The Wildcats finally showed some life down the stretch but couldn’t make up for UCLA’s strong first half shooting.
After an 0-7 start in Big Ten play that featured a handful of second half collapses, Northwestern has shown a lot of improvement towards the end of the game in their past two contests. Despite their tenth conference loss of the season, the Wildcats looked uncharacteristically good in the second half, putting up 33 points to UCLA’s 30 and cutting a 15-point lead down to as little as six. While it couldn’t get the job done on Saturday, it’s a promising sign for the struggling Wildcats.
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What went wrong and what can Northwestern take away from this game? Here are three talking points from the Wildcats’ loss.
Perimeter defense leaves something to be desired
In Northwestern’s seven Big Ten losses, its opponents have averaged an impressive 40% from three point range. In their lone conference win against USC, the ‘Cats held the Trojans to a 15% clip from beyond the arc in a narrow six-point victory.
The Bruins came out of the gate on Saturday firing away. Senior forward Tyler Bilodeau was on fire in the first half, scoring 16 of his 18 points on the night and shooting a perfect 6-6 from the field while going 4-4 from deep. Bilodeau didn’t miss a shot until there were under seven minutes left in the game, when his heavily contested three-pointer rimmed out.
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The Bruins as a whole shot 67% from long range in the first half and finished the game at the 44% mark. Slow rotations and lapses in communication on Northwestern’s part allowed UCLA to get a plethora of open looks. Of the Bruins’ 16 first half makes, 11 came on jump shots and six came from three-pointers. The one area where the Bruins struggled was the free throw line, shooting an abysmal 3-9 from the charity stripe in the first half, and ending at a slightly better 11-21. If Northwestern wants to avoid giving up big runs and momentum-swinging shots, they’re going to have to protect the three-point line.
Northwestern’s shooting woes continue amid lineup inconsistencies
As much as he tries, the nation’s leading scorer can’t do everything for the Wildcats. Martinelli is an outlier in the ‘Cats offense, shooting 54% from the field and 48% from deep. It was a familiar story for Northwestern fans, as the star forward received little help from his supporting cast. The ‘Cats shot a collective 37% on the night, well below their average clip of 47%. Martinelli put up an unusual 0-4 from downtown, but still managed to end the game with 20 points for the 11th straight game, despite getting double teamed nearly every time he touched the ball.
In the middle of the second half, Angelo Ciaravino hit a layup to cut the deficit to 13. The ‘Cats wouldn’t sink another field goal for over 10 and a half minutes before Max Green splashed a corner three with 2:54 remaining. Northwestern got to the line numerous times in that span, converting on 11 free throw attempts, but went 0-6 from the field.
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Arrinten Page, the Wildcats’ leader in field goal percentage and number two scorer, took only three shots in his 13 minutes, and connected on just one. In his first 16 games, the big man averaged 27 minutes, but has played only 38 minutes in his last three games combined. Similarly, Jayden Reid, who is second only to Martinelli in minutes for the ‘Cats this season, and third in scoring, was limited to six minutes tonight after setting a career high with 28 points in a loss versus Illinois on Jan. 14. Reid missed his only attempted field goal.
Tre Singleton filled in many of the Reid and Page-less minutes in Saturday’s contest before fouling out with two minutes left. The freshman had 12 points on 2-8 shooting in 32 minutes which was good enough to be Northwestern’s second highest scorer on the night.
With Chris Collins looking to find some efficiency in his offense, K.J. Windham could be the answer. Windham has not played in the past four games, but is one of only two Wildcats shooting above 34% from beyond the arc with at least 30 attempts (Martinelli being the other one).
The ‘Cats are shooting a poor 31% from three on the season, which puts them at 315th out of the 361 Division I teams. If they want to be in position to mount comeback wins, like the ones they nearly pulled off against Illinois and UCLA, they’re going to need sharpshooters down the stretch. Whether the answer is different personnel, or simply putting more shots up in practice, the ‘Cats need to find a way to increase their percentages.
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A strong finish sparks hope for Northwestern
In Northwestern’s eight conference games, it’s won the second half only three times. Once in the win against USC, once against Wisconsin when the Badgers took their foot off the gas after being up 23 at half and Saturday against UCLA. While that may not be all that shocking given that they’re 1-8 in conference play, the ‘Cats have seemed to really lose steam towards the end.
Up by seven at half to Michigan State, the Wildcats allowed 48 points in the second half in what was eventually a 10-point loss. They also blew a lead against Rutgers after leading by six with 2:33 to play. In their loss against Illinois, the ‘Cats had the momentum, having cut a lead that was 15 points midway through the second half, to a four-point lead with under three minutes left. Illinois would go on to finish the game on a 12-5 run, dousing the ‘Cats momentum.
Apart from Northwestern’s blowout loss to Wisconsin, the Wildcats have allowed more points in the second half of every conference game compared to the first, giving up an average of 33.5 points in the first half, and 43.2 in the second. Against UCLA, the ‘Cats allowed only 30 points in the second half versus the 41 they gave up in the first.
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The Northwestern defense was nails in the second half, forcing UCLA to shoot 37% from the field and 22% from deep in the second half compared to their 62% and 67% marks in the first half. Additionally, after snapping their 10-minute scoring drought, Northwestern finished the game shooting 5-6, while the Bruins struggled to close the ‘Cats out, ending the game by going 1-7 and without a field goal in the final 2:35.
