Northwestern crushes Jackson State by 40 to snap streak, get Collins 200th win

EVANSTON – On a frigid day when it felt like -5 degrees outside at tip, the Wildcats snapped their cold streak of three losses in a row with a 93-53 win over Jackson State on Saturday afternoon at Welsh-Ryan Arena.

Forward Nick Martinelli led the Wildcats with 22 points on blistering 8-for-10 shooting from the floor, 1-for-2 from beyond the arc and 5-for-6 from the free-throw line. Guard Angelo Ciaravino was in support with 13 points, his third game of 10+ points in the last four, and center Arrinten Page rounded out the trio of Wildcats in double digits with 12.

An assuredly long week of practice after the gut-wrenching loss to Ohio State paid off with a romp over the Tigers from the SWAC conference.

“We said, ‘Let’s just go back to the basics.’ [We] did a lot of fundamental work, we did stations, a lot of defensive breakdown drills to get our habits back,” head coach Chris Collins said. “It wasn’t perfect but I definitely saw growth and I was really impressed with guys’ attitudes.”

Martinelli called on the players to rededicate themselves to each other and own their roles in an impassioned press conference after a loss to Ohio State on Dec. 6. He also liked what he saw, with the Wildcats scoring 34 points off the bench after notching just eight against the Buckeyes.

“I think we responded well,” Martinelli said. “One thing I noticed was the guys off the bench today were great. I think they came in with great energy. What I was saying also week about contributing as much as you can to the team, I though each and every one of them came in and did what we needed to win.”

Northwestern had an overwhelming talent advantage and played like it, limiting Jackson State to 29% shooting from the floor and only allowing two players to score more than five points. Guard Daeshun Ruffin, a transfer from Ole Miss, carried the Tigers with 20 points in 24 minutes, then guard Dorian McMillan had nine.

Here are our takeaways from an authoritative get-right game for Northwestern (6-4) after a week off.

Collins reaches 200th win

This game marked the 200th win for Collins, the second coach to reach that mark in program history. Collins is already the signature coach of Northwestern basketball in the modern era; if he continues to build his legacy here the court may very well bear his name just as the floor at Illinois State bears his father’s.

Collins is now just 36 games behind all-time program leader, Dutch Lonborg, who coached at Northwestern from 1927-50. That record that could fall in the next couple seasons.

“I never came in saying I wanted to be the winningest coach in program history. I came here to build a program. … My biggest goal was to earn respect,” he said.

Collins loathes in-season recognition of his accomplishments and was caught off guard by the announcement postgame, not realizing he was on the precipice of that accomplishment. He was sure to credit his coaches, especially assistant Brian James and director of operations Chris Lauten, who have been with him from the start, as well as his players.

“I understand coaching accolades are about player success and about players playing the game,” he said. “I haven’t scored any baskets for Northwestern, haven’t gotten any defensive stops. I’ve just tried to be a positive leader and put together the right guys to help our program get better and be competitive.”

He did demur to make one quick joke about his goals.

“The good thing is I got 200 wins before 200 losses,” he said. “That was probably a goal.”

Collins’ Northwestern record stands at 200-194 at the only place he’s ever been a head coach.

Rotations still under construction

The Tigers’ struggles gave Northwestern the chance to work through some of their rotation options. This was the second straight game where Collins opted for veteran guard Jordan Clayton in the lineup over freshman forward Tre Singleton, though both played 23 minutes in the game.

Singleton started the first eight games of the season, then was limited to just eight minutes against Ohio State, while he was still getting back to health after being sick. He had a week to recover and Collins said this was now an outright depth-chart decision, trying to give him a bigger option off the bench to add to lineups, and that Singleton would still be playing starters minutes.

Collins has used this super sixth man-style before, most recently with Ty Berry before Jalen Leach’s injury last season.

“Right now, I just wanted to take a look at it, nothing is set in stone,” Collins said. “That first seven or eight games, we looked at the bigger lineup and we had a lot of good starts. … It’s more about how you sub, when you have three bigger guys starting, and a couple get tired, now you’re mostly bringing guards in.

“So, I wanted another bigger body to come off the bench…who starts, who comes off the bench. I know it’s a big thing on social media, prestige, all that. but Tre still played 23 minutes, which is starter’s minutes in a 40-point game.”

Collins added he talked it over iwth Singleton ahead of time and noted that he’s a versatile player that can sub in across the lineup as needed, replacing a center like Page, a forward like Martinelli or even a guard like Jayden Reid, to shuffle the deck.

One glaring omission from the lineup was sophomore guard KJ Windham, who played just one minute. Windham was a key player in the home stretch last season, arguably their second- or third-best next to Martinelli, but has become the odd man out at times this season. He was still active, enthusiastic and energized on the bench throughout the contest, so there’s not apparent concerns about his buy-in. But Collins still said it was a coach’s decision to nearly bench him entirely.

“That was just a coaching decision,” Collins said. “I felt like the other guys that were in were doing the job and he just has to stay ready…then at the end of the game, I really wanted to reward Phoenix [Gill] with some minutes. He’s been working hard…

“KJ just has to be ready. We know what he’s capable of doing.”

Bench scoring gave Northwestern the kick-start they needed

Outside of Ruffin, Jackson State was a largely hapless opponent. Yet the Wildcats took care of business and got off a run of three straight losses, and four setbacks in their last five. The Wildcats never trailed, though it was a close game early with Northwestern leading just 14-11 with 12:04 remaining in the first half.

Then guard Jake West checked in. He paired with Max Green in the backcourt to give the Wildcats a shot in the arm. With West running point, he hit a 3 and two free throws, and Green had three assists to spur a 12-0 run that put the Wildcats in the driver’s seat the rest of the way.

West finished with eight points and three assists in a career-high 20 minutes. Green had eight points and four assists in 20 minutes of his own.

Senior guard Justin Mullins also came off the bench with six points and eight rebounds in 18 minutes.

“They had a really good week of practice,” Collins said. “We spent time with both of those guys to get them ready and thought they did a great job, and Justin as well. All three of those guys did a great job coming in, fighting, playing [defense], scrapping, battling, making plays. I thought their energy was evident.”

For a program of Northwestern’s goals, looking to right the ship and recover from a 5-4 start, there won’t be a true test until a game until they face Butler on Dec. 20 in Indianapolis. But they recharged their batteries after a week of practice and made a statement against a weaker foe, thanks to the added scoring pop off the bench.