Northwestern unravels in second half of 77-58 loss to No. 8 Nebraska
EVANSTON – Northwestern tested No. 8 Nebraska early but the game got away from them in a 77-58 loss on Saturday at Welsh-Ryan Arena that dropped the Wildcats to 0-7 in Big Ten play.
The score was just 34-29 in the Huskers’ favor at the break but it ballooned into a 19-point final deficit, the largest home loss for Northwestern since Pittsburgh beat them on Nov. 28, 2022. It was their largest home loss in the Big Ten since a 23-point loss to Iowa on Jan. 17, 2021.
“It’s really refreshing to watch the purity that [Nebraska] plays with, the joy and toughness, it’s why they’re 18-0,” Collins said. “We’re just not at that level. … I thought they wore us down and we just haven’t been mentally tough enough to fight through those situations.”
Nick Martinelli led the Wildcats with 22 points and 10 rebounds, though he was unusually inefficient with 9-for-20 shooting. Freshman forward Tre Singleton had a Big Ten career-high with 14 points, but his icy shooting streak from beyond the arc continued. He has now missed his last 23 triples dating back to the Oklahoma State game on Thanksgiving.
The now 18-0 Huskers were led by 22 points from Pryce Sandfort and 20 from Braden Frager.
After an explosive 28-point performance against Illinois, point guard Jayden Reid came back down to earth with just seven points in 26 minutes, but the glaring line on the stat sheet belongs to talented center Arrinten Page: nine minutes, zero points, zero rebounds and zero field goals attempted. He’s scored just 23 points total in the past four games after scoring 19 against Minnesota to start the calendar year.
“I don’t know, probably a good question for him,” Collins said on why Page has struggled. “We’re going to stick with him and hopefully get him ready to play on Wednesday night.”
Page was not one of the players made available to media after the game by Northwestern.
Here are our takeaways from Northwestern’s loss to the undefeated Huskers to make them 8-10 on the season.
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On the wrong Page
Page seemed to be a godsend out of the portal early in the regular season, creating a double-big offense with Martinelli that dominated the post and racked up points on the scoreboard. Now, in the heart of the season, it’s becoming more clear why he struggled to find playing time at his previous stops with USC and Cincinnati.
This game marked the first time he was held scoreless for the Wildcats. To make matters worse, he didn’t even take a shot. Illinois targeted him in pick-and-pop action late in the last game on Wednesday night, and he was caught out on the perimeter several times in this one, too.
Collins benched him after he was the primary defender on a Sam Hoiberg three that gave Nebraska a 41-32 lead.
“It just wasn’t his night tonight and I was trying to find a group out there that was going to be able to put the fight out that we needed to try and get back in the game,” Collins said.
The remaining options were Singleton, who played 35 minutes, second only to Martinelli’s 38; and true freshman Tyler Kropp. Kropp posted no points and two rebounds in nine minutes in the game and, though he has shown flashes, he still isn’t physically and mentally ready to be a Big Ten rotation player in his first season.
Page was a load-bearing pillar of this roster’s construction, and if he or the coaches have checked out on his capabilities to contribute this season, then that is a dire sign for a team already winless in conference. Excluding walkon Gus Hurlburt, after Page and Kropp, it is indeed the 6-foot-8 Singleton that is the next tallest healthy player on roster.
If the Wildcats want to stand a chance against teams with talented big men, they desperately need Page to reengage.
Cold shooting defies belief
Northwestern should be a haven for catch-and-shoot 3-pointers off of Martinelli’s gravity, yet so many players are currently on shooting runs that match the wintery weather outside. Singleton has gone 0-for-23 from three in his last 12 games.
“I’ve put a lot of work in my shot,” Singleton said. “It’s unfortunate that I can’t get one to fall right now, but I know if I keep working, eventually it will drop. I’m staying positive.”
Shooting guard Jordan Clayton was out of the starting lineup in favor of Angelo Ciaravino, though he played nine minutes and missed two more 3s this game. Clayton is now 1-for-13 in his last five games.
Ciaravino played a strong game against Nebraska and used his athleticism to knife through their defense for some good buckets, finishing with six points, five rebounds and three assists in 31 minutes. Still, from the 3-point line, he is 3-for-16 in his last 10 games. Sharpshooter Max Green is 5-for-25 in his last seven games.
Reid has been buoyed by a 4-for-6 showing against Illinois but is still a below-par 31.3% on the season.
Against Illinois and Nebraska in the second half, it felt like the Wildcats were just one opportune three away from really turning up the heat and having a chance to tie and take the lead, but it never came. At this stage of the season, it seems they just do not have the requisite personnel to execute those shots at a high level.
Defensive standard has fallen
Northwestern has allowed 75+ points in all seven of their Big Ten games this season, a shocking departure for a team whose calling card was defense the past three seasons.
“We were on track, [allowed] 34 in the first half, I thought we put 20 minutes together,” Collins said. “The second half of games seems to be a little bit of a bugaboo. Part of that is a little bit of fatigue, part of it is mental toughness, finding a way to get stops.
“We haven’t been as dialed in with some of our rotations and schemes, and we work on them every single day. We’ve really struggled to keep the ball out of our paint on drives. … In the second half, when the game got away from us, it was their guards.”
Collins is spot on. The Huskers’ trifecta of Sandfort, Frager and Sam Hoiberg combined for 35 points in the second half, outscoring Northwestern’s team-wide effort of 29. At this stage of the season, dedication and personnel are the common denominators.
The Wildcats do not have a perimeter defensive stopper like Chase Audige or Brooks Barnhizer, and they don’t have a deterrent at the rim like big man Matt Nicholson. Their guards are smaller, and don’t put scoring pressure on opponents to exert energy playing defense of their own on the other end.
Page has a deep well of talent but doesn’t have Nicholson’s steadfast dedication to rim protection, and Martinelli is a score-first wing, no matter the effort he expends. Singleton has great tools but is still getting acclimated to this level of play.
Seven games into the conference schedule and 18 games into the season, this team has shown it’s not a one-off or a rough stretch; they simply cannot deliver defense at the program’s previous standard. Despite the defeat, Collins continues to try and rally his team. Much like Singleton from 3, maybe they desperately need to just see one go in.
“Trust me, it ain’t fun for anybody,” Collins said. “But we have 13 of these things left and we have to try and find a way to win one. If we do, kids are kids, all of a sudden you get a little confidence and momentum and maybe one turns into two, into three.
“That’s the challenge for us right now, we’ve got to keep them together.”
