That was no fluke either

[TheC]

Our win over Purdue yesterday was legit. It wasn't a one in a million kind of game. We flat out earned it. Sometimes, there are certain unusual circumstances that cause an underdog to get a surprising upset, but I don't think any of those happened yesterday. For example....

1. Purdue wasn't missing any of their key players - Purdue was pretty much at full strength yesterday and their superstar center played his butt off. He still came away with 24 points and a parade to the free throw line. But the Cats also forced him into six turnovers which was huge. Also, Chase Audige, for all his late game heroics, took their freshman sensation Fletcher Loyer completely out of this game for the entire 40 minutes!

2. NU didn't have a fluky hot shooting night - In fact, quite the opposite. We shot the ball horribly. We were a putrid 4-22 from three point range. Sometimes an underdog has a miraculous shooting night to get a big win, but that was not the case. While Boo was great, we didn't really have some guy go unexpectedly off and have a career night. The bottom line is that the way we won yesterday is repeatable!

3. NU didn't ride a wave of emotion to a big early lead - This was a hard fought game all the way through. NU showed they weren't intimidated early on with two early dunks by Big Matt, which I think really set the tone. However, we were actually down most of the game. We never let it get beyond a 10 point deficit and when it came to crunch time, we were the more composed, mature team.

The bottom line, is that we just won the game. This was one really good team losing to another good basketball team. I am still a Northwestern fan though, so I have no idea if we'll win another game the rest of the way, but I kinda' think we will! On to Indiana!!

 

[SmellyCat]

I was just thinking, though the D was amazing yesterday, the offense was pretty bad most of the way. A lot of uncharacteristic turnovers, bad shooting, brainfarts, etc. The team (especially the backcourt) made the shots down the stretch, but NU went toe to toe with Purdue and they weren't playing their best game either!

 

[Hungry Jack]

I think Purdue is pretty good defensively. Having that monster in the middle sure changes a lot, as Boo found out. They did not easily give up open looks on the perimeter. Thankfully we started to hit some late.

But in the "How a Can We Beat Purdue" thread, I and many others talked about turnovers. They came in bunches at the end. The result was 17 points in under 4 minutes. Youza!

It's impossible to keep up that defensive intensity an entire game, but our ability to generate turnovers can fuel big scoring outbursts. That's why a well-rested team is important. Thank God we are done with the COVID gauntlet. I hope those guys find fresh legs for a few more weeks (and then in mid-March).

 

[GatoLouco]

I was just thinking, though the D was amazing yesterday, the offense was pretty bad most of the way. A lot of uncharacteristic turnovers, bad shooting, brainfarts, etc. The team (especially the backcourt) made the shots down the stretch, but NU went toe to toe with Purdue and they weren't playing their best game either!

I would add that D was amazing in the second half. It was not just good, it was incredible.

In the first, it was par for the course.

And credit where credit is due. Moving up the defense to take time off the offensive clock, when the Purdue guards are babies, was a pretty good move.

 

[TheC]

I would add that D was amazing in the second half. It was not just good, it was incredible.

In the first, it was par for the course.

And credit where credit is due. Moving up the defense to take time off the offensive clock, when the Purdue guards are babies, was a pretty good move.

The coaching really was fantastic yesterday. I think as an average fan, I often fail to see the in-game coaching and adjustments that go on in the background. At one point in the second half, Purdue made an adjustment in how they attacked NU's defense which led to a few easy scores for Edey in the paint. The announcers even picked up on this one. But then, as quickly as it came, it seemed to go away. During the post-game press conference, Collins commented on this and then said they made an adjustment to that. Sure enough, those easy attempts did go away down the stretch. In the moment, as a fan watching on tv, I had no idea that Purdue changed something and then we countered with a change. I think Collins and Co. are coaching their brains out this year!

 

[techtim72]

As NU has learned to win tight games with senior leadership at the guard position, Purdue is experiencing how to lose tight games - Indiana and NU - with freshmen at the guard positions. Purdue's two freshmen guards were due to go through some tough stretches when put under pressure.

