Indiana at Northwestern: can IU take another Big Ten road game?

by John M (The Crimson Quarry) on Feb 7, 2010 11:12 AM EST Comment 0 comments

Northwestern Wildcats
Current record: 15-7 (4-6)
Current RPI: 61
Current Sagarin: 63
Current Pomeroy: 68
2008-09 record: 17-14 (8-10), lost to Tulsa in the first round of the NIT
2008-09 RPI: 78
2008-09 Sagarin: 59
2008-09 Pomeroy: 70
Series: IU leads 107-45
Last Northwestern win: 2/25/2009 (75-53 in Bloomington)
Last IU win: 2/23/2008 (85-82 in Evanston)
Last IU win in Evanston: see above
Pomeroy scouting report
TV: 2:30 p.m., BTN

Few of IU's 2008-09 losses were as humiliating as IU's 22-point home loss to Northwestern at Assembly Hall. Northwestern never had won at Assembly Hall, and the Wildcats' last win in Bloomington had been at what is now the Gladstein Fieldhouse in 1968. If Northwestern wins today, at Evanston, it will be the Wildcats' third in a row against IU, which will be NU's longest winning streak against the Hoosiers since NU won 5 in a row from 1930-1933. Of course, the difference isn't just IU's performance: Northwestern flirted with the bubble last year for the first time since the term has existed, and has a shot this year.

Unforuntately, I don't have time for a full-fledged preview today. As typical, NU takes great care of the ball, shoots nearly 37 percent from behind the arc, and shoots well from the line. NU doesn't rebound particularly well, particularly at the offensive end. The Wildcats' perimeter defense is good but their interior defense isn't great. Here are their stats. NU is holding things together despite the loss of Kevin Coble.

			FG			3PT			FT			Rebounds			Misc
	G	M	M	A	Pct	M	A	Pct	M	A	Pct	Off	Def	Tot	Ast	TO	Stl	Blk	PF	PPG
John Shurna	22	35.8	6.2	13.6	45.7	2.1	6.0	35.1	3.3	4.1	80.0	2.0	4.8	6.7	2.4	1.9	0.7	0.8	2.1	17.8
Michael Thompson	22	37.7	4.0	9.8	40.7	2.3	5.7	40.5	2.8	3.5	79.2	0.4	1.5	1.9	4.1	1.6	1.1	0.0	2.5	13.1
Drew Crawford	22	27.5	3.9	8.1	47.8	1.8	4.5	39.4	1.9	2.9	65.6	1.6	2.6	4.2	1.8	1.5	0.5	0.8	2.7	11.4
Jeremy Nash	22	33.9	2.6	7.0	37.3	1.2	3.7	32.9	2.5	3.0	80.6	0.8	3.0	3.7	2.9	1.4	1.6	0.5	2.8	8.9
Luke Mirkovic	22	25.2	2.8	6.2	45.3	0.3	0.9	30.0	1.5	2.7	57.6	1.8	4.3	6.1	2.6	1.4	0.7	0.9	1.8	7.5
Alex Marcotullio	22	14.8	1.5	4.2	37.0	1.3	3.5	35.9	0.6	0.9	73.7	0.2	1.2	1.4	1.0	0.7	1.0	0.0	1.6	5.0
Kyle Rowley	22	10.0	0.7	1.7	40.5	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.8	1.4	54.8	0.7	1.6	2.4	0.4	1.0	0.0	0.2	1.8	2.1
Mike Capocci	15	5.9	0.6	1.0	60.0	0.1	0.2	33.3	0.2	0.3	60.0	0.1	1.1	1.2	0.6	0.6	0.3	0.0	1.1	1.5
Ivan Peljusic	16	7.2	0.4	1.4	26.1	0.2	0.7	27.3	0.1	0.3	40.0	0.4	1.2	1.6	0.6	0.7	0.3	0.4	0.7	1.1
Davide Curletti	12	7.3	0.3	0.5	66.7	0.1	0.2	50.0	0.3	0.3	75.0	0.3	0.6	0.8	0.8	0.5	0.1	0.1	1.7	1.0
Nick Fruendt	13	2.9	0.2	0.4	60.0	0.1	0.2	50.0	0.3	0.3	100.0	0.2	0.1	0.2	0.2	0.3	0.1	0.1	0.2	0.8
Reggie Hearn	8	2.0	0.3	0.4	66.7	0.1	0.1	100.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.1	0.6
Jeff Ryan	1	14.0	0.0	1.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	2.0	2.0	0.0	1.0	0.0
Austin Nichols	2	0.0	0.0	0.5	0.0	0.0	0.5	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.5	0.0	0.0	0.0