As the Wisconsin Badgers fell to the Purdue Boilermakers, 78-60, Wednesday night, the Northwestern Wildcats pulled off the biggest upset of the Big Ten season by beating the Indiana Hoosiers, 74-61, in Evanston. It was the Wildcats’ first conference win of the season and could prove to be fuel for the Wildcats fire to get out of the cellar of the conference.
Last season, the Wildcats were able to ride their home court advantage to a 5-1 record in Welsh Ryan arena down the stretch of conference play. The Wildcats finished the 2002 Big Ten season with a 7-9 record; turning their play up in the second half of the season with wins over Minnesota, Michigan State and Wisconsin,
The Badgers loss in Evanston last year came in the middle of a sour stretch in which UW lost three of four games on the road. A combined 37 points from the Wildcats’ Winston Blake and Tavaras Hardy torched the Badgers. Freddie Owens proved to be the only consistent scoring presence for the Badgers, scoring 20 points off the bench on 7-of-8 shooting.
Earlier this season the Badgers moved past the Wildcats, 69-50, at the Kohl Center. The Badgers used the opening eight minutes of the game to put the Wildcats away. UW got out to a 22-11 advantage shooting 80 percent from the floor to start the game. Devin Harris capped off the early rally with back-to-back steals that led to fast-break baskets by the sophomore.
But the Wildcats appear to be a different team at home after defeating Indiana, and after having five of their first seven games on the road to start the conference, Bill Carmody and company are looking to make their presence felt at home in the Big Ten.
“Tonight there was just a lot more energy,” Carmody said of his team after the Hoosier win. “[Early on] Indiana had a few open looks that they missed. And then we were able to dictate the game with our offense. It seemed that when we had to come up with a play, we came up with it.”
The Badgers can’t afford to start slowly like they did against the Boilermakers, as the quick guard combination of junior Jitim Young and freshman T.J. Parker were able to use the slow Hoosier start to dictate the pace of the game to their strengths. The Badgers, like all teams, are most effective when they dictate the pace of the game, and have seemed the most potent when they can establish their game from the start.
Parker has paced the Northwestern offensive at point guard this season, averaging 12.0 points on 50.9 percent shooting as well as 2.8 rebounds and 2.8 assists per contest. Young is leading the Wildcats in scoring, averaging 12.2 points per game along with 4.8 rebounds.
Underneath, the Wildcats are led by solid center Aaron Jennings, who is averaging 11.9 points and 4.9 rebounds per contest. Freshman Jimmy Maley and senior Jason Burke round out the Wildcat starting five, with forward/guard Blake providing versatility off the bench, chipping in 7.6 points per game.
The Badgers’ game against Northwestern reaches a pivotal point in the season, as Bo Ryan and company have a tough two game home stretch after their weekend trip to Evanston. With Michigan State and Indiana coming up, the Badgers must find a victory against Northwestern as not to fall off the top of the Big Ten standings. The Badgers are 3-4 in their last seven games at the Welsh Ryan arena since 1996.