Game Day Essentials: Game #31 at Northwestern

[hhcmatt]

Nebraska Cornhuskers (14-16) vs Northwestern Wildcats (19-11)

 

 

Date: Sunday, March 6th, 2015
Time: 1:00 p.m. CST

 

Broadcast Information

TV: BTN

 

Radio: IMG Husker Sports Radio Network, including KLIN (1400 AM) in Lincoln, KXSP (590 AM) in Omaha and KRVN (880 AM) in Lexington.

Play-by-play: Kent Pavelka
Expert Analysis: Matt Davison

 

 

Scouting Northwestern

Northwestern Info

 

Head Coach: Chris Collins
Location: Evanston, IL
Conference: B1G
Nickname: Wildcats
Mascot: Willie the Wildcat
Last time out: Beat Penn St
Typical Rotation Depth: 8-9 players
Offensive Style: Perimeter passing, 3pt shooting
Defensive Style: Zone-Man Mix
Notable Alumni: 50% of ESPN personalities
Line: Northwestern by 4.5

 

Player to watch: Bryant McIntosh

 

Collins has rolled with the Sophomore PG since day 1 and he's already set the Northwestern record for assists in a season. Last time out he had 11 points and 8 assists.

 

Last time vs Nebraska

 

Andrew White and Benny Parker had great shooting days, with White scoring 22 and Parker going 5-10 from 3. (Parker hasn't made more than 2 threes in any other game in his career). However, it was the Dererk Pardon show as the freshman in his second career game went bonkers for 28 points and 12 rebounds as Northwestern continued their best start in school history with a 81-72 win.

 

The Skinny

 

Both teams are basically out of the running for the NIT and are attempting to position themselves for a Cinderella run through the B1G tournament by first avoiding the 11th seed. Winning in Evansville on Senior day will be a challenge vs Northwestern's 3pt heavy offense, a style Nebraska has yet to play within 10 points.

 

The Wildcats actually have shot worse than Nebraska from long range during conference play though they'll still continue to shoot from long range, especially if the Huskers choose to double down on center Alex Olah and Pardon. It might be time to leave our young posts on an island this game as simply fouling poor FT shooting NW post players isn't the worst thing in the world.

 

Does Andrew White have his shot back? Miles discussing how White needs to be aggressive towards the rim doesn't give one a whole lot of confidence that White is capable of knocking down 4+ threes in this game. Expect the Shavon Shields experience to continue as the senior continues to aggressively look for his shot. Also believe that Watson and Morrow bring it like the last time they traveled to Illinois.

 

Both teams foul a lot but don't draw a lot of contact so FT rate is a complete wildcard here. This should be a slog of a game between two of the conference's slower teams where both might struggle to score 70. Expect the road, the lack of shooting, and the trouble with the style to be too much for Nebraska to overcome.

 

Prediction: Norhwestern 72 - Nebraska 65

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[Red Don]

Purdue Likely Starters                

No. Name                     Po Yr.  Ht.    Wt.  G/GS   PPG   RPG  Other

14  Tre Demps              G   Sr   6-3   202   30/30   15.4   3.6    3.4 apg

30  Bryant McIntosh      G   So  6-3   185   30/30   13.8   3.6    6.7 apg

34  Sanjay Lumpkin    G/F   Jr   6-6   220   30/30    3.8    4.9    0.6 spg

35  Aaron Falzon           F   Fr   6-8   213   30/27    8.9    3.6   36.4%-3 pts

22  Alex Olah                 C   Sr   7-0   275   24/19  10.8    5.2   52.3% FGs

 

 

Nebraska – Likely Starters

No Name                     Pos Ht.   Wt.   Yr. GP/GS (mins)  PPG   RPG   APG

3    Andrew White III       G   6-7   216   Jr.  30/30 - 29.7     16.6    6.1     0.6

5    Glynn Watson Jr.     G   6-0   165   Fr.  30/16 - 24.2      8.6    1.8     2.5

12  Michael Jacobson    F   6-8   222   Fr.  30/21 - 17.8      4.6    4.2     0.5

31  Shavon Shields    G/F   6-7   225   Sr.  26/26 - 30.6    16.7    4.8     2.8

32  Benny Parker          G   5-9   175   Sr.  30/30 - 25.6      4.7    2.4     2.2  

Rotation                  

0    Tai Webster             G   6-4   196   Jr.   30/14 - 27.0      9.6    4.0     1.9

10  Jack McVeigh        G/F  6-8   210   Fr.  30/4 -   17.5      5.4    2.8     1.1

11  Bakari Evelyn          G   6-2   178   Fr.  17/0 -    5.1       1.2    0.5     0.2

23  Nick Fuller            G/F   6-7   204  So.  21/0 -   8.7       2.1    1.5     0.2

24  Jake Hammond       F  6-10   235  So.  26/8 -  11.4      2.4    2.9     0.2

30  Ed Morrow Jr.          F   6-7    225  Fr.   26/1 -  13.8      3.8    3.5     0.1  

Bench                  

4    Johnny Trueblood   G  6-4    195  Fr.   9/0 -    3.1      0.9     0.2     0.4

15  Malcolm Laws         G  6-1    190  So.   6/0 -    3.2      0.2     0.3    0.0

20  Tanner Borchardt    F  6-8    274  Fr.   8/0 -    3.5       0.8     1.1    0.0