Sleepy second half dooms Northwestern in late-night loss to Oklahoma State
CHICAGO – The Northwestern fans that stayed up for the 9:51 pm CT tip and the 12:07 am final buzzer had their Thanksgiving soured with an 86-81 loss to Oklahoma State at the United Center.
“That [tip-off time] was dictated by television,” head coach Chris Collins said. “Initially, we were told we’d play the first game. Oklahoma State and [us], we’re both very disappointed in television’s decision to move the game where it was. But we both had to go through it, so it’s no excuse.”
Star forward Nick Martinelli turned in a 28-point and 10-rebound performance to no avail as the Cowboys rattled off a 47-point second half that included a 16-4 run.
Oklahoma State (7-0) was led by Jaylen Curry with 18 points, one of five Cowboys in double figures.
The Wildcats (5-2) shot 49% from the floor and scored plenty of points, but their traditionally stout defense has evaporated.
“Eighty-one points should be enough,” Collins said. “We scored 81 tonight, that should be enough. It’s definitely on that other end of the floor that we have got to get better.”
Local sophomore Angelo Ciaravino, who played for Chicago (Ill.) Mt. Carmel, showed out with 14 points in 29 minutes, though he fouled out late in the game.
Here are our takeaways from a bitterly disappointing loss at the United Center.
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Program identity has been inconsistent early in the season
Northwestern has split its last four games against Power Five opponents, 2-2, while averaging 79.75 points per game. The problem is that for as prodigious as their offense has been, their defense has been just as much of a hindrance. They’re allowing 81.25 points per game in that same stretch.
The Wildcats have been hammered on the glass and beaten to the ball time and time again. The Cowboys had 20 second-chance points in this game, winning the rebounding battle 39-31, with a 15-9 advantage on offensive rebounds alone.
Martinelli was characteristically blunt postgame.
“I think we need to practice better. It’s every game, consistently, we’re just getting dominated on the glass,” he said. “As a player, as a four man, [I’m] supposed to dominate and it’s pretty embarrassing. We have to fix that and get in gaps, it’s a mental thing.
“We have to want to play defense. We have all the talent in the world, we put up 80 points a game. We have to shore up the defense and practice better.”
Collins was stringent in his criticism, while also keeping the perspective of a veteran coach in a young season.
“It’s always fixable,” he said. “We’ve played seven games, we’re just starting the season. Disappointed to have a couple losses under our belt, but everything is always adjustable, everything is always fixable. We’ve got to practice.”
However deserved it may be, I don’t envy the players their next day at the Trienens Center.
Transfers came back down to earth
Northwestern fans were thrilled with transfer guard Jayden Reid and center Arrinten Page after their stellar performances in the Greenbrier Tip-off. They came crashing back down in this one.
Reid, a waterbug guard, was unrecognizable in this game, especially the second half, when he scored just two points in 15 minutes and airballed a 3-pointer with a chance to tie the game with 22 seconds left. He finished with nine points, six assists and three turnovers in 29 minutes.
Page was due for regression after his outlandish three-game run where he was sublime scoring or passing. He picked up two fouls in his first nine minutes and sat the rest of the first half. He had 11 points and seven rebounds in 27 minutes, finishing a team-worst -13 on the game.
Reid’s drop off may be more concerning than Page’s, but the Wildcats needed more from both of them in this game.
Northwestern needs more from Singleton
Speaking of needing more, this was another game of struggles for freshman Tre Singleton. He had six points, seven rebounds, five assists and two blocks in 34 minutes, shooting 1-for-7 from the floor and 0-for-5 from three.
He stayed out of foul trouble, with just two on the game, though one was on a 3-point attempt from Anthony Roy that gave him three free throws. On replay, it looked like Roy initiated contact, so this time it’s less about Singleton’s discipline and more about his offensive impact.
In the early-season predictions and exhibitions, Singleton was set to be an offensive initiator. Through seven games, he’s shown flashes, with key stretches in wins over DePaul and South Carolina, but he’s often proved more tentative than not. Most of his 3s come on spot-ups, with him serving as a floor spacer, and he wasn’t able to hit many this game. It’s hard to demand the ball when there’s the triumvirate of Reid, Martinelli and Page out there, but he has to hunt for his shot more often.
Singleton had a decent rebounding game with seven boards, but the eye test will tell you he needs to be a more aggressive rebounder. (Page does too, for that matter.) On a key play late in the game, Singleton failed to box out and Oklahoma State forced a jump ball and kept possession, setting up a layup to push the lead to 78-72 with 1:53 left, rather than a chance for Northwestern to make it a one-score game.
Bench scoring lags behind
As Collins said, the offense isn’t the main issue: 81 points should win plenty of games. But one of the ways to encourage defense outside of tougher practices and advocating for effort is introducing more scoring options so that guys can focus more on the other end.
Northwestern’s bench was outscored 34-13 in this game. Sophomore guard KJ Windham had seven, all on free throws, as he was 0-for-4 from the floor. Sophomore guard Max Green hit a couple of buckets for four points. Senior guard Justin Mullins hit a layup in his two minutes of time. That’s the full list.
Freshmen Tyler Kropp and Jake West also played. Kropp was scoreless in three minutes. It doesn’t seem like the coaching staff fully trusts him yet, and that’s fair, as an immediate contribution would be a tall order given his evaluation out of high school. West continues to hold his own and got nine minutes but was also scoreless.
As Martinelli implored, there are plenty of things to be addressed with effort. As Collins indicated, there’s a long season ahead. More scoring off the bench will go a long way to helping out on many fronts.
