicality and grit needed to competitively track down loss balls off the iron.
Sunday was just another example of the ’Cats lacking the length and physicality to compete in the Big Ten. Northwestern continues to rank in the bottom of the conference in rebounding, 16th in total rebounds per game and 17th in opponent rebounds allowed per game. At this point, it’s clear that as currently constructed, the ‘Cats aren’t able to be competitive on the glass.
Northwestern can’t defend elite guards
Stirtz ate the ‘Cats’ lunch Saturday afternoon, dropping 36 points on 12-of-20 shooting from the field. Stirtz had everything he wanted against Collins’ squad, consistently getting point-blank layups at the rim, while also splashing four jumpers from deep.
Stirtz could beat pretty much every Wildcat defender off the dribble. Iowa repeatedly placed him as the ball handler in pick-and-roll situations, switching him into desirable matchups against Jayden Reid or Nick Martinelli. But really, Stirtz didn’t even need the help of the pick-and-roll; the ‘Cats just couldn’t guard him. If you can stand it, watch his highlights — Stirtz scored buckets on a multitude of Northwestern defenders, and even when he didn’t have help from the pick-and-roll he was able to get to the basket and get an UNCONTESTED layup at the rim.
Though Stirtz’s 36-point performance was certainly the best single game a guard has had against Northwestern this season, the ‘Cats have struggled throughout Big Ten play to contain the conference’s more elite guards. In mid January, Tariq Francis put up 30 points in Northwestern’s 77-75 overtime loss to Rutgers. One day later, Illinois’ freshman sensation Keaton Wagler gave the ‘Cats more work, scoring 22. More recently, Zoom Diallo scored 22 at the Welsh, with most of his buckets coming down the stretch.
The ‘Cats have too many defensive weak links, which allowed for Iowa to constantly scheme favorably matchups and give Stirtz space through simple ball screen action. The reality is Northwestern just doesn’t have the wealth of defenders needed to consistently stop premier Big Ten guards like Stirtz.
The freshmen keep getting better
Northwestern dropped to 2-11 against Big Ten play with its loss to the Hawkeyes, but ‘Cats fans should have some optimism that the purple shirts will be able to turn things around next season considering the recent performances of freshmen Jake West and Tre Singleton. West and Singleton were second and third for Northwestern in plus-minus in Iowa City, at -1 and -2, respectively.
West turned in a particularly impressive performance — one of his best of the season. West was unbelievably efficient, scoring 18 points on 7-of-8 shooting, knocking down 4-of-5 attempts from the perimeter. On top of his silky shooting, the freshman added four assists, facilitating the Northwestern offense in his eighth game starting for the ‘Cats this season.
Since his first time playing expensive minutes in Collins’ rotation — thirty minutes in a 77-75 loss to Rutgers — West has averaged 6.9 points and 4.2 assists, shooting 46.1% from three. With Reid seeing less time as of late, West’s 4.2 assists have paced the ‘Cats, as he’s embraced a role as the team’s primary facilitator. Moreover, on a Northwestern team lacking outside shooting, West’s efficiency from deep has been a revelation, and will be something to build around moving into future seasons.
Singleton also turned in another solid performance at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, with 10 points and 4 rebounds, despite fouling out late in the game. Since Rutgers, Singleton has averaged 9.8 points per game and 5.6 rebounds, while standing down low as the ‘Cats’ best paint defender.
