Northwestern knows these bounces all too well. It has been a season of games lost on the random bounce of a basketball late in games, the lack of execution and the inability to close. The familiar refrains of a team destined for something other than greatness.

Maybe Northwestern’s home game against Michigan was a bit overhyped. It was not a make-or-break game. The road is harder to get to the Tournament after a 67-55 overtime loss at Welsh-Ryan Arena, but it is not impossible. A home win over Ohio State would trump a win over Michigan (if you are optimistically inclined). But the road is harder.

The Wildcats saw the ball bounce the wrong way a few times. They saw John Shurna struggle to get free offensively most of the night. They saw Drew Crawford suffer a leg injury early in the first half, try to fight through it and then miss most of the second half and overtime.

Most importantly, they saw another loss. Another opportunity missed.

In overtime, the Wildcats failed to get anyone free. John Shurna could not take control of the offense and carry the team under that intense pressure. Worse, the defense that had baited Michigan into bad three after bad three and attack and secure the glass, struggled to do those things. The Wolverines scored on three 3-pointers early in overtime to take a nine-point lead and suck the air out of a raucous Welsh-Ryan Arena.

That feeling of hopelessness, disappointment and regret is all too familiar. There just seems to be an endless array of new ways for the Wildcats to lose.

In the overtime, Michigan and Northwestern fought hard for a rebound. Michigan got to the ball first and threw it back in. The ball whipped around fast and found Trey Burke for a 3-pointer. He was open of course as Northwestern was scrambling for the rebound.

That happened a few times. Especially late and especially in the second half.

The gameplan after giving up a ton of offensive rebounds in the first game was to pack the paint, focus on getting rebounds and force Michigan to take long 3-pointers. The corner 3-pointer was open for most of the game and the Wolverines took advantage. It helped Michigan erase a 7-point halftime deficit.

Matt Vogrich hit three of his six 3-pointers and Michigan, as a team, hit 14 of 38. The Wolverines settled for 3-pointers for a good portion of the game and took more 3-pointers than 2-point field goals. In that sense, Northwestern’s defense played extremely well.

The Wildcats ran into trouble on their end. After grabbing seven offensive rebounds in the first half, NU had just four the rest of the way. Those offensive rebounds and forcing their way into the bonus with about 10 minutes to play in the first half, helped buoy a Northwestern offense that struggled all game. The Wildcats shot 41.2 percent from the floor and John Shurna had 14 points on 6-for-16 shooting.

It was not a good game offensively as Michigan switched on just about every screen and contested everything hard. Nothing would be easy in this one.

Worse, still, Northwestern committed 16 turnovers. That and Michigan’s own 10 offensive rebounds allowed Michigan to erase that halftime deficit and make it a game throughout the second half.

The Wildcats lost a late lead too. But it was from lack of execution for the most part. John Shurna had a run where he put the team on his back. But on the final possession of regulation, Northwestern could not get the ball to Shurna for him to finish the game. Instead, it was JerShon Cobb throwing up a desperation 3-pointer. This was the moment you need Shurna to step up. It was not that he shied away from it, it was just that he decided to stay within the offense.

One thing is clear if Northwestern is going to make the NCAA Tournament for the first time, they need players to go take the opportunity in front of them.

So far this season, the times the Wildcats have actually done that when the chips are down and everything is on the line are few and far between. And that is the most disappointing and disheartening thing of all. Northwestern is not out of the Tournament chase, but the opportunities to control its own destiny entering Selection Sunday are running out.

Even LTP and I could not help but look forward and dream up the possibilities in our first-ever Lake The Posts Podcast (which you should really listen to). Optimism in late February is a beautiful thing.

Tonight’s game is important. A win over the Wolverines would add another win over an RPI-top 25 team — the win over the Spartans is the other — and make an already pretty strong resume look even stronger. The assumption that many Northwestern fans have is that the team needs to get to 9-9 in the conference to assure the team its first NCAA Tournament bid.

That may or may not be true — personally, I believe three wins in the next five games and no loss to Iowa or Penn State will put NU in good position.

The thing is, nobody knows what will happen in that room in Indianapolis in early March when the Selection Committee meets to place teams in the tournament. What actually goes on in that room and in those conversations is still largely a secret and a matter of much speculation.

