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. 

Michigan moves to 2-0 in the Big Ten, tops Northwestern 74-51

Michigan 74, Northwestern 51

The only questions coming into this afternoon's game against Northwestern revolved around Glenn Robinson III's injury status and the magnitude of Michigan's margin of victory against the lowly 7-7 Wildcats. 

On the first point, the Wolverines got a boost when Robinson took the floor as one part of Michigan's starting five. With that question settled, only one remained. 

However, nine minutes into the game, the Wildcats led, 10-9, with the Wolverines having shot just 33 percent and turned it over three times already. 

Northwestern's packed in defense gave Michigan trouble, as the Wolverines couldn't hit their outside shots early in the game. Northwestern's defensive strategy was not unlike that of a World Cup underdog, playing conservatively with one striker and hoping to beat a more talented team 1-0 via one swift counterattack goal. 

Chris Collins's Wildcats did their best to slow the game down, walking the ball up the floor and taking as much out of each 35-second possession as possible. However, Michigan eventually decided it was having none of it, and that's when it started to build up a bit of a lead. 

Michigan went into the half up 31-24, but it felt as if the Wildcats had played Michigan to a tie. Regardless, the story of the first half was Jordan Morgan. The fifth-year big man scored eight points and reeled in five boards while flashing the transition speed that has made him a fan favorite over the years. 

When the two teams stepped onto the floor in the second half, Northwestern would try to keep the game slow, while the Wolverines would once again put the pedal to the metal. Either way, the Wolverines would have play better defense, especially Nik Stauskas. Matched up against NU star Drew Crawford, Crawford scored 13 of NU's 24 first half points. 

Michigan's 1-of-8 mark from beyond the arc also conspired to keep the game close; the Wolverines would have to connect more frequently than that in the second half if they planned on pulling away before the game's final minutes. 

The two teams traded 5-0 runs to start the second frame; clearly, the Wildcats did not plan on going away without a fight. 

Fortunately for the Wolverines, Northwestern's offensive attack could most generously be deemed "punchless." Sanjay Lumpkin missed a layup that would have cut Michigan's lead to four; after that, Michigan slowly pulled away. 

Michigan's offense was far from a well-oiled machine, but its defense did get a little better, as Crawford had zero second half points by the 8-minute media timeout. 

A pair of monstrous transition dunks from Robinson later, and Michigan found itself up by 16 with under eight minutes to play. 

The lead continued to balloon, as the Wildcats simply did not have enough to make a serious push. Northwestern might be a tough team to play in two or three years, but, for now, a last place finish in the conference appears to be a certainty. 

With the 74-51 win, Michigan moves to 10-4 (2-0) on the season. Nik Stauskas led the way with 18 points, while Jordan Morgan played Crazy Eights (8 points, 8 rebounds). 

Michigan heads to Lincoln on Thursday, where they'll face the 8-6 (0-2) Nebraska Cornhuskers. 

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.

Northwestern hires Duke assistant and former Glenbrook North Spartan Chris Collins

There you have it. Northwestern is set to hire Duke assistant Chris Collins, per basically everyone on the Internet, less than two weeks after firing longtime head coach Bill Carmody. Here's Jeff Goodman reporting the above:

Duke associate head coach and Illinois native Chris Collins will become the next head coach at Northwestern.

Collins met with the Northwestern administration on Monday and a deal is expected to be finalized on Wednesday. Collins will continue to coach withthe Blue Devils until they finish the postseason.

This was not unexpected, and, on the surface, it all makes pretty perfect sense. Collins is from nearby Northbrook, Ill., from a high school (Glenbrook North) that has produced players like Jon Scheyer. Insert verbiage about new blood, the ability to recruit the area, "Northwestern is basically Duke waiting to be unleashed," etc. etc.

To be honest, this seems to me like if Michigan had hired Brady Hoke back in 2007, i.e. a slightly early homecoming. Collins has been an assistant at Duke since 2000, and was also an assistant under Tommy Amaker for a couple of seasons. However, he's never been a head coach; is it better to hire a guy with Collins' profile (local guy, yada yada yada) or make a play for one of the countless mid-major guys out there? I'm obviously not privy to the details of Northwestern's coaching search, but I suppose we shall find out in the coming years. It's entirely possible that Northwestern felt that it wouldn't be able to snag a guy like, say, FGCU's Andy Enfield.

