In recent years, the Northwestern-Illinois rivalry has been described as contentious. Both teams have split their season series the past three years, and NU fans vividly remember the ‘Cats memorable triumph over the Fighting Illini last season at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
Northwestern’s demoralizing 84-44 road loss to No. 5 Illinois not only broke that trend by stamping Illinois’s season sweep of the Wildcats, it also enters the history books as one of the biggest routs in this historic, 100+ year rivalry.
Advertisement
It was also one of the worst losses under head coach Chris Collins, who offered a blunt assessment of Wednesday night’s performance.
“They’re, they’re a vastly superior team to us,” Collins said. “They have better players, they’re better coached, they’re just a better team than us this year.”
Northwestern’s stagnant offense played a large part in the blowout. Collins said his team “lacked offensive authority” when shooting just 29% from the field and an atrocious 4-of-25 from deep. Northwestern went to the line just twice all game, and one of those was because of a self-inflicted technical foul by Illinois.
“Just one of those nights where we couldn’t make anything,” Collins said. “So when that happens, it’s going to be, it’s going to be a final score like you saw.”
Advertisement
A raucous environment at State Farm Arena certainly posed challenges for a young ‘Cats squad. Illinois stormed out of the gate with a high-powered offense and aggressive play on the glass, and NU was playing catch-up from the get-go. A 24-4 run by Illinois, plus the ‘Cats starting the first half 5-of-28 from the field and scoring just one bucket in over 10 minutes, dug Northwestern a big hole early.
When playing against a vaunted opponent like Illinois, setting a strong tone early is critical. Collins said some of his younger players play more hesitantly after struggling to score in the initial minutes, which contributes to a stagnant offense that didn’t improve as the game went on. He recalled how freshman Tyler Kropp missed a layup right at the start of the game, and how that seemed to affect his play the rest of the evening.
“For a freshman like him, playing in this building, if you make that layup it might be a different story in terms of your confidence,” Collins said.
It was also an off-night for Nick Martinelli, who entered this game as the country’s leading scorer, but dropped to fifth after posting just four points on 2-of-10 shooting. It marked the first game since Nov. 21 in which Martinelli failed to reach double figures, as Illinois’ defense used its significant size advantage to smother him inside and force the senior into tougher shots.
Advertisement
After months of shouldering Northwestern’s offense, Collins noted how Martinelli has been increasingly tired, both physically and mentally. Ever since the Washington game, he noticed Martinelli didn’t have his legs and was especially worn down. Collins thinks this provides an opportunity for the younger players to take some of the burden off the Wildcat star.
“This happens, given the way he has to carry us on a nightly basis,” Collins said. “His teammates have to help him with that. They’ve got to give him energy. They’ve got to step up and give him some production so he can get that (his legs) back.”
Major credit must be given to Illinois. Despite the ‘Cats struggles with grabbing rebounds and stringing together stops, Illinois’ shotmaking from the perimeter was unbelievable: 17 made threes at a 45% rate. The scoring distribution was also excellent, as five Fighting Illini hit more than three shots from deep.
When asked about his team’s scoring, Illinois head coach Brad Underwood offered blunt words of his own.
Advertisement
“It was a night where we made a few shots,” Underwood said.
This quote reflects the sheer normalcy of this kind of play from Illinois. What was mesmerizing to Northwestern was just fulfilling a standard for the Fighting Illini.
Many of the issues on display Wednesday have defined Northwestern’s season. The Wildcats were out rebounded 50-23, while the offense continued its remarkable ability to limit turnovers, committing just one all game. Still, the most glaring takeaway was this: Northwestern’s roster, as currently constructed, is not good enough to compete with the nation’s elite.
“Our last three years, we’ve had pretty good teams, but right now we’re struggling,” Collins said. “We’re playing a lot of young kids that aren’t really ready for this level right now. And sometimes you’ve gotta take some lumps and go through it to figure things out.”
