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    Northwestern at Indiana: Live discussion thread

    Owen GrahamBy IU Basketball 31 Comments
    photo credit - IU Athletics

    Game Day Essentials:

    Northwestern (17-8, 8-6) at Indiana (14-10, 6-7)

    • Tip Time: 3:00 p.m. Eastern, Sunday
    • Location: Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall (17,222), Bloomington, Ind.
    • Television: FS1 (Brandon Gaudin, LaPhonso Ellis)
    • Stream:  Fox Sports
    • IU Radio Network: IU Radio Network
    • Point Spread: Indiana is around a 1.5 point favorite.
    • KenPom Projected Score: No. 97 Indiana 71 – No. 47 Northwestern 72
    • Series History: Indiana leads, 120-55.

    Additional Game Coverage

    Northwestern’s Chris Collins

    Chris Collins is in his 11th season as head coach of the Northwestern Men’s Basketball program. Across those seasons, Collins has a record of 173-170, with a 76-127 record in the Big Ten.

    Although the overall record isn’t appealing, Collins is coming off one of his best seasons, leading Northwestern to a 23-12 overall record with a 12-8 record in conference. Collins’s turnaround from the previous season’s 15-16 record was good enough to earn himself the Big Ten Coach of the Year in 2023. Collins was also recognized as the Jim Phelan award winner in 2023, which recognizes the most outstanding coach in Division I basketball.

    Collins began his coaching career in the WNBA as an assistant with the Detroit Shock for one season in 1998. The following year he would become an assistant at Seton Hall for two seasons. In 2000, Collins would return to his alma mater Duke to be an assistant under Mike Krzyzewski until 2013. Collins would officially be hired at Northwestern in the spring of 2013.

    Northwestern’s results and roster

    DATE OPPONENT LOCATION RESULT
    11/6/2023 Binghamton Evanston, Ill. W 72-61
    11/10/2023 Dayton Evanston, Ill. W 71-66
    11/14/2023 Western Michigan Evanston, Ill. W 63-59
    11/18/2023 vs. Rhode Island (Hall of Fame Tip Off) Uncasville, Conn. W 72-61
    11/19/2023 vs. Mississippi State (Hall of Fame Tip Off) Uncasville, Conn. L 57-66
    11/27/2023 Northern Illinois Evanston, Ill. W 89-67
    12/1/2023 #1 Purdue Evanston, Ill. W 92-88 OT
    12/10/2023 Detroit Mercy Evanston, Ill. W 91-59
    12/13/2023 Chicago State Evanston, Ill. L 73-75
    12/16/2023 at Depaul Chicago, Ill. W 56-46
    12/20/2023 vs. Arizona State Phoenix, Ariz. W 65-46
    12/29/2023 Jackson State Evanston, Ill. W 74-63
    1/2/2024 at #9 Illinois Champaign, Ill. L 66-96
    1/7/2024 Michigan State Evanston, Ill. W 88-74
    1/10/2024 at Penn State University Park, Pa. W 76-72
    1/13/2024 at #15 Wisconsin Madison, Wis. L 63-71
    1/17/2024 Maryland Evanston, Ill. W 72-69
    1/20/2024 at Nebraska Lincoln, Neb. L 69-75
    1/24/2024 #10 Illinois Evanston, Ill. W 96-91 OT
    1/27/2024 Ohio State Evanston, Ill. W 83-58
    1/31/2024 at #2 Purdue West Lafayette, Ind. L 96-105 OT
    2/3/2024 at Minnesota Minneapolis, Minn. L 66-75 OT
    2/7/2024 Nebraska Evanston, Ill. W 80-68
    2/11/2024 Penn State Evanston, Ill. W 68-63
    2/15/2024 at Rutgers Piscataway, N.J. L 60-63

    Northwestern’s game notes (via Northwestern Athletics)

    GIMME THAT

    • NU’s 7.4 steals per game rank 3rd in the B1G. Brooks Barnhizer (1.9, 3rd), Boo Buie (1.4, 10th) and Ty Berry (1.4, 14th) rank among the Big Ten’s leaders. Last season, Northwestern ranked second in the Big Ten forcing 7.9 steals per game, and set the single-season program record by recording 267 total thefts.

