After Northwestern gave up an 11-point halftime lead and lost because of late missed free throws and turnovers in a nonconference game against Pittsburgh, coach Chris Collins surveyed his players’ emotions.
They weren’t sad.
They were mad.
And Collins liked that.
“That was the big game for us to show we really improved,” he said. “We led the game for 39 minutes and (55) seconds. We let it slip away. I thought the attitude at the end of the game, the guys were really angry about it. They weren’t feeling sorry for themselves. I just sensed the difference: ‘We shouldn’t have lost that game.’ “
Northwestern (6-1) went on to upset then-No. 4 Michigan State 79-65 and win close games at Indiana (74-67) and against Ohio State (71-70) to start Big Ten play 3-0 for the first time since the 1967-68 season.
The Wildcats, who were ranked 19th in the new AP poll Monday, already have matched their Big Ten win total of last season, when they went a dismal 8-23 and 3-17 in the conference.
Collins had the youngest team in the conference last season and figured the Wildcats were in for some bruises, hoping the lumps would pay off this season.
Even with only one senior on the roster this season, the Wildcats’ experience seems to be showing.
“We intentionally decided to play all those (young) guys,” Collins said. “We didn’t go out and get a bunch of one-year transfers and older guys. We’re going to rebuild this the way that’s going to be great for us, to play our young guys and let them develop with playing time in a tough Big Ten and figure out what it takes to win.”
It has worked out before for Collins. The 2016-17 team that qualified for Northwestern’s first NCAA Tournament appearance consisted mainly of players from Collins’ early recruiting classes who had received extensive playing time as freshmen.
“When we built that team the first go-round that ended up with us going to the NCAA Tournament, that’s what we did,” he said. “All the guys we had were four- and five-year guys that had been with us from Day 1. We had some losing. They grew up together.
“Not that we would never add a transfer, but I thought the formula for us was to recruit guys and plan. In order to get back and be ready to sustain it, that is the model we would use. We were hoping these kids getting a chance to play against great teams and great coaches, they’d figure out what it takes to win.”
The exuberance in the locker room after the Wildcats beat Michigan State indicated they understand that now.
“It was awesome,” junior forward Miller Kopp said. “It was really cool to see the excitement. We were all jumping and screaming and throwing water on each other. All the hard work paid off.”
Collins used the downtime due to COVID-19 restrictions on practice and recruiting to reflect.
This was the time, he said, to brand the team with an identity. The one he had wanted all along.
“I talked about, when I was hired in my initial press conference, my personality was to play up-tempo and spread the floor and shoot 3s and score points,” he said. “We really had never established that identity. Year in and year out, we tried to figure out what to do to be competitive that year.”
The Wildcats’ improved depth and athleticism is apparent. They’re averaging 85.3 points, more than a 20-point improvement from last season’s 64.9 points per game, and shooting 42.2% on 3-pointers, also up significantly from last season’s 31.2%.
“This is something I want to become the identity for our program,” Collins said.
Last season, Kopp carried too much of the offensive weight. Kopp (15.1 ppg), sophomore point guard Boo Buie (14.4), sophomore guard Chase Audige (12.9) and junior forward Pete Nance (10.6) have all had highlight moments this season.
Buie scored a career-high 30 points against Michigan State. Audige, a transfer from William & Mary, scored 17 second-half points to beat Indiana. Kopp scored 23 to pace the win over Ohio State. Nance looks more consistent, and he posted 15 points and 12 rebounds against the Spartans.
Collins said the Wildcats have shown selflessness.
“The guys were tired of losing last year,” he said. “Coming into this year, the only item on the agenda was to win.”
That’s going to be harder than ever in the Big Ten.
It’s great to be good — but so is almost everybody else in the conference.
Iowa, the Wildcats’ opponent Tuesday, ranks third nationally with 95.1 points per game. The No. 10 Hawkeyes (7-2, 1-1) are one of nine Big Ten teams ranked in this week’s AP Top 25.
Collins called it a “gauntlet.”
“We take the approach of, ‘Let’s face the battle in front of us,’ ” he said. He predicted teams that go .500 in Big Ten play could earn an NCAA Tournament invitation because the conference has so much talent.
Losses will come, Collins said. But Northwestern knows how to handle them better and how to keep them from multiplying.
“It was a blessing in disguise looking back on it now,” Kopp said of last season. “We have the benefit of being on the other side of it now. It’s tough going through that and finding positives. We’re seeing right now you can turn the page on that and change the narrative.”