Whatever the case may be, the Wildcats needed some change. Carmody's efforts can't be discounted, as he left Northwestern basketball in better shape than he found it despite never being able to cross the river into tournament land.

A quick Rivals search shows that there aren't any Glenbrook North college prospects on the current squad. The question is, can Collins recruit outside of the Evanston/north suburbs? As always, it will be a tough road, but it doesn't hurt to have coached under Coach K for over a decade while also having Doug Collins for a father.

Shameless Self-Promotion Time: Northwestern Recap/FLAWLESS VICTORY

 SOBOCOP receiving instruction (courtesy of my friend/photoshop sorcerer @billytrue)

Michigan went to Evanston and handled the short-handed Wildcats with ease, picking up a 94-66 victory. Here's last night's recap over at Maize n Brew.

Michigan held the SOBOCOP to just 7 points on 3/7 shooting, but he might not be so forgiving next time. On a serious note, this was a solid win for a team with several extremely young critical players. The Wolverines' next opponent comes in the form of the Iowa Hawkeyes on Sunday in the Crisler Arena Center Building.

Shameless Self-Promotion Time: Northwestern Preview

The Wolverines head to Evanston tonight for their B1G opener against the Fighting Warrior Poets of Northwestern. Here is a preview of this game, featuring an NU team missing Drew Crawford and Reggie Hearn (i.e. its top two scorers). I guess it's time for...

Miscellaneous Minutiae, 7/4/2012

A shortened post on this 4th of July. Happy Birthday, America. 

via MVictors

Trouba status. In light of Connor Carrick's decision to jump to the Plymouth Whalers of the OHL, thereby foregoing a longstanding commitment to Michigan, it would be understandable for the cynics among us to start doing the Letterman collar tug thing once various rumors started to pop up indicating that Trouba was next in line to be plucked up. Fortunately, Trouba reaffirmed his commitment to Michigan yesterday. You may downgrade your panic level from "Kel going 'aw here it goes'" to "faint but mostly unjustified concern because you are an Eeyorish Michigan fan and concern is your default state of being."

The Trouba family released the following statement via the the official Michigan hockey twitter
account :

"There is absolutely no truth or merit to the recent media reports that the Kitchener Rangers have offered Jacob any remuneration," the program wrote on behalf of the Trouba family. "We have the utmost respect for the Kitchener Rangers and those that choose the (Canadian Hockey League) as an option.

"But Jacob will be attending the University of Michigan next fall as a student athlete."

 So, there you go. This is the second time that Trouba has reaffirmed his commitment, the last time coming, IIRC, the day before the draft. Yes, Michigan has been burned many times before with these in these situations, but at this point it seems like we Trouba should end up manning the blue line in Ann Arbor this fall. I don't need to tell you that losing a top 10 draft pick would've been fairly devastating, not to mention the fact that Michigan will of course be breaking in a new goalie (always a precarious situation). If these rumors had proven to have some substance, it would've been time to bust out some punny yet saddening George Strait.

Northwestern basketball...recruiting? Yeah, it's early July. Bill Carmody landed 4-star (!) PG Jaren Sina on Monday, making this the second intriguing commitment to the NU basketball program in recent weeks (the first being the commitment of 7'2'' Chier Ajou a couple weeks ago).

Sina is a 2013 guy, so 2012-13 will still be the Sobocop show at the point. However, if Carmody can somehow survive this season, Northwestern could have something going. The bad news for Carmody is that SG Drew Crawford is a senior, and thus won't be around when Sina gets to Evanston.

In any case, this seems like a pretty big coup for a program like Northwestern's. Via Sippin' on Purple, Sina is a top 100 guy and is *probably* the first 4-star of the Carmody era...Carmody has been in Evanston since 2000. Sippin' on Purple:

Woo! And Rivals has his handle listed as being "outstanding". This is quite a get. Fred Hill was the lead recruiter, flexing his New Jersey muscles, and getting Sina to pick NU over Villanova, Rutgers, Stanford, and Pittsburgh. He had earlier committed to Alabama, but reconsidered and now will be coming to NU.

That is a very nice lookin' offer list, and from the sound of it Northwestern has quite a player on their hands.  If Michigan didn't have Trey Burke, I might be feeling a little bit jealous right now. It's always good to see the lesser recruiting brands in the conference reel in good prospects; hopefully this nets the Wildcats their first tourney bid at some point in Sina's career.

