Game Day Essentials: Game #22 vs Northwestern

Northwestern Info

Head Coach: Chris Collins

Location: Evanstan, IL

Conference: B1G 10

Nickname: Wildcats

Mascot: Willie the Wildcat

Last time out: Lost to Purdue

Typical Rotation Depth: 9 players

Opening Line: Nebraska by 6

Fun Fact : Chris Collins is the son of former NBA player/coach Doug Collins. He played for and coached at Duke under Mike Krzyzewski. His basketball pedigree is the opposite of Tim Miles.

Fun Fact : Northwestern is located South West of Lake Michigan in the Northern part of the US

Player to watch: Bryant McIntosh

The impressive 6'3" Freshman combo guard leads the Wildcats in scoring, assists, and minutes played. He's an exceptional shooter who should be stable of this Northwestern team for the next 3 years.

The Skinny

Last week the Huskers needed to win 8 out of their last 11 games to make the NCAA tourney. Those two road losses represented a couple of the relatively easier games on a daunting remaining schedule. Instead the Huskers now have to win in Purdue, Maryland, and Ohio St which seems unlikely for a team yet to play a solid road game this year. (They did hold on to knock out a mediocre FSU team on the road)

The Huskers are in an offensive funk. Tarin Smith has emerged as the most consistent third option to Petteway and Shields but none of the supporting cast has really risen to the occasion when either TP or SS have an off night. If you can take away one of these guys, it's just a matter of grinding through the Husker's defense to get the 60 or so points needed to win.

Tonight is going to seem like another struggle against a slow down, grinding Northwestern team. Both teams are very similar in defensive styles, playing pack defense and preventing easy buckets. The biggest difference is offense. The Huskers are a poor shooting team that can generate points through contact. Northwestern is one of the better shooting teams in the conference that rarely makes it to the FT line.

Northwestern isn't a great team but they probably have the better style of offense for this matchup. They won't play much zone and the Huskers will face the type of defense they play...can they score on a worse version of themselves? This game will be won or lost at the FT line. If the Huskers aren't shooting at least 15 FTs there is a real chance we lose to a team at home on a 7 game losing streak. The aggressor wins tonight.

Prediction: Nebraska 60 - Northwestern 54 with a 3% chance of Runzas