Northwestern University Athletics
The Skip Report: Minnesota Report
2/24/2020 5:05:00 PM | Men's Basketball
By Skip Myslenski
NUsports.com
Four things (and the word) on Sunday's matinee at Welsh-Ryan between the Northwestern and Minnesota …
1. The 'Cats took a 4-3 lead in this one on a Ryan Young layup at 18:22, but lost it 21 seconds later when Gophers star Daniel Oturu dropped a pair of foul shots. NU regained it on another Young basket from the blocks at 17:33, but lost it again 27 seconds later when Oturu buried a three from the left wing. The 'Cats would never lead again.
"Today was not one of our finer days, to say the least," Chris Collins said in the postgame press conference.
"Certainly disappointed in how we played," Collins said. "Our staff takes total responsibility for it. I've got to do a better job of having our guys ready. It's that point in the season where you've got to be ready to compete at a high level … Our habits were very poor today. We didn't guard the ball well. Our pick-and-roll coverages were poor. We weren't in our help spots. We've got to get better on the defensive end. We've got to rebound it better. Then I feel the offense with take care of itself. The offense will play better if you're connected on the other end and doing those other things well."
2. Richard Pitino, the Gophers' coach, is heavily reliant on a pair of sophomores, and so he later empathized with the plight of the young-and-callow 'Cats. "Chris is understanding that they're young and he's sticking to the process," Pitino said. "They're going through it. Every team that's young in this league goes through it at some time."
"It's not fun when you're going through it," Collins said when asked about Pitino's observation. "But the reality is, especially in this year's Big Ten, which is really strong … there's a process you have to go through to learn how to win. It's not fun when you're doing it. We're all competitive. We all want it to happen right now. But the reality is we're learning a lot of lessons because we're playing very good teams. If you're not ready to play at a high level you get exposed, like today. We got exposed today. There have been times when we've played at a high level, and we've played well and haven't quite closed the deal. But we've had three or four as well where you just get outclassed and a team's ready to play and they let you have it. We've got to stick together. I do think we have the talent to be good in time. Hopefully experiences like this can make you stronger and more determined to do the things you need to do to win."
3. Illinois suffered these kinds of experiences recently, as did Rutgers and Penn State, but this season they are among the Big Ten's best. These are the kinds of examples Collins points to while shepherding his team through the process. "They're emerging as contenders because they've gone through it," Collins said Sunday. "They've been stronger from it and gotten better. We went through it ourselves a few years ago. You can't let it kill you. Days like today, you've got to let it burn, you've got to hurt. But then the next day you've got to get to work. That's all I've ever really known how to do. No one's going to abort the mission. We knew we had a really young team, but still we're going to try to compete. Nobody cares that we have a young team. At the end of the day, sometimes days like this happen. It's definitely no fun to go through. But it can be part of the process if we handle it the right way."
"There's no doubt it sucks," Young said minutes later. "But I don't think anybody feels sorry for us out there. Obviously, that's an easy hole to fall into. But that's not something we're going to do and think that people feel bad for us because we're young or whatever excuse you want to make. People don't feel sorry for us. So what I've done and a lot of us do is rely on each other. There's been a lot of struggles, but we're still a family, and we still rely on each other for that kind of energy. A lot of us feed off each other for that."
"At the end of the day," the first-year forward Robbie Beran added, "we're the only ones who know what it is and how we're going through it together. We look at that, and just rally around each other."
4. They, in fact, are not the only ones who know what it's like to be part of a young team on a long losing streak. Their assistant director of operations, Bryant McIntosh, knows it as well, experienced it as well back when he was the 'Cats first-year point as they slogged through their own 10-game losing streak five winters ago. "What B Mac emphasizes, there's bright spots in our game," Young said when asked about using McIntosh as a resource. "We've shown that we can play with anybody in the league. There's potential. Yeah, we're a young group. But we can compete with anybody. That's the way I feel, so it's building on that."
"I think we've shown we can compete at the highest level," Beran finally said. "It's just a matter of putting 40 minutes together. Not 37, 35, 38-and-a-half. So I don't think there's any confidence issues."
AND THE FINAL WORD, from Collins: "Nobody's tapping out. Days like this are not fun. We got beat down today by a good team. We've got to get better and we've got to learn from it and we've got to try to find a way Thursday (when they host Illinois)."