Hammer and Rails previews Michigan. TMill over at Hammer and Rails offers his thoughts on Michigan football after Year 1 of the Hokemania Experience. While I wouldn't exactly agree that last year's game was decided on "a couple of plays," Michigan will certainly need to put in a similar performance if this year's game in Ross-Ade is going to not come down tot he fourth quarter. TMill sheds some light on the defensive side of the ball for the Boilers, particularly in light of Michigan's prolific output in the ground game last year in the Big House:

Fortunately, I like our defense going into the year. The front four has the potential to be stout and both Will Lucas and Dwayne Beckford started really coming on late. This could be a game where the new 3-4 elements can make a difference. Robinson is the most elusive quarterback we will see all season. To have even a chance at a victory we must contain him.

 Like all road games, this will be a tricky one for Michigan, as this game is the Big Ten opener, right off  the heels of a prettyyyy prettyyyyy prettyyyy tough non-conference slate. In years past, this very well could have represented Michigan's "one inexplicable Big Ten loss of the year."

While I put the odds of this happening somewhere between "not gonna happen" and "so you're saying there's a chance?", a slip up here and Michigan could find itself with a 2-3 record to start the season. I'm going to go ahead and stop this section here and head to www.youtube.com to reassure myself that 2011 happened and that This Is Michigan.

More? Saban apparently turned down a home-and-home with the Badgers...oh well. Would've been pretty cool. Wisconsin and Alabama will go ahead and schedule North Dakota and Georgia State now, thank you very much.

This whole "star players playing for their rivals" thing that NCAA 2013 is promoting is starting to scare me. I'm sure the dialogue in that comment section is reasoned and enlightening. UMHoops has some Zak Irvin highlights for you. He can shoot the three and the mid-range shot well, he can slash...and he can dunk! In all seriousness, he looks like a big time talent at the 3. Given GRIII's versatility, it will be interesting to see how much run Irvin gets at the 3--which GRIII also plays--during his freshman season. I can't imagine that Beilein will struggle to find Irvin minute from the get go.

Miscellaneous Minutiae, 6/26/2012

Listen up kids. Elvis Grbac has something to tell you (via Wolverine Historian):



Things That That You Already Knew. Sippin' On Purple compiles all the fancy numbers that confirm what we already knew about Northwestern basketball and why it hasn't been able to break through and get that first Big Dance invite:

Northwestern since 2009

Year	Offense	Defense
2009	49	106
2010	33	169
2011	18	121
2012	20	184

Northwestern measures up admirably to the rest of the conference in adjusted offensive efficiency throughout the last four years, coming in 4th (two spots ahead of 6th-ranked Michigan, all Beilein years of course). Defensively, however, is where we find the answers to the many questions Northwestern fans may have about why this thing hasn't found that extra something to propel it to a first ever tourney berth. The Wildcats placed dead last in the conference in adjusted defensive efficiency (Michigan was also middle of the pack here, finishing in 7th).

At this point, Bill Carmody is not exactly an unknown entity: like Beilein, he's an offense-minded coach with a history of deploying the zone on defense, a necessary strategy when your 5 is John Shurna. This likely won't change this upcoming season, which would seem to be a make or break year for Carmody in Evanston.

It will be interesting to track how recent 7'2'' commit Chier Ajou does for NU on the defensive end. Although he is very raw, the best case scenario of his development would provide Northwestern with a viable presence in the paint that has, as far as I know, never been seen in Welsh-Ryan (excepting such players that have worn the other team's colors when playing in that arena). Unfortunately for Carmody, it doesn't seem that Ajou will be a legitimate factor for at least a couple of years, although he will assuredly get playing time by virtue of being really really tall.

 Meanwhile, in West Lafayette. Pre-Snap Read previews Purdue, who falls at the #73 spot in Myerberg's offseason preview series. On the ridiculous QB situation in WL:

All signs point to Purdue again going with a rotation at quarterback. But will it be a two-man rotation or will all three quarterbacks earn snaps in this offense? The Boilermakers would be wise to stick with two – but wiser to go with one full-time starter. One reason why the options should be Marve and TerBush: Henry is the only one of the three who can make an impact in other ways. With not much separating the three, Purdue could shift Henry out to receiver and get him in space, perhaps bringing him into shotgun in certain packages. If fully recovered from last year’s knee injury, the former starter can be a difference-maker if used correctly.

