No. 10 Iowa rolls in Evanston, handles upset-minded Wildcats

Fouad Egbaria

Northwestern 50, No. 10 Iowa 76

When the Northwestern Wildcats and Iowa Hawkeyes in their current forms meet, the difference in philosophy is stark. The Wildcats, like pre-2013-14 Wisconsin, play tough defense and slow the game down. The Hawkeyes want to run, run, run. 

Don't look now, but after a brutal home loss against DePaul and three straight thumpings at the hands of Wisconsin, Michigan and Iowa, Chris Collins's Wildcats have won three of their last four, including a competitive 54-40 loss against Michigan State. Size, skill and depth isn't quite there yet for Northwestern, but their identity is very clear, a crucial development for a program under a first-year head coach. 

When the Wildcats went to Iowa City on Jan. 9, they lost 93-67, allowing the Hawkeyes to score a whopping 1.29 points per possession. They'd have to do a little better than that this afternoon in Welsh-Ryan if they planned on coming away with their fourth win in five games, a win that would, amazingly, move them to 4-4 in the Big Ten. 

Paced by a couple of early threes from Drew Crawford, the Wildcats did just enough to muck things up so that Iowa couldn't run away with things from the start. By the 12-minute media timeout the Hawkeyes led 14-10; however, in typical Iowa fashion, seven different Hawkeyes had scored to get those 14. 

The Hawkeyes eventually surged to a 23-15 lead--it seemed as if Northwestern's hopes of staying in the game were evaporating fast. 

The Wildcats weren't done yet. A Drew Crawford and-1 with just over a minute left cut the Iowa lead to 28-24. After a Melsahn Basabe jumper in the paint with a few seconds left in the half, the Wildcats went into the halftime break down 30-24. All things considered, that is a win for an offensively challenged Northwestern squad against an Iowa team with scoring options all over the floor. 

Of course, the Wildcats would have to turn up the defensive intensity even further in the second half if they were going to pull off their biggest upset yet. 

Northwestern's Michael Turner takes leave of absence from basketball team

After spending a year taking classes in Evanston/downtown Chicago, I've become somewhat of a follower of Northwestern sports. As such, I'll probably post bits here and there about Northwestern athletics, because why not.

In that vein, Northwestern backup forward/center Michael Turner has left the team for a leave of absence. Here's Sippin' on Purple on the situation:

From a basketball perspective, this doesn't concern me too much. While Turner had a scant few strong performances last year -- two-for-two shooting and eight assists against Ohio State! -- he generally seemed not ready for Big Ten play as a redshirt freshman after Bill Carmody decided he wasn't ready for Big Ten play as a true freshman. He had more personal fouls than any other statistic by a wide margin, often outmatched as a 6'8, 210-pound player asked to play center against legit seven-footers.

On the surface, this isn't a huge loss for Chris Collins's Wildcats. However, according to the comments section, this leaves Northwestern with just 11 players on the roster, and just 10 players on scholarship. Needless to say, that is a pretty bleak situation, depth-wise, for Collins going into his first year in Evanston.

On the bright side, sophomore 7-footer Alex Olah is a promising young player in the frontcourt for the 'Cats, and Drew Crawford--who should be one of the best guards in the Big Ten again this season---decided not to transfer for his fifth year after Bill Carmody's firing. The Wildcats also return point guard Dave "Sobocop" Sobolewski, in addition to JerShon Cobb, who missed all of last season due to an academic suspension.

It's hard to say this is a tournament team given Northwestern basketball's history, and Turner's decision, while seemingly not a big deal on paper, detracts a bit from Northwestern's frontcourt depth. Northwestern will need to count on RS Fr. Chier Ajou to eat up some minutes after redshirting last year due to injuries.