As LTP noted in the aforementioned podcast (which, again, you should listen to), it seems like Northwestern is destined for some close call with this Tournament thing and a potential (somewhat) letdown of sneaking into the Tournament in the First Four in Dayton. The odds of making the Tournament right now are somewhere between 40 and 60 percent with ESPN’s Joe Lunardi telling Teddy Greenstein of the Chicago Tribune that it is a “coin flip” at this point. The consensus among “bracketologists” is that Northwestern is in… but barely.

There are certain things that matter and do not matter when the Selection Committee meets. In its never-ending quest to rid the selection process from claims of bias and open things up to the media, the NCAA had its media mock selection committee this past weekend. No, Northwestern was not among the 68 teams selected but that was also before the big win over Minnesota this past weekend.

Wildcat fans are apt to point to the team’s strong RPI (now at No. 44), the team’s strong strength of schedule (which featured games against Baylor, Seton Hall and Creighton) and the fact the team is hovering around .500 in the Big Ten. They will likely tell you to ignore the pedestrian 5-10 record against the RPI top 100.

The thing is, some of these things matter and others only seem to matter.

That was the real purpose of having the media participate in the mock selection process. It was so the NCAA could better inform the media of the process and how exactly it works. And, the truth of the matter is, conference performance matters much less than who you play, where you play them and the result of that contest.

In this sense, the widely held assumption that Northwestern would “guarantee” itself a berth in the NCAA Tournament with a .500 record in the Big Ten might be completely wrong. It is not something the Selection Committee says it will consider.

Teddy Greenstein of the Chicago Tribune had a nice round up of the shape the bubble has taken around Northwestern earlier today. What clearly does not matter is, as Greenstein points out, conference record, the strong finish and any injuries the team has faced. The Selection Committee only cares about what you have done, not what you could have done.

So what does the Selection Committee consider?

The answer to that question lies with NCAA Men’s Basketball Selection Committee Chairman Jeff Hathaway. He answered some of those questions before the media took their turn trying their hand at selecting the 68-team field.

One, you know there’s a number of criteria on the team sheet that we all look at. You have 10 individuals who may weigh some of that criteria a little bit differently as you go around the table.

 

I think the bottom line is, we are going to look at what we have talked about already, who did you play them, where did you play them and how did you do. I think a lot of people look at strength of schedule, non conference strength of schedule; does this team have the ability to win on the road.

 

So no prioritizing of the criteria. It’s an evaluation of the team sheets, and I think what we would say is that we are seeing more and more quality in more team sheets, and that’s great for the sport of college basketball. That’s what we all want to see.

From that quote you get a sense of how the committee works in actuality. They have team sheets that have the information of who they played, their RPI, the results and then it comes down to, frankly, what Hathaway called the “eyeball test.” Fortunately, there are multiple voices in the room and so it makes it hard for “out there” arguments to be made. It is a good thing that different committee members have different opinions and criteria.

What is also important to note is that there really is no standard. As Greenstein wrote, 2-2 might get Northwestern when 3-1 does not because of what other teams do or the tastes of the committee that day. There are a lot of factors that go into making this decision.

All Northwestern can do is everything it can. And all the team can do at this point is winning games. Everything is too important to leave up to chance when you can help it this late in the season.

Hyping Up the Game

The Purple Mafia is getting very very hyped for tonight’s game against Michigan. A win would certainly go a long way to bolstering the Tournament resume and accomplishing a lot of the goals I mention above. Several of the famous Northwestern alums weighed in on the game.

Michael Wilbon of ESPN Chicago wrote about how big the game is… and how he will be unable to watch because of his nerves. He made his case for Northwestern to receive a bid. Mike & Mike in the Morning on ESPN Radio, featuring NU alumnus Mike Greenberg, discussed the game very shortly this morning.

Even CBS Sports is getting on the bandwagon in wondering, like we did in the podcast (did I mention that yet?), if this is the biggest game in the school’s history.

Then you have Michigan guard Stu Douglass stoking the fire and unwittingly challenging the student section for tonight’s #Shurnout. Douglass said he likes playing against Northwestern because Michigan fans pack the place and Welsh-Ryan Arena is “small and never really gets loud.” Challenge accepted.

If Northwestern wins tonight, this Tournament quest is going to take off and become a story of its own. We already know a lot about what John Shurna has accomplished on the court, but David Haugh of the Chicago Tribune does a great job pointing out how good a person Shurna is.

Hop on now, this bandwagon is going to get full soon!

