Northwestern’s problems go well beyond Big Ten officials.
I don’t think Jalen Leach meant to kick Vladislav Goldin in the crotch.
Northwestern coach Chris Collins doesn’t either.
“Vlad Goldin is 7-foot-1 275 lbs, setting a moving screen, and Jalen’s trying to get over the top of it,” Collins said after the game, his decades of media training fighting the anger in his voice, “Was it malicious? In my opinion no.”
Leach was in the midst of perhaps his best game as a Wildcat when he was ejected midway through the second half after the officials ruled that his contact with Goldin was worthy of a flagrant-2.
The former Fairfield Stag had 19 points on 8-of-12 shooting before the foul. He was Northwestern’s best offensive player on Sunday by far, and his disqualification slowed the Wildcat offense while allowing Michigan to employ a press that gave fits to Northwestern’s remaining guards.
“I know that’s the rule because we lived it last year with Langborg against Rutgers,” Collins said, referring to a similar play that got Ryan Langborg ejected in Piscataway last February. “I just think some common sense has to apply.”
Yet for all the questionable calls and fine-able Chris Collins quotes — of which there are many — Northwestern’s problems extend beyond Big Ten officials.
Northwestern may very well have won this game if Leach didn’t get ejected. Northwestern also wins this game if Nick Martinelli shoots better than 5-of-17 from the field, if Brooks Barnhizer shoots better than 5-of-14 from the field or if Barnhizer makes his free throws in overtime. Maybe the ‘Cats would have made a field goal in overtime (they were 0-for-5) if Collins started the period with a better offensive option than Blake Smith, who didn’t take a shot in his seven minutes of action.
Collins is right that Northwestern doesn’t get the respect that it deserves from Big Ten officials. Barnhizer should be going to the line more for how hard and often he goes to the rim. Northwestern also should be proud of how hard it competed on the road against a Michigan team that is among the best in the country. The last time NU was this big of an underdog in a conference game was all the way back in February 2022.
Yet the reality is that Northwestern needs to win these types of games to make it to the tournament, and its play in the clutch has been less than inspiring. Northwestern made just one field goal in the final nine minutes of play Sunday. Martinelli’s heroics against Maryland covered up the 6-0 run that Northwestern gave up in the final two minutes to force overtime. Yes, Northwestern got screwed against Penn State, but the ‘Cats had ample opportunities to win that game, including a chance to tie the game after the goaltending call that resulted in a Matt Nicholson turnover.
“We had our chances still,” Collins said, “We had some open shots, we had a bunch of free throws that we didn’t convert on.”
Again, Michigan is an excellent basketball team, and Northwestern was right there. But if the standard is going to be a third consecutive berth to the NCAA Tournament — as Martinelli said it was on Thursday — then Northwestern should be judged on that standard.
It all starts with Barnhizer.
Barnhizer is in the midst of a poor run of basketball. There’s no sugar coating it. In the four games since he collected his seventh straight double-double on Jan 2. against Penn State, Barnhizer has averaged just 14 points per game — down from his season total of 18.4 — on a startling 32% from the field. He is also just 3-of-19 from three in that stretch and averaging a Northwestern worst five turnovers per game.
“Sometimes, since fouls aren’t being called, it looks like I’m kind of forcing stuff or throwing stuff up, and that’s the last thing I want to do for our team,” Barnhizer said after the game.
After Thursday’s win against Maryland, Barnhizer mentioned that he is continuing to deal with a nagging foot injury, presumably the same one that he picked up this summer that sidelined him for Northwestern’s first four games.
Barnhizer is a player whose toughness and physicality transcends basketball vocabulary. He is built like a safety, and he takes hits like a hockey player. He is missing his two front teeth like one too. But playing hurt is hard, and it’s even harder when you’re tasked with playing a combined 85 minutes in your last two games.
There are no get right games in the Big Ten. Collins said as much after Northwestern’s loss to Michigan State last week. Barnhizer will have to solve his offensive problems by the time Indiana arrives in Evanston on Wednesday night.
Epsom salt baths and Advil. A Darth Vader-style recovery chamber. Whatever it takes for Northwestern to get its leading man back at the peak of his powers. Maybe a couple dozen shots from the top of the key.
Barnhizer is more than capable of leading Northwestern back to the Big Dance. His job will be made all that much easier if Leach continues to play like a Bond villain and Ty Berry continues to excel off the bench. There is a lot of basketball to play, but the ‘Cats must start finding ways to win these close games — whether or not they are getting any respect.