It was like one of those “Rocky” movies in which the hero is incessantly battered and bloodied but keeps coming out of his corner round after round to put up a fight.
Northwestern was like the fictional Rocky on Wednesday night at Welsh-Ryan Arena as the Wildcats hit Minnesota with their best shots — making 52.8 percent of them — but they were defenseless in a 92-72 defeat.
Hammered on the inside by Spencer Tollackson and walloped from beyond the three-point line by Jamal Abu-Shamala, Blake Hoffbarber and Lawrence McKenzie, the Wildcats (7-13, 0-9 Big Ten) also took a terrible beating on the backboards, surrendering 38 rebounds while getting only 17. The rebounding disparity was most pronounced in the first half when the differential was 22-5 as Gophers guard Lawrence Westbrook’s seven surpassed NU’s team total.
“Tollackson really hurt us in the beginning,” Northwestern coach Bill Carmody said. “He had his way with us. Their shooters started getting open looks because of the strength he had inside.
“Usually a 1-3-1 zone can help neutralize post guys. We lost Tim Doyle and Vince Scott (through graduation). How did our defense change so much? I don’t understand it. We’ve tried a bunch of stuff defensively, and nothing seems to work. We have to do something about it, whether it’s going man-to-man or pressing and falling back into something.”
Michael Thompson, the 5-foot-10-inch freshman point guard who often had to front the 6-9 senior hulk Tollackson, had the best explanation for what is most responsible for the Wildcats’ woes: “We don’t have a 6-10 guy who can rebound.”
The Gophers (14-7, 4-5) had six players in double figures as they broke out of a slump in which they’d lost four of their previous five games.
Tollackson made all seven of his shots and all five of his free throws in leading the onslaught with 19 points as the Gophers made 56.9 percent of their shots.
Minnesota took over the game late in the first half with a 13-2 run and a 47-33 advantage at intermission.
NU forward Kevin Coble, with 22 points; Thompson, with 19 points and seven assists; and fellow guard Craig Moore, with 19 points and five assists were outstanding in both halves. But the only offensive help they got was from reserve guard Jeremy Nash, who made all three of his field goals and both of his free throws in scoring eight points in 18 minutes.
“We’re executing our offense and scoring enough,” Coble said. “Tell me before the game that we would shoot [almost] 53 percent and force 15 turnovers and I’d have said, ‘We’ll win.'”
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nmilbert@tribune.com