 

[AdamOnFirst]

Our win over Purdue yesterday was legit. It wasn't a one in a million kind of game. We flat out earned it. Sometimes, there are certain unusual circumstances that cause an underdog to get a surprising upset, but I don't think any of those happened yesterday. For example....

1. Purdue wasn't missing any of their key players - Purdue was pretty much at full strength yesterday and their superstar center played his butt off. He still came away with 24 points and a parade to the free throw line. But the Cats also forced him into six turnovers which was huge. Also, Chase Audige, for all his late game heroics, took their freshman sensation Fletcher Loyer completely out of this game for the entire 40 minutes!

2. NU didn't have a fluky hot shooting night - In fact, quite the opposite. We shot the ball horribly. We were a putrid 4-22 from three point range. Sometimes an underdog has a miraculous shooting night to get a big win, but that was not the case. While Boo was great, we didn't really have some guy go unexpectedly off and have a career night. The bottom line is that the way we won yesterday is repeatable!

3. NU didn't ride a wave of emotion to a big early lead - This was a hard fought game all the way through. NU showed they weren't intimidated early on with two early dunks by Big Matt, which I think really set the tone. However, we were actually down most of the game. We never let it get beyond a 10 point deficit and when it came to crunch time, we were the more composed, mature team.

The bottom line, is that we just won the game. This was one really good team losing to another good basketball team. I am still a Northwestern fan though, so I have no idea if we'll win another game the rest of the way, but I kinda' think we will! On to Indiana!!

Northwestern did get the one key thing it really needs to win most big games (unless Chase has a rare blow up scoring night, then things change): Purdue was awful from deep. After a hot start they were just garbage from outside the rest of the way. NU actively chooses to allow open 3 opportunities as part of the defense, so if good shooting teams are hitting their looks it gets tough. Purdue didn’t. When the one and only thing your defense gives up without great difficulty isn’t hitting… tough night for your opponent.

I just looked it up, I believe Purdue made 5 of its first 9 three point attempts over the first 11 minutes or so… then missed its final 13 attempts in a row. Huge.

 

[TheC]

Northwestern did get the one key thing it really needs to win most big games (unless Chase has a rare blow up scoring night, then things change): Purdue was awful from deep. After a hot start they were just garbage from outside the rest of the way. NU actively chooses to allow open 3 opportunities as part of the defense, so if good shooting teams are hitting their looks it gets tough. Purdue didn’t. When the one and only thing your defense gives up without great difficulty isn’t hitting… tough night for your opponent.

Part of that was bad shooting, but I think a big part of that is NU rotated out of the double team beautifully. They made a conscious decision which PU guys were a priority to cover up out of the double and who they could live with taking shots. Except for the 3 first-half hits by Gillis, their strategy worked wonderfully.

 

[Figrating]

The coaching really was fantastic yesterday.

THAT is what won the game yesterday. Fantastic coaching. Spectacular coaching.

The bond between the players and coaches has been good all season but yesterday it got a level stronger, along with team confidence. After yesterday, the team knows it can win any game. Maybe NU has finally found the home court advantage.

IU, like NU, is peaking right now and they must be longing to avenge the L NU hung on them in Bloomington. More tournament-level competition for NU Wednesday and a grudge match besides. Odds-makers will prefer IU by 5. Sure, they recruit better, like Purdue and many others.

But NU has the coaching.

GO CATS!

 

[hdhntr1]

I was just thinking, though the D was amazing yesterday, the offense was pretty bad most of the way. A lot of uncharacteristic turnovers, bad shooting, brainfarts, etc. The team (especially the backcourt) made the shots down the stretch, but NU went toe to toe with Purdue and they weren't playing their best game either!

There were about 8 inside passes that should have led to points for us and instead were turnovers. For the most part, we outplayed them. Couple of huge stats 2 second chance point for the number one Offensive Rebounding team in the NCAA. And none in the second half. After their original 5/9 shooting from 3 in hte first nine minutes, we held them to 0/12 the rest of the way. Held them to 21 points in the second half. 6 made shots in the second half. They had only 3 turnovers in the first half but we got them to turn it over 13 times in the second half.