So, given the high level of excitement and anticipation, we figured this would be the perfect time to debut a new regular feature here at Lake The Posts – podcasts.  We’ve dabbled in podcasts with our recent Purple Mafia profiles on SI.com’s Stewart Mandel, the Fiesta Bowl’s Andrew Bagnato, and 1995 football co-captain William Bennett.  But this podcast is the first one to include all three Lake The Posts contributors – me, Philip Rossman-Reich, and LTP himself. We hope to do these on a regular basis.  Please take a listen and let us know what you think and what you might like to hear us discuss on future episodes.

Listen in as we look back at the win over Minnesota that kept the dream alive, celebrate John Shurna’s amazing scoring accomplishment, break down tonight’s Wildcat-Wolverine matchup, explore the remainder of the schedule, analyze the team’s true tournament chances, and place a possible NCAA Tournament berth into the larger Northwestern historical context.

And, not that we as fans need any more motivation for tonight’s game, but thanks to Michigan guard Stu Douglass, we have some. When asked about traveling to the Chicago area to play NU here is what he said “..that gym is pretty small and it doesn’t get too loud”.  Hmmm, we shall see.

(Please bear with us.  It’s our first episode and we are working through some technical difficulties that we apologize for but will be improved in our next episode).

John Shurna’s career cannot be summed up in those four significant digits. The points are just one aspect of his career and the final chapter is yet to be written.

Shurna scored 18 points, 12 of them coming in a first-half run that gave Northwestern the separation it needed to win comfortably. Like I wrote after the game Saturday, it seemed Shurna did everything his team needed. He took a step back early when Dave Sobolewski was leading the team off to a strong start. Shurna focused on providing a good defensive presence getting a weak-side block on the first defensive possession of the game.

With the game still close, Shurna got himself going with a steal and run-out for a dunk. The steal was one of four in what was a very strong defensive performance overall for Northwestern.

It figured he would break the record with a 3-pointer from the top of the key to bust a zone defense that was giving his team fits throughout to that point.

What was more impressive was just the outpouring of emotion from everyone. There were the signs and appreciation from the student section and the crowd at Welsh-Ryan Arena throughout the game. There were the countless twitter shoutouts from teammates, opponents in the Big Ten and fellow athletes at Northwestern.

Everyone it seemed was happy with this individual accomplishment.

But what says the most about is that Shurna is probably the one guy who was not happy about it. Not at the time at least. Maybe not even now.

Shurna had the singular focus of getting the win Saturday night. A win that looks to prove critical to Northwestern’s push to get into the NCAA Tournament for the first time.

The work is not over yet, and Shurna seemed to know that even after the accomplishment and the win. More than anything, this is why Shurna has become a truly transcendant player for Northwestern — much like Juice Thompson did last year. Shurna is showing he willing to shoulder this team’s burden on his own and take the heat for its successes and failures.

That is a lot to ask from a 21-year-old college senior. Shurna has taken on a lot of responsibility as a team captain and has asked for more and asked for no thanks for it. Sorry, John, you are going to get some thanks and recognition.

Just keep working on it tomorrow.

Honorable Mentions

Shannon Smith, Lacrosse — Northwestern got some hometown weather in Durham, N.C., against No. 5 Duke with a weather in the mid-30s. It certainly felt like home to scoring phenom Shannon Smith. Smith had five goals and an assist in a 13-5 road win. Smith had four of those goals in the first half and helped keep NU ahead in the first half before a 7-2 run in the final 30 minutes to put the game away. Smith moved into sixth place all-time in goals, passing Danielle Spencer.

Paul Snieder, Baseball — The baseball team got its season started with a 1-2 showing in the Big Ten/Big East Challenge. That one win was pretty exciting though. Snieder made a two-out single to give Northwestern a 12-11 lead in the 10th inning after coming back from a six-run deficit earlier in the game. Snieder had two hits and drove in four runs in Saturday’s game. Snieder had a .214 batting average and a team-best seven RBIs last weekend.

Danielle Diamant, Women’s Basketball — Northwestern continued its early-Big Ten dominance over Nebraska with a big 63-51 upset win in Lincoln, Neb., last week. Diamant scored 19 points and grabbed eight rebounds. Diamant has been a bulwark in the post for Joe McKeown’s girls all season as they try to get back into the Women’s NIT picture. She is averaging 13.7 points per game and 6.5 rebounds per game. She has had a very big year and a good closing kick to her season.

