In a winnable game at Minnesota last night, Northwestern played with the wrong mindset and lost 82-63. For the first 7 minutes of the game, the ‘Cats played an up-tempo attack. This approach was successful at first, but quickly turned sour. After taking and making shots early in possessions, the ‘Cats hot shooting cooled off and they seemed lost on the court.
They started forcing shots early in possessions and were careless with the basketball, both of which are not characteristics of a Bill Carmody coached team. When their shooting inevitably cooled off, the ‘Cats continued to play up-tempo and out of control, and Minnesota promptly went on a 22-2 run, turning a 20-14 Northwestern advantage, to 36-22 margin in less than 10 minutes.
If the ‘Cats are going to have success in-conference this season, they need to understand their identity. They cannot continue to play up-tempo basketball in the Big Ten against bigger and better athletes. I know both fans and players were excited about this up-tempo pace at the beginning of the season, but other than scoring in transition the ‘Cats can’t continue to play this faster-paced game. They don’t have the shooters or athletes to keep up with other Big Ten opponents in a faster-paced game.
Up next: Home vs. Michigan on Saturday at 5:30.
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