 

[hdhntr1]

The coaching really was fantastic yesterday. I think as an average fan, I often fail to see the in-game coaching and adjustments that go on in the background. At one point in the second half, Purdue made an adjustment in how they attacked NU's defense which led to a few easy scores for Edey in the paint. The announcers even picked up on this one. But then, as quickly as it came, it seemed to go away. During the post-game press conference, Collins commented on this and then said they made an adjustment to that. Sure enough, those easy attempts did go away down the stretch. In the moment, as a fan watching on tv, I had no idea that Purdue changed something and then we countered with a change. I think Collins and Co. are coaching their brains out this year!

They were great in that game and they have been really good all year.

 

[hdhntr1]

As NU has learned to win tight games with senior leadership at the guard position, Purdue is experiencing how to lose tight games - Indiana and NU - with freshmen at the guard positions. Purdue's two freshmen guards were due to go through some tough stretches when put under pressure.

Audige was asked how they went from 5-12 last year to what is going on this year. His response was that they went 5-12 last year and learned what they had to do and not do..

 

[Sec_112]

2. NU didn't have a fluky hot shooting night - In fact, quite the opposite. We shot the ball horribly. We were a putrid 4-22 from three point range. Sometimes an underdog has a miraculous shooting night to get a big win, but that was not the case. While Boo was great, we didn't really have some guy go unexpectedly off and have a career night. The bottom line is that the way we won yesterday is repeatable!

This was one really good team losing to another good basketball team. I am still a Northwestern fan though, so I have no idea if we'll win another game the rest of the way, but I kinda' think we will! On to Indiana!!

I agree with the conclusion of your second point. It's completely repeatable if NU shoots halfway decently. But doesn't PessimisticC (and me too) believe a win with shooting THAT awful really is a one in a million game ... maybe 1-500,000.

And don't ask me how often NU's defense would match up that well against Purdue.

Anyhow, I don't want to test these theories going forward. I hope their shooting gets closer to the norm. We need that third scorer for the home stretch.

Good post.

 

[SimpsonElmwood]

They were great in that game and they have been really good all year.

The time out Collins called at the under 4 after Edey hit the hook shot (Cats down 8) flipped some kind of switch. It's incorrectly described in media accounts as a media timeout. After that timeout, it was a different game. That was good coaching even if he said nothing during that time out.

Collins has called timeouts aggressively a few times this year, either because the team was gassed or because an opponents' run was looming. In prior regimes (see Falk, Foster, Byrd, KON, Carmody, CCC up to this year) timeouts have been called after the horse was well out of the barn.

 

[chicagocatfan24]

Our win over Purdue yesterday was legit. It wasn't a one in a million kind of game. We flat out earned it. Sometimes, there are certain unusual circumstances that cause an underdog to get a surprising upset, but I don't think any of those happened yesterday. For example....

1. Purdue wasn't missing any of their key players - Purdue was pretty much at full strength yesterday and their superstar center played his butt off. He still came away with 24 points and a parade to the free throw line. But the Cats also forced him into six turnovers which was huge. Also, Chase Audige, for all his late game heroics, took their freshman sensation Fletcher Loyer completely out of this game for the entire 40 minutes!

2. NU didn't have a fluky hot shooting night - In fact, quite the opposite. We shot the ball horribly. We were a putrid 4-22 from three point range. Sometimes an underdog has a miraculous shooting night to get a big win, but that was not the case. While Boo was great, we didn't really have some guy go unexpectedly off and have a career night. The bottom line is that the way we won yesterday is repeatable!

3. NU didn't ride a wave of emotion to a big early lead - This was a hard fought game all the way through. NU showed they weren't intimidated early on with two early dunks by Big Matt, which I think really set the tone. However, we were actually down most of the game. We never let it get beyond a 10 point deficit and when it came to crunch time, we were the more composed, mature team.

