After a brutal loss at home to Rutgers, the ‘Cats looks to bounce back against Wisconsin.
Rutgers was the better team on Wednesday.
Ace Bailey and company embarrassed Northwestern in front of its fans at Welsh-Ryan Arena, likely putting an end to the Wildcats’ tournament hopes. If Northwestern want any chance of bouncing back and turning its season around, the Wildcats must take care of business when the Badgers come to town.
Wisconsin has lost two of its last three, both of which were on the road. All five of the Badgers’ losses have been to quality opponents: Marquette and the toughest teams they’ve played in the Big Ten (Michigan, Illinois, UCLA and Maryland). However, they are ranked at No. 17 for this week and have been a tough matchup all season. Even in losses, Wisconsin is good at keeping its games close; something Northwestern is all too familiar with.
Here are the keys to the game as Wisconsin travels down I-90 to Evanston:
Shot selection
Northwestern only lost by seven to Rutgers (although the deficit was trimmed a bit in garbage time). The Scarlet Knights shot 57.1% from the field and 57.1% from three, compared to the Wildcats shooting 42.4% from the field and 31.8% from three. Northwestern took ten more shots than Rutgers, yet the visitors still made more shots overall. Even with free throw woes from the ‘Knights, the ‘Cats couldn’t find a rhythm. This has been a recurring theme as of late, with shot selection being a big red flag for Chris Collins’ squad.
To make matters worse, Nick Martinelli’s efficiency has dropped. Martinelli has shot below 37% from the field in each of the ‘Cats’ last three losses. To make matters worse, Brooks Barnhizer has been struggling to connect from deep over the past couple of weeks. Barnhizer should stop shooting threes as often as he does. He’s taken 31 triples over the last eight games, but made just six. Because of his shooting woes from downtown, teams are now leaving him open from beyond the arc. Jalen Leach has been the hot hand as of late, so he should be the one shooting more. That takes me into the next key:
Let Leach cook
Jalen Leach has been balling. If he hadn’t been ejected against Michigan, the ‘Cats could be sitting in a completely different spot right now. Over the last four games, Leach has been averaging 18.5 points per game on around 55% from the field, 50% from three and over 87% from the foul line. In 2025, he has scored in single digits only twice and has scored 15 points or more in five of his last six games. Leach was one of the only players who kept Northwestern in the game against Rutgers. With the efficiency in his shot creation only going up, Leach should be featured more in the Wildcats offense going forward.
Let the kids play
With tournament hopes getting slimmer by the day, Angelo Ciaravino and K.J. Windham should be getting more minutes. Ciaravino has been starting in place of Ty Berry as of late, but Ciaravino has only seen 20 or more minutes twice since the change (and one of the games was when Leach was ejected). But now, with the team likely needing to look into the future, Chris Collins should see what he has in Ciaravino and Windham when both play long stretches of Big Ten games. Windham has the possiblity to become a knock-down shooter, but that won’t be known for sure until he gets the minutes to see that outcome. Whether it happens against Wisconsin or later in the season, the two first-years should be getting more minutes soon.