Game Thread: Northwestern vs. Boston

[mshelton33]

Northwestern (2-0) hosts Boston University (2-0) tonight at Welsh-Ryan Arena. The game is set to tip at 7 pm CT and will air on BTN.

 

[EagerFan]

Nice dominance for the first 2:30 to time out!

 

[nu greek]

why is parking almost $50? This team isn't worth$5

 

[EagerFan]

After an excellent start, the Cats inability to defend lets BU hang around. Hopefully Coach gets them up and Cats blow the doors off.

So many blocked shots by BU.

it doesn’t seem the Cats have a role for Ekku in the offense and he hasn’t taken too much advantage of the few chances he’s had.

also, Jake seems off. Maybe he’s ill?

 

[EagerFan]

BU makes a run, Collins takes time out to inquire why his team doesn’t want to score or get rebounds.

 

[Hungry Jack]

Painful to watch our offense

 

[SDakaGordie]

Unfortunately, the longest whistle-free stretch of the game was when Kostic was in there. Wow is he bad.

 

[LawCat21]

I will never complain about a double digit win after being at the OT game against EIU two years ago.

We might have a solid backcourt including Phoenix’s emergence, and Gelo clearly got better, but the front court is miles away. Karasinski will help on offense, but they will get killed on the boards and by even decent low post players. Hopefully Smith can work himself into shape and help in that regard.

 

[Jonny2TheP]

Great to see Gill make a big step this year. He looked really lost out there in limited time last year. Shooting with a ton more confidence this year. Hope he can’t keep it up- could be a great scoring threat coming off the bench.

 

[SDakaGordie]

Our guards are really solid. West is All-Big caliber. Pratt will be up and down in league play as most NU guys are. Gill”s shot looks great. Ciaravino should focus on mid-range only. Hopefully we get Karasinski back next game.

Can we win with small-ball?

 

[No Chores]

Great to see Gill make a big step this year. He looked really lost out there in limited time last year. Shooting with a ton more confidence this year. Hope he can’t keep it up- could be a great scoring threat coming off the bench.

Offers another nice option at guard in case starting guards get in foul trouble which sort of happened tonight with West. However, IMHO, Smith and Soulis are mostly valueless.

 

[EagerFan]

Also, against these first teams, Gill has been solid on defense - he's been quite good at keeping his body in front of the ball handler and forcing them to pass out or take a bad shot.

I agree our best look is our guard platoon.

Smith has potential but so far he's a foul magnet.

All of our bigs are bad, I wouldn't single Soulis out. They don't have the mass to bang and they don't leave their feet for rebounds or blocks, nor do they go after rebounds. It's agonizing.

Tonight Boston guarded the line and the Cats were 23% from three. They knew they could lay off of Okku and Angelo and lock down the other three guys while their bigs controlled the rebounds. The good news for us was they had 19 turn overs (11 cats steals!), but it seems they stayed in the game with second and third chance opportunities and creating free throws shouldering into defenders unable to hold their ground.