The bottom line, is that we just won the game. This was one really good team losing to another good basketball team. I am still a Northwestern fan though, so I have no idea if we'll win another game the rest of the way, but I kinda' think we will! On to Indiana!!

I have been trying to figure out a way to put your 2nd point into words. NU didn't even play its best game which is the exciting part. Audige was bad until the last 10 mins and the offense missed 3-4 bunnies that resulted in turnovers and/or points the other way. Clean that stuff up and this team can beat any team in the country

 

[Smolmania]

I liked seeing us in the 2-2-1 pressure. I've thought most of the year that as such a great defensive team that we could get a few extra turnovers by pressing. The only fear is that our lack of depth, particularly with Roper out, could preclude the use of extra energy needed to institute the press as a staple. But it surely gave PU trouble on Sunday, if only to take them out of a comfortably rhythm of bringing the ball up and throwing it into the post to the big guy.

 

[AdamOnFirst]

I liked seeing us in the 2-2-1 pressure. I've thought most of the year that as such a great defensive team that we could get a few extra turnovers by pressing. The only fear is that our lack of depth, particularly with Roper out, could preclude the use of extra energy needed to institute the press as a staple. But it surely gave PU trouble on Sunday, if only to take them out of a comfortably rhythm of bringing the ball up and throwing it into the post to the big guy.

It’s something that was recently exposed as a hard-counter to Purdue’s guards. It’s gonna get em in the tourney.

 

[hdhntr1]

I agree with the conclusion of your second point. It's completely repeatable if NU shoots halfway decently. But doesn't PessimisticC (and me too) believe a win with shooting THAT awful really is a one in a million game ... maybe 1-500,000.

And don't ask me how often NU's defense would match up that well against Purdue.

Anyhow, I don't want to test these theories going forward. I hope their shooting gets closer to the norm. We need that third scorer for the home stretch.

Good post.

Not really as bad as you think. Yes we were bad from 3 but we were over 50% from inside for both halves. A big problem we had was a lot of turnovers (unused to seeing that from this team) on inside passes that should have resulted in points. I counted something like 8 of them and if even 4 or 5 were completed everything would have lookded a whole lot different. In the first half we were 12/21 inside the arc and second half 7/13 so better than 50% for each half and if some of those passes had not been a little off our O would have looked fantastic. We were bad from 3 but that was nothing new 1/9 in first half and 3/13 in the second ending up under 20% for the game (4/22). Though those second half stats were helped a lot at the end and looked pretty poor going into the last 5 minutes Overall 41%.

 

[Titanium999]

Our win over Purdue yesterday was legit. It wasn't a one in a million kind of game. We flat out earned it. Sometimes, there are certain unusual circumstances that cause an underdog to get a surprising upset, but I don't think any of those happened yesterday. For example....

1. Purdue wasn't missing any of their key players - Purdue was pretty much at full strength yesterday and their superstar center played his butt off. He still came away with 24 points and a parade to the free throw line. But the Cats also forced him into six turnovers which was huge. Also, Chase Audige, for all his late game heroics, took their freshman sensation Fletcher Loyer completely out of this game for the entire 40 minutes!

2. NU didn't have a fluky hot shooting night - In fact, quite the opposite. We shot the ball horribly. We were a putrid 4-22 from three point range. Sometimes an underdog has a miraculous shooting night to get a big win, but that was not the case. While Boo was great, we didn't really have some guy go unexpectedly off and have a career night. The bottom line is that the way we won yesterday is repeatable!

3. NU didn't ride a wave of emotion to a big early lead - This was a hard fought game all the way through. NU showed they weren't intimidated early on with two early dunks by Big Matt, which I think really set the tone. However, we were actually down most of the game. We never let it get beyond a 10 point deficit and when it came to crunch time, we were the more composed, mature team.

The bottom line, is that we just won the game. This was one really good team losing to another good basketball team. I am still a Northwestern fan though, so I have no idea if we'll win another game the rest of the way, but I kinda' think we will! On to Indiana!!

Exactly