Game Day Essentials: Game #26 vs Northwestern

 Nor thwestern Info

Head Coach: Chris Collins
Location: Evansville, IL
Conference: B1G
Nickname: Wildcats

Mascot: Willie the Wildcat
Typical Rotation Depth: 9
Line: Northwestern by 7.5

KenPom rank: 100

Player to Wach: Boo Buie

Northwestern needs a PG to make their offense work and Buie in his second year is finally proving to be that guy. Has taken on more of a scoring role in conference though his biggest asset is generating looks for the tall shooters on his team.

Northwestern has a traditional center in Ryan Young so they spend some time with him at center and with more of a small ball lineup anchored by Nance

• William & Mary transfer Chase Audige dominated the shots earlier in the season. Audige's efficiency hasn't held up having to take all those shots...heck even his FT shooting seems bothered as he's only shooting 56% on the season.
• Pete Nance is finally starting to realize his Roby-esque potential as he's becoming a problem to defend inside and a decent threat from outside. Will play the 4 or 5 for Collins and leads the team in rebounds and blocks.
• 6'10' 245# Center Ryan Young is a load who can convert in the paint when the team looks his way
• Kopp and Beran are two tall guys who shoot 3s. They've underperformed most of the year from outside which explains how Northwestern lost 15 games in a row.
• Veteran guards Ryan Greer and Anthony Gaines are veteran role players who are the 4th-5th scoring option type players 
• Freshman PG Ty Berry backs up Buie at the point; it's a significant dropoff offensively at this point.

The Skinny:

Northwestern on paper seems like it should work with 3pt shooting and length everywhere. In real life though the shots haven't been falling and the length hasn't provided much in terms of shot blocking. Most everyone comes back again next year so maybe that's when they put it together.

Northwestern is on a 2 game winning streak due to clamping down on defense. Both teams will try and take away the paint so at points this will look like a 3pt contest. The winner is likely the team that figures out how to work into the paint.  Nebraska probably needs to put away Northwestern early if they want to win because it's unlikely they're going to score consistently at the end of a game in this matchup. 

Prediction: Northwestern 70 - Nebraska 66