The ‘Cats are looking to avoid a repeat of what happened in Iowa City back in December.
After a big win away from home over Minnesota on Tuesday night, Northwestern men’s basketball (15-13, 6-11 B1G) currently sits at 13th in the Big Ten and has slotted itself right back into prime position to make the conference tournament. With just three games left on the schedule, however, time is of the essence to pick up the W’s. And no game may be more important — or winnable — than tonight’s matchup against Iowa, who also happens to sit at 6-11 in conference play and needs this win just about as much as the ‘Cats do. So, how does Northwestern will its way to victory, especially with the last heartbreaking matchup against the Hawkeyes still looming in the background?
Use Momentum to their Advantage
They say basketball is a game of runs. If you have the momentum, you want to keep it; if you don’t, you need to do everything in your power to get it back. Northwestern is fortunate enough to be in the driver’s seat heading into the month of March, with massive wins over Ohio State and Minnesota — especially massive given that both victories were on the road — propelling it firmly back into the conference tournament conversation.
On the flip side, Iowa has had a bit of a struggle as of late. After dealing with a big loss of their own with leading scorer Owen Freeman going down for the season, the Hawkeyes have had a hard time recovering. They’ve lost three of their last four, trending in the wrong direction with the most important time of year coming ahead. Chris Collins and Co. will need to capitalize on that: keep the offense churning, and the defense working hard. And most of all, forget about that loss back in December, and get some revenge tonight.
K.J. Windham’s playmaking
One of the few silver linings to the tragic season-ending injuries of Brooks Barnhizer and Jalen Leach was that we would see more action out of the freshman. And K.J. Windham has given us every reason to be excited for his NU career, both this year and beyond. He has sneakily been one of the top contributors to Northwestern’s offense during the month of February, averaging nearly 11 points per game over his last four.
But what’s stood out recently from Windham has been his passing ability. He showed it off in a big way against Minnesota earlier this week when he had a season-high seven assists to go along with eight points. With Ty Berry’s shooting continuing to heat up and Nick Martinelli and Matt Nicholson providing plenty of sure buckets in the paint. Windham’s responsibility as a passer is becoming more important than ever. Tonight, it may be the make or break key for the Wildcats’ offense.
Keep an eye on Payton Sandfort
Defensively, Northwestern has looked solid as of late, even putting up its best performance all season in a blowout victory over the Buckeyes, where the ‘Cats hold OSU’s offense to just 49 points — at the time, the lowest total by a Big Ten team all season. Iowa presents a different challenge. As previously mentioned, the loss of Freeman changes the Hawkeye gameplan; they’ll mostly look to the next man up, Payton Sandfort.
Sandfort is the second leading scorer at 16.4 points per game, and burned NU the last time around, dropping 20. If the ‘Cats can contain the sharpshooter, however, they’ll be in good form for a Friday night dub. And if Northwestern can take the victory, then this team will be in firm control of its own destiny for the Big Ten Tournament.