Alright get ready for the nerd bowl. Our guys have shown a lot of growth the past two games against good competition and now we're supposedly getting back Javian McCollum. No more Boo Buie to stuff the stat sheet for Northwestern but they are still a solid team coming off back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances. They lean on two main guys for production: 6'7 Forward Nick Martinelli and 6'6 Senior Guard Brooks Barnhizer. Jalen Leach can factor in as well, but these former two guys will each play 36, 37, 38 minutes.
Chris Collins squad are a very slow, deliberate, defense-first team with a recent win over Top 25 Illinois (though it was home and their home court has turned into a very difficult place to win in recent years). They rarely shoot the three ball on offense but will take a lot of jumpers rather than stuff it into the paint. They don't turn the ball over with their very deliberate attack, but that's probably not a big deal since our defense doesn't force turnovers often (though we are trending up in that stat). CDS won't have the team underestimating them but this is not as difficult a team to defend as Oklahoma and UNC. Their eFG% is not good, however if we lose, it is likely because of long scoring droughts caused by their suffocating defense. They defend the three well but are still beatable from there. They have a 3 man vacuum on the glass of Martinelli, Barnhizer, and 7' starting center Matthew Nicholson so when your first shot goes up, it better go in. There's a big productivity drop off after the key leaders but they are smart, experienced, and don't get into foul trouble. Barnhizer is their Jose Alvarado and is averaging 2 steals per game - expect disciplined, fundamental basketball designed to break your spirit. They’ll defend cleanly, force you into tough shots, and leave you frustrated as you watch miss after miss pile up.
Baye was all business against UNC - it was the best we've seen of him this season and I want to see that type of performance from him again. CDS mentioned he needed to sit down and have a talk with him after Oklahoma - whatever he said, Baye responded to with 19 points on 7/13 shooting, 12 rebounds, and 35 minutes played.
The bad news is we are about a 200/1 shot to receive an NCAA Tournament bid right now, but there's no time like Sunday to bump those odds in our favor before a big week with UMBC and Dook.
Chris Collins squad are a very slow, deliberate, defense-first team with a recent win over Top 25 Illinois (though it was home and their home court has turned into a very difficult place to win in recent years). They rarely shoot the three ball on offense but will take a lot of jumpers rather than stuff it into the paint. They don't turn the ball over with their very deliberate attack, but that's probably not a big deal since our defense doesn't force turnovers often (though we are trending up in that stat). CDS won't have the team underestimating them but this is not as difficult a team to defend as Oklahoma and UNC. Their eFG% is not good, however if we lose, it is likely because of long scoring droughts caused by their suffocating defense. They defend the three well but are still beatable from there. They have a 3 man vacuum on the glass of Martinelli, Barnhizer, and 7' starting center Matthew Nicholson so when your first shot goes up, it better go in. There's a big productivity drop off after the key leaders but they are smart, experienced, and don't get into foul trouble. Barnhizer is their Jose Alvarado and is averaging 2 steals per game - expect disciplined, fundamental basketball designed to break your spirit. They’ll defend cleanly, force you into tough shots, and leave you frustrated as you watch miss after miss pile up.
Baye was all business against UNC - it was the best we've seen of him this season and I want to see that type of performance from him again. CDS mentioned he needed to sit down and have a talk with him after Oklahoma - whatever he said, Baye responded to with 19 points on 7/13 shooting, 12 rebounds, and 35 minutes played.
The bad news is we are about a 200/1 shot to receive an NCAA Tournament bid right now, but there's no time like Sunday to bump those odds in our favor before a big week with UMBC and Dook.
