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One of the grittiest performances by an NU team I've ever seen - it would've been a great game even if NU hadn't won ... but I'd rather type that after winning. Hated to see Taylor miss those FTs, but he didn't sulk on defense, which was good - his d on bohanan on Iowa's next to last possession was tremendous. And I loved the way his teammates rallied around him in the timeouts, after the game, etc. That shows a lot of why this team is playing the way it is right now. But most amazing thing is the way NU is playing defense down the stretch without fouling - so tough to do when you're gassed, yet it's now a pattern. Iowa shot 2 FTs - TWO - in the final 13 minutes (regulation/OT/OT). Maryland shot 0 FTs in the final 6 minutes Sunday That's the only way to come back from tough (if not almost impossible) deficits in both games. Make them earn it. And Tai is the poster child for that, the way he guarded Jok after getting foul #4 was a clinic. He didn't foul, yet he didn't just give in and let Jok do what he wanted either. He played physical and smart and remained a factor in the game.

I think Coach Miles slipped his punched ticket into Creen's pocket last week when he wasn't looking. Sly move.

Good look at the schedule, but I'd put Minnesota in that upper group - from what I saw during last week's B1G basketball binge, Gophers are for real. Taking NU and my homer-ism out of the equation, for me, they were the most impressive team in the first 2 games, outside of about a 10-min stretch vs MSU. I was kind of hoping their strong non-con play was a fluke, but I was disappointed. They are really young, so they'll probably have some ups and downs, but they're very talented. You're right, the schedule sets up very nicely if NU can protect home floor. Won't be easy as evenly matched as B1G appears to be, but doable with what we saw from NU last week. Now the key is repeating that effort and mindset when you're in a friendlier environment as the favorite. Sometimes young teams feel pressure at home when they're expected to win, but relax and play loose on the road as a 'dog. Hopefully that won't be the case this week for NU. Coaching staff really needs to find the right buttons to push mentally with the guys this week. And we need to keep Webster out of foul trouble and on the floor. The team just has so much more confidence when he's out there.

Since we've already doubled Massey's B1G wins prediction, can we revoke his computer license?

Crazy that there's only 3 unbeatens left after less than a week of play ... and 2 of them were a combined 14-11 in non-con play. I guess challenging yourself in the non-con is the way to go.

I don't think Iowa is in the student ticket package, classes don't start till 9th. NW is though I believe.

Yes, good call - crazy entertaining game.

Was trying to come up with another game NU has played with a huge 10-0 or more run this late to flip the outcome, couldn't come up with one. I mean nearly every possession on both ends over the last 5-6 minutes went our way today. That's unreal. Similar games that we won that I could think of: NU had that huge comeback at Devaney against Iowa in Miles' first season, down by 15 or so at halftime, but I think we cut the lead much earlier than we did today. Talley hit the big jumper late I believe. (Also last time we beat the Herkies I think.) NU had a big comeback vs Indiana in the first season in the B1G at home under Doc. Seems like that one started pretty late like today, maybe 8 or 9 minutes to go, but I'm sure Indiana scored a few times in there. NU had a big run in the win at MSU last season, seems like it was more than 10-0 midway thru second half, but not late like today. NU finished the game with a nice run in the win at MSU in 13/14, but I think it was more like 11-2, 12-2, something like that. Probably the closest one to what we did today, although that run blew the game open, wasn't a rally from a big deficit. And on the flip side we had that loss to TAM at Devaney under Doc in 08/09, blew a huge early second half lead, but seems like the Ags closed the deficit much earlier than we did today. We did nearly do the same thing to the Terps last season at the B1G tourney, weren't we down 20+ in that game midway in the 2nd half and got it to 6 and forced a miss before a horrible call cost us possession with 90 sec or so to go? Anyone remember one we won quite like this previously? I'm probably missing an obvious one.

Before Wednesday NU was 3-15 on the road in its last 18 B1G games with 13 of those losses by double digits. Quite the turnaround - this is way more fun.

NU 74 Iowa 70

Iowa will come in with a bit of confidence, just rallied past Michigan in OT. Boy Iowa played a lot of 2-3 zone vs UM - thought that would be the death of them, but it worked. Guessing we'll see just a wee bit of zone Thursday. Hopefully MJ & Roby play well in the high post.

I assume it'll be announced tomorrow - they announced the MD game time 6 days ahead. Looks like available time slots are 1:15 or 3:30. OSU-Minny has the night time slot.