    BOO BACK

    • Graduate guard Boo Buie returns for his fifth season in Evanston in 2023-24, and heading into this season was named Preseason All-Big Ten, Preseason All-American and garnered NABC Division I Player of the Year and Bob Cousy Award Watch List recognition.
    • Buie was named Big Ten Player of the Week for the third time in his career on Dec. 4, averaging 27.0 points, 8.0 assists, 3.0 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game in wins over NIU and Purdue. He won his second Big Ten Player of the Week award on Jan. 29, averaging 24.0 points and 5.0 assists in wins over No. 10 Illinois and Ohio State.
    • Buie is 2nd in the school’s career scoring record book with 2,020 career points, passing Drew Crawford (2010-14) at Purdue (Jan. 31). Buie is the only player in program history with career marks of at least 1,800 points and 500 assists. He has recorded five games of 15+ points and 8+ assists, tied for 2nd in the country. He is just 18 points away from tying John Shurna for the school’s career record.

    LET BROOKS COOK

    • After an expanded role late last season, junior guard Brooks Barnhizer has continued on his upward trajectory in 2023-24.
    • Barnhizer is averaging 14.3 points per game (2nd on the team, 18th in B1G), a team-best 7.0 rebounds per game (10th in the B1G) and 1,9 steals per game, which leads the team and ranks 4th in the B1G in his first season starting for the Wildcats. His 7.0 rebounds per game lead the league among guards.

    BORG BUCKETS

    • Princeton transfer guard Ryan Langborg has provided an offensive spark to the Wildcats this season, after leading the Tigers to an NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 appearance last year.
    • Langborg reached the 1,000 career-point mark by tallying 12 points at Nebraska (Jan. 20). He is averaging 2.1 made 3-pointers per game this season, which ranks 8th in the Big Ten.

    SCORING ‘CATS

    • Northwestern is averaging 74.3 points per game this season. If the mark holds for the season, it would be Northwestern’s second-highest scoring output in the last 50 seasons. The 2020-21 team averaged 73.0 points and the 1989-90 team averaged 78.2 points per game.

    Northwestern’s KenPom notable numbers:

    (out of 362 teams)

    Tempo – No. 326 (Offense No. 305 / Defense No. 309)

    Offensive Efficiency – No. 35

    • Northwestern holds a 53.5 effective field goal percentage on the season so far, coming in at No. 55. The Wildcats are shooting 39.4 percent from three (No. 6) and 50.2 percent from two (No. 188).
    • The Wildcats are finding a lot of production from beyond the arc on the year so far, with 34.1 percent of their point total coming from three (No. 75).
    • Northwestern also takes good care of the ball on offense. Their turnover percentage sits at 14.0 percent (No. 16).
    • An area of struggle has been second-chance points, as the Wildcats get offensive rebounds at only a 25.8 percent rate (No. 289).  They also don’t get to the free throw line much, with free throw attempts making up just 29.1 percent of field goal attempts (No. 280).

    Defensive Efficiency – No. 80

    • Opponents have an effective field goal percentage of 51.6 percent on the season against the Wildcats (No. 246). Teams are shooting 35.9 percent from three (No. 311) and 50.2 percent from two (No. 181).
    • Northwestern forces a good percentage of steals with an 11.2 percent rate (No. 58) and a 19.9 percent rate on all turnovers (No. 44).
    • The Wildcats give up a lot of opportunities at the free throw line. Opponents are attempting free throws at a 41.4 percent rate per field goal attempt (No. 331).

    Extras

    • Northwestern likes to get production from starters, as 22.9 percent of their minutes come off the bench (No. 338).
    • Both Boo Buie and Brooks Barnhizer rank top-30 in the nation in percentage of minutes played.
    • Buie also ranks 74th in assist rate and 140th in 3pt percentage.

    For complete coverage of IU basketball, GO HERE.    

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