Winning Ugly

Northwestern wins? Northwestern wins! Yes, the Wildcats finally won today defeating Savannah State in a very ugly and painful 68-58 game. Sure, it’s nice to see the ‘Cats get their first win against a Division 1 opponent, but leaving that game I did not feel good about this team.

Coach Carmody essentially went with a six-man rotation in the second half, which might work against Savannah State and Arkansas State, but it won’t work in Big Ten schedule. Conference play is too physical to rely on playing only six or sometimes seven guys a game. Carmody needs to find some players off the bench to chew up minutes on the court before Coble and Nash return to the team.

However, on a positive note, the heavily criticized defensive play was better today, as the ‘Cats were able to come up with 32 turnovers. However, many of those turnovers can be credited to Savannah State’s inept offensive play, not the ‘Cats’ aggressive defense. The ‘Cats played the 1-3-1 for most of the game, but were still giving up wide-open 3-point attempts. For the game Savannah State was 6-14 from behind the arch. During a short stretch in the first half the ‘Cats appeared to play a 2-3 zone. It slowed the game down on the perimeter and allowed the ‘Cats to get stops and creep back into the game after trailing early on. Northwestern would be wise to continue playing this defense as the season progresses. At this point, with the current personnel group, the 1-3-1 doesn’t suit this team best.

The ‘Cats have plenty to work on in practice and they’ll head back to the court on Monday night at 7 looking to improve their record to 3-4 as they host Arkansas State.