Agree on it being a bit different - so many teams trap aggressively out of 1-3-1, but seems like we are looking more to deflect passes out of it. With our length, that's not a bad way to operate out of it though. MD got some open looks against it, but seemed hesitant, it definitely threw off their timing and offensive flow. And it seemed like we rebounded out of it pretty well, which is always a concern. Miles mentioned Xavier's coach helped them figure out the nuances - I assume this summer - but they didn't put it in till after Gill's injury. I think we used it one possession vs Indiana and they got a bucket against it. But it was the perfect antidote to MD's big run today.

If I could give this 1,000 up arrows, it wouldn't be enough.

Unreal grit and heart - have to think our chances of winning were about 0.1% with 6 minutes to go. Lots of guys were huge - loved MJ's activity, Roby's ability to deflect balls, etc, etc, etc. We just played so hard in back to back games. Must continue to have that mindset in a friendlier environment against a lesser opponent Thursday. We saw how much we need Tai. We're up 8 when he picks up foul #3. Then he's on the bench and then picking up #4 and then back to the bench, and we're down 13 before he comes back in for good. His defense on Trimble before his 3rd foul was unbelievable. And he was an all B1G player in the final 3 minutes ... actually for the majority of the game. Wow. Loved seeing the 1-3-1 in the black uniforms, hope Coach Nee was watching, that had to make him smile. Love that type of zone with our length as a change up. Coach Miles may never tweet again.

Never hurts to go recruiting after beating the #16 team on the road the night before. (Or maybe Coach Miles told him it was the #13 team like he said that he'd tell recruits when he was on the postgame show.) Be good to sign a scoring guard in the spring.

Turtles 81 NU 73

Pretty impressive to fight like we did in that environment from start to finish - had more than a few opportunities where it would've been easy to fold the tents and give in, but the guys just played tougher. To have 3 true freshmen on the floor for a good chunk of the game and not have them give in to the pressure was impressive. That last rebound and put back Ed had was unreal - he set the screen at the top of the key and crashed all the way through the lane in a hurry to pick up the hustle rebound. And I think we found ourselves against the zone tonight - LOVE having Roby as the guy flashing in the middle. He makes things go. And he looked as cool as possible draining those 2 FTs late. Huge step forward for him tonight.

Wow. World-Herald actually sprung for LeeB to go to Bloomington? I take back a little bit of what I've said in the past about their so-called NU hoops coverage. Then again, I'm guessing he drove to Bloomington from Nashville, so it isn't costing them that much.

Yeah, I think Rutgers is much improved, even though that ended up being a 20-pt game. Still a ways to go for RU, but not a gimme win like last few seasons. Maybe PSU becomes the gimme team this season.

Bad loss for Minny last night in OT to a reeling MSU team. Can't afford to blow a 15 pt lead at home with all of MSU's youth and injuries. Minny needed to win that one.

The 3-pt shot at the buzzer notwithstanding, MD showing again today that it's primary weakness seems to be jump shooting ... other than Melo of course. Illinois just can't seem to keep them out of the lane and make them take jumpers ... then again, I'm not sure how much the Illini want to be in College Park today. So hopefully NU can go to school on this performance & keep them out of the lane Sunday and make them settle for jumpers ... other than Melo. May want to guard him as soon as he gets out of bed. They have some quick guards. Will be a challenge to stay in front of them. 39-23 Terps at the break.

Well, this is the Illinois team I expected to see heading into the season. Ugly. 27-10 Maryland with 7 1/2 to go before halftime. Illinois taking a bunch of quick jump shots, rather than working in the lane against a team that's short handed on the interior, while Terps are living at the rim. Interesting that Illinois tried zone last few possessions, as Maryland has struggled at times against zone. Not today. 2 layups and 10-ft jumper against it in four possessions. Probably best scenario for us is playing out - Maryland winning in a blowout may mean they don't have as much focus for Sunday.

Don't let final score of 87-77 fool you, PSU was no match for NW today. Nits were so bad it's tough to get a real read on NW, but I agree that the Cats are likely pretty good. Maryland missing a couple of their interior players with injuries. Announcers said Dodd has missed 5 straight games (I think) and Cekovsky (sp) is out today. DIdn't mention either player's status going forward (for Sunday). Cekovsky had a pretty solid game when I saw them play Charlotte last week. 10-4 Turtles in the early going vs Illinois. Lots of fans dressed as empty seats in College Park, and I imagine it'll be the same on Sunday, especially with a noon Eastern start .. New Year's Eve hangovers and all.

Ugh, terrible break for Gill and for NU. I'd echo what others have been saying, he was just starting to get rolling. My nightmare scenario at the end of last season would've been to be without Gill or he-who-shall-not-be-named-the-third at any point this season ... and here we are without either of them. Hope the rest of the guys can rally.