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Northwestern

R

RUich

All-Conference
Aug 2, 2001
13,552
4,003
0
If you only look at the relative league records of the two teams, one would expect RU to be a heavy favorite. But, NW has really played a lot better than that record would indicate. The one big factor I can see giving us a chance here is that they are only 6-5 at home and a lot of those losses are BIG games. Of course, we are one of the worst league teams on the road and you cannot ignore that either.
Maybe this come from behind win at Nebby will inspire these guys to higher ground? What are the chances that Harper and Geo will shoot so poorly again?
Hard to believe with how lousy we have looked lately that we are still where we are. This game is another gut check to stay in this thing.
 
G

goru7

All-American
Dec 12, 2005
6,432
7,710
113
RUich said:
If you only look at the relative league records of the two teams, one would expect RU to be a heavy favorite. But, NW has really played a lot better than that record would indicate. The one big factor I can see giving us a chance here is that they are only 6-5 at home and a lot of those losses are BIG games. Of course, we are one of the worst league teams on the road and you cannot ignore that either.
Maybe this come from behind win at Nebby will inspire these guys to higher ground? What are the chances that Harper and Geo will shoot so poorly again?
Hard to believe with how lousy we have looked lately that we are still where we are. This game is another gut check to stay in this thing.
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Do not know how much of Northwestern you have watched? They literally could have another 3-5 more wins in conference. Besides that game yesterday , they are like us , getting screwed by the refs a lot. Key play in the game after they took a late 4-6 point lead against Illinois , the refs missed a clear double dribble and Illinois scored whereas a stop there and game was probably over. Against MSU in the game they won , the refs literally calkedc3 phantom fouls to give MSU another chance to win. . They lost to Maryland in double overtime and have played the schedule we are about to embark on, MSU 2x and won 1, Wisconsin, Ohio State , Purdue and Michigan. Lots of 2-6 point losses that could have been wins. They have played consistently well this year unlike us ( no consistency ). So do not look at their 9-10 overall record , we will have to play well to win and it will be a dogfight even then.
The good news is we have 8 straight Quad 1 games to make our case immediately thereafter starting with the 2 game homestand against MSU and Ohio State.
 
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M

Mr. Magoo1

Heisman
Nov 15, 2001
15,473
16,321
113
goru7 said:
Do not know how much of Northwestern you have watched? They literally could have another 3-5 more wins in conference. Besides that game yesterday , they are like us , getting screwed by the refs a lot. Key play in the game after they took a late 4-6 point lead against Illinois , the refs missed a clear double dribble and Illinois scored whereas a stop there and game was probably over. Against MSU in the game they won , the refs literally calkedc3 phantom fouls to give MSU another chance to win. . They lost to Maryland in double overtime and have played the schedule we are about to embark on, MSU 2x and won 1, Wisconsin, Ohio State , Purdue and Michigan. Lots of 2-6 point losses that could have been wins. They have played consistently well this year unlike us ( no consistency ). So do not look at their 9-10 overall record , we will have to play well to win and it will be a dogfight even then.
The good news is we have 8 straight Quad 1 games to make our case immediately thereafter starting with the 2 game homestand against MSU and Ohio State.
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NW is definitely better than their record..and much better than Nebraska. Can you imagine us beating Michigan State on the road?…they didn’t even have Nance for that game.
 
R

RUJMM78

Heisman
Jul 25, 2001
26,213
12,474
113
Mr Magoo said:
NW is definitely better than their record..and much better than Nebraska. Can you imagine us beating Michigan State on the road?…they didn’t even have Nance for that game.
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They have difficulty closing out games with the lead.Northwestern has averaged more than 75 points a game but only scored 56 points against Illinois at home.
 
R

RUich

All-Conference
Aug 2, 2001
13,552
4,003
0
We have not done a good job at stopping top players lately (ie Minn and Neb). Have to make them have other players step up and see what happens. Our defense in the late part of last night's game was outstanding. Need to see a lot more of it if we want a win.
 
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goru7

All-American
Dec 12, 2005
6,432
7,710
113
Mr Magoo said:
NW is definitely better than their record..and much better than Nebraska. Can you imagine us beating Michigan State on the road?…they didn’t even have Nance for that game.
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Stop looking at our worst level of play and making a statement like “ Can you Imagine “. When we went on the 4 game win streak , sharing the ball , over 20 assists a game , hitting the open man and hitting our shots , propelling us to # 1 from 3 point range in the conference for a while , we would have beat Michigan State home or away. We have to get back to playing that way to even have a chance to beat MSU at home. We are capable and we have seen it just 2-3 weeks ago . Somehow have to get more consistency out of all our players 20 games in, which hasn’t occurred yet and is frustrating.
 
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M

Mr. Magoo1

Heisman
Nov 15, 2001
15,473
16,321
113
goru7 said:
Stop looking at our worst level of play and making a statement like “ Can you Imagine “. When we went on the 4 game win streak , sharing the ball , over 20 assists a game , hitting the open man and hitting our shots , propelling us to # 1 from 3 point range in the conference for a while , we would have beat Michigan State home or away. We have to get back to playing that way to even have a chance to beat MSU at home. We are capable and we have seen it just 2-3 weeks ago . Somehow have to get more consistency out of all our players 20 games in, which hasn’t occurred yet and is frustrating.
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Believe what you want. No way do I believe this group has the mental toughness to win at MSU.
 
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MadRU

MadRU

Heisman
Jul 26, 2001
38,253
19,538
98
Northwestern has more scoring options than we do. Need Ron and Geo to both be good and will need contributions from several others. Need to play our A game on the road.
 