NUsports.com
Four things (and the word) on Sunday's matinee at Welsh-Ryan between the Northwestern and Minnesota …
1. The 'Cats took a 4-3 lead in this one on a Ryan Young layup at 18:22, but lost it 21 seconds later when Gophers star Daniel Oturu dropped a pair of foul shots. NU regained it on another Young basket from the blocks at 17:33, but lost it again 27 seconds later when Oturu buried a three from the left wing. The 'Cats would never lead again.
"Today was not one of our finer days, to say the least," Chris Collins said in the postgame press conference.
"Certainly disappointed in how we played," Collins said. "Our staff takes total responsibility for it. I've got to do a better job of having our guys ready. It's that point in the season where you've got to be ready to compete at a high level … Our habits were very poor today. We didn't guard the ball well. Our pick-and-roll coverages were poor. We weren't in our help spots. We've got to get better on the defensive end. We've got to rebound it better. Then I feel the offense with take care of itself. The offense will play better if you're connected on the other end and doing those other things well."
2. Richard Pitino, the Gophers' coach, is heavily reliant on a pair of sophomores, and so he later empathized with the plight of the young-and-callow 'Cats. "Chris is understanding that they're young and he's sticking to the process," Pitino said. "They're going through it. Every team that's young in this league goes through it at some time."
"It's not fun when you're going through it," Collins said when asked about Pitino's observation. "But the reality is, especially in this year's Big Ten, which is really strong … there's a process you have to go through to learn how to win. It's not fun when you're doing it. We're all competitive. We all want it to happen right now. But the reality is we're learning a lot of lessons because we're playing very good teams. If you're not ready to play at a high level you get exposed, like today. We got exposed today. There have been times when we've played at a high level, and we've played well and haven't quite closed the deal. But we've had three or four as well where you just get outclassed and a team's ready to play and they let you have it. We've got to stick together. I do think we have the talent to be good in time. Hopefully experiences like this can make you stronger and more determined to do the things you need to do to win."
3. Illinois suffered these kinds of experiences recently, as did Rutgers and Penn State, but this season they are among the Big Ten's best. These are the kinds of examples Collins points to while shepherding his team through the process. "They're emerging as contenders because they've gone through it," Collins said Sunday. "They've been stronger from it and gotten better. We went through it ourselves a few years ago. You can't let it kill you. Days like today, you've got to let it burn, you've got to hurt. But then the next day you've got to get to work. That's all I've ever really known how to do. No one's going to abort the mission. We knew we had a really young team, but still we're going to try to compete. Nobody cares that we have a young team. At the end of the day, sometimes days like this happen. It's definitely no fun to go through. But it can be part of the process if we handle it the right way."
"There's no doubt it sucks," Young said minutes later. "But I don't think anybody feels sorry for us out there. Obviously, that's an easy hole to fall into. But that's not something we're going to do and think that people feel bad for us because we're young or whatever excuse you want to make. People don't feel sorry for us. So what I've done and a lot of us do is rely on each other. There's been a lot of struggles, but we're still a family, and we still rely on each other for that kind of energy. A lot of us feed off each other for that."
"At the end of the day," the first-year forward Robbie Beran added, "we're the only ones who know what it is and how we're going through it together. We look at that, and just rally around each other."
4. They, in fact, are not the only ones who know what it's like to be part of a young team on a long losing streak. Their assistant director of operations, Bryant McIntosh, knows it as well, experienced it as well back when he was the 'Cats first-year point as they slogged through their own 10-game losing streak five winters ago. "What B Mac emphasizes, there's bright spots in our game," Young said when asked about using McIntosh as a resource. "We've shown that we can play with anybody in the league. There's potential. Yeah, we're a young group. But we can compete with anybody. That's the way I feel, so it's building on that."
"I think we've shown we can compete at the highest level," Beran finally said. "It's just a matter of putting 40 minutes together. Not 37, 35, 38-and-a-half. So I don't think there's any confidence issues."
AND THE FINAL WORD, from Collins: "Nobody's tapping out. Days like this are not fun. We got beat down today by a good team. We've got to get better and we've got to learn from it and we've got to try to find a way Thursday (when they host Illinois)."
Players Mentioned
Men's Basketball - Purdue Postgame Press Conference (3/12/26)
Friday, March 13
Men's Basketball - Wildcats Fall to Boilermakers in Big Ten Tournament (3/12/26)
Friday, March 13
Men's Basketball - 'Cats Advance in Big Ten Tournament with 74-61 Win Over Indiana (3/11/26)
Thursday, March 12
Men's Basketball - Indiana Postgame Press Conference (3/11/26)
Thursday, March 12
