Northwestern Builds 15 Point Halftime Lead Over Illinois, Loses Second Half by 40 Points

Submitted by A Lot of Milk on January 8th, 2021 at 12:04 AM

This probably doesn't need its own thread, but I would like to forget about football and can't pass up an opportunity to laugh at Chris Collins.

Northwestern was dominating Illinois in the first half tonight, leading 43-28 at the break. Northwestern built on this shocking performance by scoring 13 points on 2-24 shooting in the ENTIRE SECOND HALF. Illinois, meanwhile, put up 53 on 19-32 shooting in the second stanza. 

This is the biggest Big Ten basketball collapse I can remember since...Northwestern 2018, when they blew a 27-point first half lead to MSU. In that game, they were outscored by 27 in the second half, 13 fewer than they lost the second half by tonight. Chris Collins propensity for pants-pooping is quite impressive, even if it cost Michigan valuable distance from Illinois in the Big Ten standings.

Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Michigan have begun to separate themselves from the rest of the Big Ten as the first quarter of the conference schedule comes to a close. Lot of basketball left, and Michigan will have plenty of games against the upper tier to try to stretch their Big Ten lead

A Lot of Milk

January 8th, 2021 at 12:27 AM ^

Yep, I was intrigued that the 3 one loss teams behind us were all in action tonight and two played on the road. Indiana blew that game badly but it gives me some confidence against Wisconsin with their bigs really not impressing much. I don't see how you beat Iowa without scoring 90+. I think we have the horses to stay with them, but a lot of their games are gonna come to random 3 point luck. They definitely seem like a team that can defenestrate Wisconsin and Michigan one night, but then lose to Nebraska and Minnesota because the other team shot 60% from 3 on high volume

Was begging for an Illinois loss. I think they have the best team with the best players, plus they have the easiest remaining schedule and we only play them once. I'm not sure how you beat them since they have dominant inside play and absurd shooters and guard play. Probably will take some combination of a stretch 5 erasing Cockburn's defensive impact and Dosunmu building a brick house. Not sure how likely that will be

Joined: 02/17/2013

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dotslashderek

January 8th, 2021 at 2:13 AM ^

You don’t see how we can beat Illinois *or* Iowa?  

Seems pretty dramatic.  I could see us beating both.  Sure, they could be losses - but you seem to see a cup half empty.

Not only can Michigan beat those teams they have all the pieces to win the Big Ten and grab a great NCAA seed.

An aside but what Howard has done so far is damn impressive.

Cheers.

Joined: 01/10/2013

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Grampy

January 8th, 2021 at 12:15 AM ^

I was rooting for the ‘Cats, but when they opened the second half with 1 basket and 7 turnovers, I knew they were cooked. The Illini looked pretty good when they felt like playing. 

Joined: 06/29/2012

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A Lot of Milk

January 8th, 2021 at 12:58 AM ^

The scheduling is a bit wonky in terms of balance across the top four

Michigan: Wisconsin x 2, Illinois and Iowa x 1 both at home

Wisconsin: Michigan x 2, Illinois x 2, Iowa x 2

Iowa: Michigan x 1 on road, Illinois x 1 on road, Wisconsin x 2

Illinois: Michigan x 1 on road, Iowa x 1 at home, Wisconsin x 2

For the first time in history in any sport, Wisconsin got screwed with their schedule. Michigan has the easiest, Illinois is second easiest, and Iowa is second hardest. 

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LSAClassOf2000

January 8th, 2021 at 7:35 AM ^

Well, it's just a matter of being able to gauge what would constitute a "comfortable lead" going into the half. For example, about 20 years ago, for us that would have been somewhere around 1,000 points if we wanted to keep the second half close. 

Joined: 01/07/2011

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Jordan2323

January 8th, 2021 at 8:28 AM ^

After watching Wisconsin play Indiana and Jackson-Davis score inside at will, HD will feast on them. Also, I think Franz has the length to guard Ruevers as well. If they decide to double then that leaves shooters open all game. I think we need to guard them exactly how we did NW and be up on their shooters all game. The only one who worries me a little is Trice and I think Brooks and Brown can tag team him. If we play suffocating defense like we did against Minnesota I think Michigan wins comfortably. 

Joined: 11/09/2013

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outsidethebox

January 8th, 2021 at 9:10 AM ^

This team is at a place where the most important thing is to simply play well-to their ability. Here, the great news is that this team has a core of defenders who will, night in and night out, give you a good shot at winning. Worry about controlling what you can control and let the chips fall where they may.

Joined: 01/23/2017

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njvictor

January 8th, 2021 at 10:31 AM ^

Illinois definitely played well in the second half, but this loss was 100% on Northwestern. They literally just collapsed on both ends of the floor after halftime. Like it was mind boggling watching how bad they were in the 2nd half

Joined: 07/20/2017

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Jordan2323

January 8th, 2021 at 12:04 PM ^

I feel like the winning streak for Northwestern was a fluke, I don’t think they are that good. I think on any given night they are able to shoot well enough to beat someone but most of the time they are gonna get beat by better teams. They remind me of those early Beilein teams that could occasionally outshoot you, but minus the genius of Beilein. 

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