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S

Scangg

Heisman
Mar 19, 2016
25,448
49,369
113
The good news is we only need to play one good road game to win at both Nebraska and NW. We got away with a win playing pretty poorly
 
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GoodOl'Rutgers

Heisman
Sep 11, 2006
123,974
19,586
0
One bad sign is that the Penn STate story leading into our game was all their close losses.. and the refs gave them that win at home much like they tried to give the Huskers a win.

So, yeah, I expect the refs will give Northwestern some home cooking but I hope I am made to look the fool for suggesting that.
 
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S

SirPerceval

All-Conference
Jul 27, 2001
6,167
3,022
78
Mr_Twister said:
As of today, Rutgers is one of 9 Big Ten hoops teams with 2 or less road wins. Our road concerns are always overstated. Most Big Ten teams have difficulty on the road.
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But our road schedule has been light, other than Illinois... PSU, Neb, Minn, Md - that's 10th, 11th, 12th and 14th placed teams right now.
 
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R

RRRRUUUU

All-Conference
Nov 19, 2005
2,388
2,023
63
Northwestern is a lot better than their record. See who their losses are to put that into perspective. Almost beat Illinois.
 
R

RUChoppin

Heisman
Dec 1, 2006
19,270
13,695
0
Interesting size comparisons for their rotation vs. ours. They have short guards and big bigs, and not much in-between..... where most of our guys are in that in-between range.

Their rotation in conference play (min/g totals are high because of OT games and players missing games):
Starters
32.2 min - Boo Buie, 6-2, 180
30.0 min - Pete Nance, 6-10, 225
27.9 min - Chase Audige, 6-4, 200
24.1 min - Robbie Beran, 6-9, 215
21.7 min - Ty Berry, 6-2, 190

Bench
19.0 min - Julian Roper, 6-3, 180
18.5 min - Ryan Young, 6-10, 245
18.0 min - Ryan Greer, 6-2, 190
12.8 min - Elyjah Williams, 6-7, 220
7.2 min - Casey Simmons, 6-6, 180

Nance/Beran are their starters, but looks like Young will also come in for Beran alongside Nance to go bigger.

I'm guessing we'll see:
Baker on Buie
Mulcahy on Berry
McConnell on Audige
Harper on Beran
Omoruyi on Nance
 
DirtyRU

DirtyRU

All-American
Nov 16, 2002
6,514
6,089
113
Didn't Caleb and Audige get into it last year if I recall correctly? Could get interesting, ha.
 
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Mr_Twister

All-American
Apr 1, 2004
15,684
5,819
0
SirPerceval said:
But our road schedule has been light, other than Illinois... PSU, Neb, Minn, Md - that's 10th, 11th, 12th and 14th placed teams right now.
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Winning road games is very tough for the majority of Big Ten teams, year-in, year-out. Period.
 
M

motorb54

All-Conference
Dec 22, 2005
10,065
4,437
113
A loss at Northwestern and we would have losses from 4 of the bottom 5.
Penn State, Maryland, Minnesota, NW, and Nebraska are the current bottom 5.
 
MadRU

MadRU

Heisman
Jul 26, 2001
38,253
19,538
98
Audige is the biggest whiner in the B1G, good player but annoying. The type of player opposing teams love to hate.
 
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R

RUPete

Heisman
Feb 5, 2003
26,841
16,113
0
They have some talent on that team. I caught their MSU and Illinois games and they looked good. We really need to play a solid game in all facets and have Ron get back to being Ron again.
 
R

RUPete

Heisman
Feb 5, 2003
26,841
16,113
0
MadRU said:
Audige is the biggest whiner in the B1G, good player but annoying. The type of player opposing teams love to hate.
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UM's Diabate may be ready to carry that torch now. I saw him getting into it with a few MSU players toward the end of that game on Saturday. And of course, there was the spectacle after our game.
 
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RUBOB72

All-American
Aug 5, 2004
23,385
7,924
0
I think we keep it close but fade in the 2 nd half with 8 + minutes remaining. I would love to be wrong here but NW is not a bad team and I have watched 3-4 of their games this season.
 
G

GoodOl'Rutgers

Heisman
Sep 11, 2006
123,974
19,586
0
SantaFeScarlet said:
He deserves to start
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off one great game in limited minutes?

maybe if you believe in such volatility in the starting lineup. Maybe if I am Pike I bring in Caleb for a heart-to-heart and give him the RED light on shooting like others might get a green light. If he takes that well and can do it for a half.. I think he'd show he got the message and then the red light can be lifted. If he takes it very poorly bring him in off the bench and start Mag. If Caleb brought up his assists and took fewer shots and increased his shooting percentage we couldn't even entertain this idea. His quick trigger and bad shooting is exactly why people were screaming to bench Mulcahy in the early season.
 
LeapinLou

LeapinLou

All-American
Jul 24, 2001
13,178
6,870
113
RUBOB72 said:
I think we keep it close but fade in the 2 nd half with 8 + minutes remaining. I would love to be wrong here but NW is not a bad team and I have watched 3-4 of their games this season.
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I feel the opposite. We'll stink for 30 minutes and then the comeback will fall short. Honestly, if this game is tied with 5 minutes left, I'd be shocked if we lost. As Bac has pointed out, Northwestern is a good team that has trouble closing. Even in their win at MSU, they didn't do anything heroic in the end, other than survive the refs blatant attempts to hand the game to MSU.
 
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