The 'Cats are close, can NU get over the hump? Observations from Northwestern's loss to No. 8 Nebraska

It’s hard to stop a great team. Make no mistake, No. 8 Nebraska is great.

Northwestern had its chances, but seizing the moment against a great team is difficult to do. The inexperienced Wildcats against the 18–0 Huskers with multiple fifth-year players was too much to overtime.

Here are our takeaways from Northwestern’s fifth loss in a row.

The ‘Cats are close

In the first half, there were seven lead changes. Northwestern was right in the mix.

Even coming out of halftime after Nebraska blitzed the ‘Cats with a 7-0 run, Northwestern cut the Huskers’ lead back to just five. 

The Wildcats were right there.

They just can’t get over that hump.

There are times when it feels like Northwestern is waiting for the other team to do itself in. Nebraska is not a team that will beat itself. Neither was Illinois.

In those moments when the game is close and momentum is at a tipping point, Northwestern just needs someone to emerge. Nick Martinelli will get his points. But, teams have found ways to deny him looks in key moments. 

"I thought our double teams were more crisp," Nebraska coach Fred Hoiberg said. "I thought we contested. We talked about making a team shoot through the goalposts, and I thought we did a solid job of that in the second half."

There needs to be another player whom Northwestern can turn to.

On Wednesday, Jayden Reid led all Northwestern players with 24 points. He had seven points on Saturday but had four turnovers. Arrinten Page, who emerged at times alongside Martinelli, played just nine minutes against Nebraska. Max Green was brought to Evanston as an offensive sparkplug, but he hasn’t been consistent enough, too.

But, it doesn’t come down to execution as much as it comes down to mental fortitude.

After the Illinois game, NU coach Chris Collins said he felt like the ‘Cats were close to breaking through. They just need something to help push them over the hump.

Collins pointed to his team needing to toughen up in a certain way.

"It’s not physical toughness," Collins said. "It's a mental toughness, right? Everyone's getting a little tired. All teams are playing really hard and we just seem to break down in those moments. And if I knew the answer, you know, I think we probably would've fixed it. But, you try to continue to talk to these guys about those moments and fighting through toughness and fighting through some adversity and a little bit of fatigue in the game. It's really been our downfall and it's why the record is where it is."

Nebraska: as good as advertised

When Northwestern cut the lead to five, Sam Hoiberg calmly got to the line for free throws while Pryce Sandfort and Braden Frager hit big shots. By the time Northwestern looked back up, Nebraska had a 19-point lead after a 17-3 run.

There wasn’t much that Nebraska does that’s outlandish or extraordinary. They just do the technical things at a high level.

Page and freshman guard Jake West got rotated onto mismatches multiple times. That’s a weakness Northwestern has yet to solve, and the Huskers consistently made the ‘Cats pay for it.

When Nebraska needed a bucket, they got multiple. They worked the offense into great looks, ending in high-percentage shots.

When that momentum rolled for the Huskers, Sandfort and Frager were there with big 3-point splashes that basically closed the door on this game at the under-four timeout. If Sandford and Frager couldn’t get those buckets, the Huskers had all confidence in Rienk Mask to make the right plays. In fact, Sandfort and Frager’s outings meant Mast didn’t need to play a 30-minute game. He was able to rest for another game where Nebraska might need his size and playmaking.

It helps to have a floor general who has no panic when adversity hits. Sam Hoiberg is that player, who doesn't score in bunches but gets his hands dirty everywhere else on the floor. The guard leads the Huskers in defensive rebounding.

"If he was 6-8, he'd be Dennis Rodman," Fred Hoiberg said.

Fred Hoiberg was so frustrated during last year’s Nebraska-Northwestern game at Welsh-Ryan Arena that he cracked his whiteboard in half and split his hand open. This year, all whiteboards were safe and accounted for.

One positive: Tre Singleton

Something that goes unnoticed in the ‘Cats blowout loss was freshman Tre Singleton.

He had 14 points and played good defense in the loss. It felt like there were moments when it was clear he was growing up and into the player Northwestern envisions him to be.

There’s more to go. He had a flagrant foul near the end of the game and also had two bad turnovers, which is not something you can do against teams like Nebraska that can make you pay.

He played well. In a year where one of the major challenges was finding ways to get the younger players to grow up on the fly, Singleton took a step forward on Saturday against a tough team.

There are plenty more steps to go for Singleton. He needs to be quicker and it would be good to see him get to the basket more with his size. But, he has multiple years to work with Chris Collins on all aspects of his game.

Experiences in games against teams like Nebraska will only help him be better.

"For a guy like Trey to play against these teams and see what it takes and hopefully learn game by game, and then the goal is to continue to get better," Collins said. "You want to be at the end of the year where you feel like you're growing from these games and learning from these games and understanding what it takes to … be there night in and night out as an impact player."

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