 I have a tendency to whittle various teams' prospects down to a question of how their quarterback will do, but I think that this is especially true in Purdue's case. In spite of the Boilers' anemic offense of late, PU does boast some solid options at the skill positions, namely Antavian Edison at receiver, Akeem Shavers at tailback, and WR/special teams speedster Raheem Mostert.

The defense is of course an issue, and I'm not sure how I feel about new defensive coordinator Tim Tibesar, who came to WL from the CFL. With that said, change was needed on the defensive side of the ball, and Tibesar does have a big time player in Kawann Short to work with up front.

In the end, Hope's 2-year extension through 2016 and last year's bowl appearance lead me to believe that simply appearing in another bowl game this season would constitute a big victory for the Purdue football program. None of the options at QB are particularly exciting, but I think that having the ability to pick one and stick with him will go a long way toward locking up a second straight bowl appearance. I think a six or seven win season is in the cards for Purdue this season. Baby steps.

Tommy Rees still around, working out and such. Tommy Rees is still enrolled and going through summer workouts (see: ALL THE STADIUM STEPS), which would lead one to believe that his status as a ND football player won't be in danger come fall, barring any additional legal missteps.

I only mention this to note that, while it is easy and sometimes funny to make fun of Rees's propensity for turning the ball over in an untimely fashion--are turnovers ever timely?--he was the guy who put up the following stat line on Mattison's defense last season: 27/39, 315 yards, 3 TDs (and 2 INTs). Take out the unforced turnovers and Rees had an excellent game against what turned out to be a top notch Michigan defense. Yes, Michael Floyd is gone and Michigan now has an entire year of game experience in Mattison's defensive system, but still. We are not exactly in a position to scoff at the QB of a team that we were very lucky to beat last year.

I think ND is best served with Rees at the helm early on in the season, in spite of what was a strong spring for Everett Golson. Laugh if you must, but if Rees finds himself booted from the team between now and September for whatever reason, that would be a not insignificant loss and certainly one that would up Michigan's chances of winning in South Bend this September.

 New contracts for basketball assistants Alexander, Meyer, Jordan. Michigan re-upped assistant basketball coaches Bacari Alexander, LaVall Jordan, and Jeff Meyer, who are by all accounts excellent basketball coaches when they are not busy #HALOLing and retweeting motivational quotes.

This is a big deal and a great move for the Michigan program going forward. It's often very easy to attribute all of the success or failure of a program to the head coach and the head coach alone, but I would imagine that Beilein himself would tell you that he couldn't have done any of this alone. In any case, this is good for the continuity of the program and represents one step further away from the athletic department's prior M.O. of extreme stinginess with respect to assistant coaches.

Alexander, particularly, seems like an assistant poised to snag some sort of head coaching job at some point (he's only 35), so this was a smart and probably obvious move for the AD. If you need any more convincing, head to your recruiting outlet of choice and check out how Michigan's recruiting efforts are doing...these guys can recruit, obviously, and you never know how a replacement might do in this crucial aspect of the coaching game.

In this case, it's "mo' money, less problems."

More? BREAKING: Jim Harbaugh is a big meanie per CBS NFL writer Mike Freeman. Okay then.  Andrew Gribble of al.com previews Michigan...a note: I haven't read the comments for this article, but it's generally best to avoid the comment sections at al.com. You've been warned.

Grantland on Royce White's draft prospects vis-a-vis his struggles with anxiety disorder...this is tangentially relevant only because Michigan faced off against White's ISU Cyclones this past season. Still interesting, though.

You Don't Know How It Feels: How The Other Half Lives

Another year has come and gone, and the Northwestern Wildcats will not be a part of the tournament field once again. The Wildcats fell in their first round matchup with the Gophers yesterday, a game went to overtime and was quite possibly a microcosm of the entire season and even the entire history of Northwestern basketball. Of course it took overtime for Northwestern to eventually be put down. Instead of zooming off screen right before putting down the horse with the broken leg, Northwestern's demise is always as gruesome as possible and they always make you watch...oh they make you watch.

In the waning seconds of regulation with the game tied at 61, Minnesota's Andre Hollins took a step back jumper that clanged off of the rim, resulting in a long rebound that hit the floor with approximately 3 seconds left. An eternity. Civilizations rose and fell, and many an outlook straddled the increasingly stark line of demarcation between hope and nihilism.

