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tBBC tBBC Pregame Glance: Northwestern Wildcats

Ken

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tBBC Pregame Glance: Northwestern Wildcats
Ken
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Coach Collins wants you to simmer down

(Image Courtesy of collegebasketball.ap.org)

Ohio State (10-5, 2-0) hits the road this evening to take on resurgent Northwestern (13-2, 1-1) at Welsh-Ryan Arena. Thad Matta’s Buckeyes are coming off a 75-73 win over Illinois while Chis Collins’ Wildcats dropped a game to Maryland (no shame there) 72-59.

Let’s start by taking a look at some team comparisons.

PPG-O PPG-D RPG FG% 3PT% FT%
Ohio State 72 63 39 45.6% 33.8% 66.5%
Northwestern 78 65 39 48.0% 37.6% 69.1%

So, what do we have? At first glance, there is really not much to separate these teams, since it is fairly early in the B1G) season. Northwestern is a bit better shooting team and, surprisingly, not that much better at the free throw line than Ohio State. Rebounding is the same, no edge to either team. One difference, which I didn’t put in the table, is that Northwestern commits 3 fewer turnovers per game than Ohio State. That could be worth 1-2 points. At this stage in the season, I’m not comfortable conceding any points to an opponent. Vegas has Northwestern at -2, so maybe they are thinking the same thing that I am.



Northwestern

The Wildcats bring substantial experience to the court. They (likely) will start 2 seniors (Demps, Olah) and a RS-junior (Lumpkin) against Ohio State. The one significant gap in their lineup is the absence of forward Vic Law. The 6’8″ forward has been lost to the season due to a torn labrum. Last season, Law averaged 7 points and 5 rebounds per game, but his absence goes a bit beyond those numbers.

Here are the Wildcats, likely starter in bold:

Nbr Name Pos MPG FG% 3PT% FT% RPG APG PPG
14 Tre Demps G 36.4 39.4% 32.2% 67.6% 3.5 3.9 14.9
22 Alex Olah C 26.8 59.8% 30.0% 72.3% 6.5 1.2 12.8
30 Bryant McIntosh G 34.7 48.3% 41.0% 86.3% 3.3 7.1 15.9
34 Sanjay Lumpkin G/F 25.3 50.9% 36.4% 72.7% 6 1.5 5.2
35 Aaron Falzon F 23.0 41.6% 38.1% 69.2% 3.3 0.9 8.9
5 Dererk Pardon C 25.0 81.8% 0.0% 54.5% 7.3 0.3 14
20 Scottie Lindsey G/F 19.3 46.4% 44.2% 70.6% 2.7 1.7 7.5
32 Nathan Taphorn F 12.2 45.6% 40.0% 80.0% 2.6 0.9 5.6
1 Joey van Zegeren C 13.9 62.1% 0.0% 39.4% 3.9 0.3 4.5
44 Gavin Skelly F 13.5 62.5% 0.0% 72.7% 3.6 0.6 3.5
23 Jordan Ash G 6.4 44.4% 33.3% 50.0% 0.6 0.9 1.6
10 Charlie Hall F 1.6 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0 0 0
4 Vic Law F


The Wildcats run a 2G/2F/1C lineup, their stats above. We should be familiar with their lineup by now; the Wildcats are led by RS-sr guard Trey Demps (6’3″), sr Alex Olah (7’0″) and r-jr forward Sanjay Lumpkin (6’6″). The “youngsters” of sophomore guard Bryant McIntosh (6’3″) and freshman forward Aaron Falzone (6’8″) round out their starting five. Coach Collins has ten players averaging double digits in court time, so expect to see a steady wave of Wildcats.

Northwestern’s two losses have been to North Carolina and Maryland, so their losses have been against some very top flight opponents. Granted, they haven’t played a challenging schedule to date, but a win is a win. The point is, Coach Collins has this team playing good basketball with a lot of confidence in themselves. Sometimes, those are the critical parts to a team’s success.



Ohio State

As expected with a young, inexperienced team, Ohio State has been a bit “streaky” this season. In late November they experienced a four game losing streak, but are now on a six game winning streak. Maybe this team is starting to “get it”, but riding a winning streak is a good way to roll into conference play, particularly with so many good teams in the B1G.

And, for the Buckeyes:

Nbr Player Pos MPG FG% 3FG% FT% RPG APG PPG
2 Marc Loving F 34.1 44.4% 36.6% 77.6% 5.9 1.5 15.2
33 Kieta Bates-Diop F 32.3 46.2% 33.3% 79.2% 6.5 1.5 12.9
1 Jae’Sean Tate F 27.9 51.6% 34.6% 51.1% 6.7 1.4 11.0
13 JaQuan Lyle G 27.8 38.4% 25.5% 61.2% 3.6 4.9 9.2
32 Trevor Thompson C 16.6 55.4% 0.0% 80.6% 4.7 0.2 5.8
15 Kam Williams G 17.9 48.7% 42.5% 75.0% 1.9 1.0 6.5
4 Daniel Giddens C 19.7 50.9% 0.0% 40.0% 4.5 0.4 5.1
0 Mickey Mitchell F 8.0 40.0% 0.0% 57.1% 2.5 0.1 2.0
10 David Bell F 7.7 57.1% 0.0% 72.2% 2.1 0.1 2.1
12 A.J. Harris G 12.5 31.3% 29.4% 58.3% 1.1 1.7 2.1
14 Joey Lane G 2.0 20.0% 20.0% 50.0% 0.0 0.0 1.0

There isn’t much I can ell you that, if you’ve been following this team, you don’t already know. This appears to be a young team that may be “finding” itself.. I do want to say, without casting dispersions, I think this team is better off with Mickey Mitchell in the rotation than Austin Grandstaff. Mitchell brings a physical presence that Grandstaff couldn’t. They are players with completely different playing styles. I believe this team needs the Mitchell style right now.

Tip-off is scheduled for 9:00 PM ET at Welsh-Ryan Arena. With Northwestern off to a very good start this season, there could be a lively crowd in Evanston. The game will be televised on BTN, can be followed on Gametracker and heard on 97.1.

The post tBBC Pregame Glance: Northwestern Wildcats appeared first on The Buckeye Battle Cry: Ohio State News and Commentary.

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