Northwestern prepared for its 70-64 victory over Indiana on Saturday by not preparing.
Let’s explain: The Wildcats had such a short turnaround after beating Iowa on Thursday night that coach Bill Carmody scrapped Friday morning’s practice.
All his players did was watch tape and walk through assistant coach Mitch Henderson‘s scouting report for 15 minutes before boarding a bus to Bloomington, Ind.
“Didn’t even tape our ankles,” Carmody said. “If we can’t have two (days to prepare), we might as well not have any.”
Maybe the Wildcats should try the same for their Thursday game against Penn State. Because the way they have prepared against the Nittany Lions has not worked.
Since 2006, Penn State coach Ed DeChellis is 8-1 against Northwestern and 29-70 against the rest of the Big Ten. Add in the Big Ten tournament, and the disparity becomes even greater: 9-1 (.900) versus Northwestern, 30-75 (.286) against everyone else.
Asked why he has had NU’s number, DeChellis replied, “I don’t know about that. Do we have it?”
Just nine days ago, Penn State hammered the Wildcats 65-41 in State College, Pa.
“We play pretty well against them for some reason,” DeChellis said. “I wish I could come up with a reason, so I could translate it to a few other teams in the league.”
Carmody pointed to Penn State’s rebounding advantage. Over the last three meetings, Penn State has had an average edge of nearly nine per game.
“They have controlled the backboards,” Carmody said, “and gotten second and third shots against us.”
Northwestern (16-10, 6-9) ranks last in the league in rebounding margin, at minus-3.1 per game. Penn State (14-12, 7-8) is ninth at plus-1.2.
Up in arms: Carmody could have jumped on Luka Mirkovic when you consider how the NU center awoke Indiana’s sluggish fans. After draining a 3-pointer late in the first half, Mirkovic raised his arms as he jogged back on defense.
“Look at him right now,” Big Ten Network analyst Greg Kelser said on the broadcast. “Animated as he taunts this crowd! Are you kidding me?”
Indiana’s Tom Pritchard responded with a dunk and raised his arms to earn a standing ovation from some Hoosiers fans. Mirkovic went 0-for-3 the rest of the game.
Carmody told Mirkovic after the game — in front of the team — that he appreciates his heart and emotion.
“I don’t particularly enjoy seeing guys beat their chests all the time, but it takes different things to get different guys going,” he said. “Use your head, that’s all.”
Handiwork: Alex Marcotullio has been a different player since spraining his left thumb — a better player.
In the two games since, the sophomore shooting guard has scored 17 points (4 of 8 from 3-point range) and has six rebounds, five assists, three steals and no turnovers in 45 minutes.
Having his left thumb taped for games has not been a detriment.
“Who knows?” Carmody said. “Maybe it makes you zero in a little more. He faded at this time last season and got worn down. Now it seems his game is on the rise.”