JerShon Cobb grabbed the rebound on the bounce and tossed it to Sobolewski, a step or two ahead of him. Sobolewski made it just past the three point line, shooting off of one foot, almost like a long range tear drop shot. The tear drop streaked across the air, pulled along ever so slightly by the invisible gravitational pull of each eye present tracking the ball in its ascent and descent. It clanged off the heel of the rim: could there have been any other outcome?

------------------------------------------------------------
Northwestern will once again miss the tournament, and this season will have served as arguably the most painful campaign in a long series of seasons ending in ennui and all five known stages of grief. The Wildcats faced 11 RPI Top 50 opponents and came away victorious only once, but it's the unbearable closeness of many of those losses that makes any of this relevant. In and of themselves, they are simply good efforts met by slightly better efforts from significantly more talented squads, but together they accrue into a legitimately cosmic gripe: why me? The Powerball machine of life has spat out wrong number after number in Evanston's direction, the accompanying losing tickets providing enough loose paper to build a flammable, ironic monument that gets close to piercing the upper crust of Earth's atmosphere but doesn't quite get to peek its head out amongst the stars.

It wasn't too long ago that this was the case for our very own Wolverines. Under Amaker, the Wolverines on two occasions missed out on the tournament only to go on to win the NIT once and lose in the title game the other time, as well as the 2002-03 season, which could have possibly ended in a tournament berth if not for the self-imposed post-season ban (Michigan was a 3-seed in that Big Ten Tournament). Amaker's final team needed to beat the top-seeded Buckeyes in order to potentially win a tourney berth, but at least it was there for the taking. Of course, the unmentioned years of that era were forgettable in the worst sense.

Michigan has come a long way since its attempt to move on via the Ellerbe hire and the Amaker Era, one of often tantalizing brilliance interspersed with mind-numbing incompetence and failure at the systemic level. Since Beilein's arrival in 2007, Michigan has made the tournament three times, won two tournament games, and likely has a 3-seed in the Big Dance locked up barring a loss today. I don't need to tell you that that we've been to the tournament in the Beilein Era more times than Northwestern has in the entirety of its basketball history; this is not meant as a dig but rather another impetus to sit back and truly appreciate what we have here.

A couple of years ago, during the Year of Unmet Expectations that was the 2009-10 season, I felt much like BYCTOM after Evan Turner hit that shot. I wondered if success was an attainable thing, and if the previous season was just a Coke machine in the desert. Turner's shot went in with as much metaphysical certainty in its trajectory as Sobolewski's heave lacked in certainty.

So, Northwestern fan that isn't Mike Wilbon or Mike Greenberg, I know how it feels. I've been there...well, close. I've stared into the abyss of the NIT and the paralyzing notion of a certain thing's seeming impossibility, and I lived to tell about it. While I cannot promise that it will get better--especially as Michigan at its worst is still privy to far greater resources and, probably, institutional "want to" vis-a-vis the basketball program--I can say with certainty that as much as you may or may not believe that a deficit of luck had something to do with this year's failures (and past failures), a surplus of luck, in turn, is in fact decidedly not what would be the driving force behind any future success. When you lose close game after close game, luck is no longer a reasonable explanation. Leave the superstition to the Cubs fans, please.

Michigan went from losing close games to winning them, not because they "learned how to win" or an attitude of winning--whatever that means--was installed. Michigan did it by hiring a brilliant tactician with an eye for talent. I know what you're thinking, and no, I'm not saying that Northwestern needs to fire Bill Carmody, although I will say I was a little surprised when I recently discovered that he has been at Northwestern since 2000 (in this era of "firecoachX.com" sites, it's kind of impressive that he's still hanging around despite not having taken them to one tournament appearance). I think a little more alumni support and perhaps the decline of the Illinois basketball program (hypothetical, of course), would do wonders for the Wildcats' ability to compete, but the thing that bridges the gap between a continuous series of close encounters and the other side, the land of the other half--the winners--is not luck but something that is obvious even to the layman. Northwestern's last field goal in regulation came with just under five minutes remaining, and, additionally, only one field goal was scored in overtime. Somehow, I don't imagine Beilein's 12th Michigan team looking so unequal to the task of vanquishing the apparition of superstition, that luck has a regular hand in our affairs.