HawkeyeBBall
Well-Known Member
http://www.chicagobreakingsports.com/2010/02/nu-gets-drubbed-by-iowa-78-65.html
NU gets drubbed by Iowa, 78-65
February 10, 2010 9:33 PM | No Comments
By Teddy Greenstein
IOWA CITY, Iowa -- Northwestern officials were steamed to read the sentiments of ESPN.com "bracketologist" Joe Lunardi, who told the Tribune on Tuesday that he has "a better chance of getting a date with Scarlett Johansson than Northwestern does of making the NCAA tournament."
The Wildcats would love to make Lunardi eat his words, but instead they ate crow Wednesday night, losing in embarrassing fashion to Iowa. The Hawkeyes, who entered 8-16, led the entire way and cruised to a 78-65 victory.
It was Northwestern's fifth straight loss at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, and it dropped the Wildcats to 16-8, 5-7 in the Big Ten.
Three-point shooting told the story: The Hawkeyes drained 12 of 24 tries, and the Wildcats hit on just 8 of 26 (30.8 percent).
Michael "Juice" Thompson led the Wildcats with 20 points and John Shurna had 16.
NU's big men had a particularly tough time. Luka Mirkovic missed a wide-open layup late in the first half and dribbled into traffic for a second-half turnover.
Kyle Rowley committed two of NU's three first-half turnovers - in three minutes of play - and barely hit the rim on a wayward free throw after the break.
The Wildcats looked awful early on, settling for long jumpers -- and missing them. Seven of their first nine shots were 3-point tries, and Thompson made the only two.
That allowed Iowa to jump out to a 22-11 lead.
Late in the first half, Northwestern had a key defensive breakdown. Devan Bawinkel drilled an uncontested 3-pointer from a spot near NU coach Bill Carmody. On Iowa's next possession, Bawinkel hit another open trey from almost the exact same spot.
An exasperated Carmody called a timeout and motioned to Drew Crawford, making clear that the freshman swingman should have slid over to challenge the open shooter.
You wouldn't have known it by watching, but Northwestern entered with a two-game winning streak that was more impressive because of the margins of victories - 15 points over Michigan and 17 over Indiana. The Wildcats hadn't won back-to-back Big Ten games by that margin since the end of the 1957-58 season.
Those results gave NU fans hope that the school would land its first NCAA tournament bid, but both Lunardi and RPI analyst Jerry Palm called that a long-shot.
NU athletic director Jim Phillips opted to take a longer-term view, saying: "There's a ton of basketball left. A lot can happen."
The Wildcats need a lot of good to happen the rest of the way to have any chance to dance in March.
NU gets drubbed by Iowa, 78-65
February 10, 2010 9:33 PM | No Comments
By Teddy Greenstein
IOWA CITY, Iowa -- Northwestern officials were steamed to read the sentiments of ESPN.com "bracketologist" Joe Lunardi, who told the Tribune on Tuesday that he has "a better chance of getting a date with Scarlett Johansson than Northwestern does of making the NCAA tournament."
The Wildcats would love to make Lunardi eat his words, but instead they ate crow Wednesday night, losing in embarrassing fashion to Iowa. The Hawkeyes, who entered 8-16, led the entire way and cruised to a 78-65 victory.
It was Northwestern's fifth straight loss at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, and it dropped the Wildcats to 16-8, 5-7 in the Big Ten.
Three-point shooting told the story: The Hawkeyes drained 12 of 24 tries, and the Wildcats hit on just 8 of 26 (30.8 percent).
Michael "Juice" Thompson led the Wildcats with 20 points and John Shurna had 16.
NU's big men had a particularly tough time. Luka Mirkovic missed a wide-open layup late in the first half and dribbled into traffic for a second-half turnover.
Kyle Rowley committed two of NU's three first-half turnovers - in three minutes of play - and barely hit the rim on a wayward free throw after the break.
The Wildcats looked awful early on, settling for long jumpers -- and missing them. Seven of their first nine shots were 3-point tries, and Thompson made the only two.
That allowed Iowa to jump out to a 22-11 lead.
Late in the first half, Northwestern had a key defensive breakdown. Devan Bawinkel drilled an uncontested 3-pointer from a spot near NU coach Bill Carmody. On Iowa's next possession, Bawinkel hit another open trey from almost the exact same spot.
An exasperated Carmody called a timeout and motioned to Drew Crawford, making clear that the freshman swingman should have slid over to challenge the open shooter.
You wouldn't have known it by watching, but Northwestern entered with a two-game winning streak that was more impressive because of the margins of victories - 15 points over Michigan and 17 over Indiana. The Wildcats hadn't won back-to-back Big Ten games by that margin since the end of the 1957-58 season.
Those results gave NU fans hope that the school would land its first NCAA tournament bid, but both Lunardi and RPI analyst Jerry Palm called that a long-shot.
NU athletic director Jim Phillips opted to take a longer-term view, saying: "There's a ton of basketball left. A lot can happen."
The Wildcats need a lot of good to happen the rest of the way to have any chance to dance in March.