The student section deserves a special shout-out for their passion as they cranked it up to a high decibel level and the season ticket holders were standing and loud way more often than usual. It was a night to remember. After so many nights on so many years when we had a clutch win at home needed to give us that bubble boost, we finally nailed one.  Sure, we’ve had our fair share of big time upsets including earlier this year against Michigan State. However, the context of having so much on the line late in the season and coming through is new for us. Today, we have that “this is what March Madness must feel like” jump to our step. Thankfully, we have Michigan on tap for tomorrow night (7pm ct, BTN) as I don’t think Wildcat Nation could wait another day or two.

I can’t emphasize enough what a difference JerShon Cobb’s return to the line-up did. He was credited with four steals, but he had to have double-digit deflections on the day and his presence was a huge positive for the ‘Cats despite the fact he is completely out of sync on offense. Cobb’s return adds a whole new dimension to our line-up, let alone the fact we can spread some minutes and give a few guys a breather now and then.  Many people, opposing fans in particular, like to rip Welsh-Ryan Arena, but nights like Saturday underscore why I love it so much. When we’re packing that place with mostly purple it is a huge home court advantage. It has the acoustics of an arena double its size and the proximity of the students to the court makes it imposing. If there is one thing Coach Carmody has done extremely well in his tenure, it is to “protect this house”.  The ‘Cats are now 14-3 in Evanston this season with two of those three losses coming down to the last possession (Illinois, Purdue – the other was the blowout loss to Baylor).

There are two other home games against Michigan that were clutch games in my fandom that I can remember where we came through (’99, ’94), but only one that approaches tomorrow night. The 1993-1994 Northwestern squad was the best team I’ve seen at Northwestern in my 20 years of following the ‘Cats. Patrick Baldwin was a linebacker/point guard who was incredible on defense. We had Kevin Rankin dominating the paint at 6-11. We had Todd Leslie as a 3-point marksman and Kip Kirkpatrick who transformed his game much like Reggie Hearn.  We had Cedric Neloms who was the most adept player with a limited shot who could just flat-out score. We had infamous Kenneth “Dion” Lee,  a razor thin streaky shooter and spurty player. The challenges was the Big Ten was absolutely loaded. It was much like this year, just with a ton more star power. We started the year 9-0 and then invented ways to lose going 0-9 (oh, that Purdue buzzer beater by Glenn Robinson still haunts me). We hadn’t sniffed the post-season since Rich Falk led the 1983 squad to the NIT.  It was all relative, but getting to the NIT had captured the entire campus. The final game of the regular season was against #3 Michigan and it was a win-or-go-home game. NU was 14-14 and you couldn’t go to the NIT unless you were over .500. Keep in mind this was the remnants of the Fab Five coming to town. Juwan Howard, Jalen Rose and Jimmy King.

Welsh-Ryan was overflowing. It was an unusually warm March day.  The game was on national TV. The joint was packed 20 minutes before tip-off. We all had pretended that this was March Madness. It was for us. Northwestern treated the fans to an absolute thriller. It was a high-scoring, up-tempo game that had fans on their feet most of the game. Ask Kip or Rankin about the emotion in that building that day. Senior day. Legacy time. The ‘Cats would win 97-93 and tip-off pandemonium on the court against a team that was legendary and had rock star status even without Chris Webber. It was nirvana for us as basketball fans. The subsequent home NIT game against DePaul (they used to be good, trust me) was even louder. Come to think of it, the very loudest moment, I’ve ever heard Welsh-Ryan was the opening tip against DePaul.  Keep in mind that students had literally camped out for tickets just like at Duke and we were proud of that fact. Kevin Rankin got the ball on a give and go off the tip and thunderously slammed it. Keep in mind Kevin, a friend of mine, was Shurna-like polite and rarely dunked it as if it were rude to do so. But he nearly ripped the rim off and the entire place, buzzing with anticipation, lifted the lid off the joint.

What’s the point of this stroll down memory lane? Well, tomorrow night’s game against Michigan is bigger. It’s the difference between that Michigan game being a non-conference opener and tomorrow being a home game against Wisconsin or Ohio State with a major bowl game on the line.  I can’t even imagine what the atmosphere is going to be like. I’m pinching myself with the realization that next week is March and we’re on the bubble.  I posted a week ago about the upside/downside of getting so emotionally invested that the fall is that much harder if we don’t make it. However, the alternative is so much worse. This is what we live for as fans. For Northwestern fans, this is the equivalent of the Rose Bowl. Making it to the NCAA Tournament is a cross we’ve been bearing for way too long and the collective catharsis of making it can be the springboard to the program going to another level. It’s something we deserve. It’s something that will be so magical. The fact that there is no guarantee and that we may very well not make it is what makes this ride so very emotional. 

After John Shurna’s explosive performance after going 16 minutes without scoring, you get the sense that maybe, just maybe we can do this. I was so pleased to see Billy McKinney’s classy quotes saying how happy he is for John and the fact that he’s done so much to get the program to a respected level that it is only fitting to pass the scoring torch. It just feels like Shurna deserves this. He was bold enough to say before the season that if we don’t make it to the Big Dance then his career is a failure. We all know that isn’t true, but the sentiment of that is so appreciated by so many, that it just feels like if there is a hoops God then now is Shurna’s time.

Let the countdown clock begin and may we turn Welsh-Ryan in to the toughest place in America to play tomorrow night.

Standings Shuffle

In case you missed it, Matt Gatens poured in 30 points to help Iowa stun #18 Indiana yesterday at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The Hawkeyes moved to 6-8 in the Big Ten, tied with Northwestern in 7th place, right behind 7-7 Purdue. Of course, the Boilermakers lost two players – one for good (Barlow) and one suspended temporarily (DJ Byrd) for their involvement in a bar fight. Bad timing for NU who could’ve used a split over Purdue to really help our Tourney chances. Most prognosticators have seven Big Ten teams making it and the Hawkeyes are now in a role to play spoiler as they won’t make it based on their weak RPI and poor non-conference performance (14-13 overall). However, anyone like me who mentally has the road game at Iowa as a likely win, needs to reassess that regular season finale. Iowa’s resurgence to respectability is the most underrated story of the conference this season. If you want to root against someone, root against Purdue. They have Nebraska and Penn State at home and Michigan and Indiana on the road. It looks like a recipe for a 19-12,9-9 season.  We’ve got to take care of business obviously, on our end, but anything close between NU and Purdue won’t go our way since they swept us in head to head. Sorry Boilers, but I’m hoping for an 0-fer for you the rest of the way.

That Time Of Year

Kelly Amonte-Hiller had her BTN Icon’s TV show premiere on Saturday night and it is more of the same this year as the #1-ranked women’s lacrosse team beat Duke 13-5 this weekend to move to 2-0. The ‘Cats face Syracuse next a week from Wednesday. For the full recap go to NUSports.com here.

While I’m not as modest as John (who is?), I do want to offer up a non-LTP day job promotion of a story you’re likely familiar with if you’ve been reading this blog for years. My company produced an inspirational documentary film, “The Street Stops Here”, which makes it’s national cable TV premiere tonight at 8pm et/7pm ct on ESPNU immediately following the Duke/BC game. Some of you saw it when it premiered during March Madness on PBS, but fortunately, the critical acclaim helped stoke a desire for more.

It’s an inspirational story about Bob Hurley Sr., the head coach of St. Anthony HS (Jersey City, NJ) and father of former Duke star Bobby Hurley. The film chronicles a year in the life of one of his teams to tell a much bigger story about how a tiny, poor parochial school in the middle of a tough, urban city with ZERO resources can manage to send nearly 100% of its kids to college with the carrot of basketball.  Hurley is a born and bred Jersey City guy who left the world of a probation officer once he realized using the power of sport was the most effective way for him to transform lives. It airs six times on ESPNU between now and the Final Four, starting tonight at 8pm et (or as soon as the Duke/BC game ends). If you like the sensibility of the Brian Peters and Jack Marshall story from LTP then you’ll likely love this story, albeit with a lot more edge to it.

Below is the trailer as it was promoted on PBS. Gents, the single most consistent message I received when it originally aired came from wives and went something like “I don’t watch sports, but this film was the first time I was able to spend 2 hours with my husband and kids and actually have a dialogue about something we watched. Thanks for the family time!” .�

With all the attention on Coach Carmody (a colleague of Hurley as they’re both “Jersey guys” well-known in hoops circles) and the ‘Cats making their run, this film is a nice diversion from obsessing about NU AND offers a much bigger picture perspective of what’s really important. As if all that isn’t enough, the main subjects in the film are potential opponents in the, gulp, Tournament as the film features Kansas’ Tyshawn Taylor, Florida’s Mike Rosario, Villanova’s Dominic Cheek (not Tourney-bound), Pitt’s Travon Woodall and even Bob’s sons Danny Hurley who is now putting together a national coach of the year season at Wagner (transformed them from a 5-win team two years ago to a 20+ win team this year) and his assistant coach, Bobby Hurley.

We’ll be back at it tomorrow breaking down the final four games and building up the drama and excitement for Michigan. I think last night’s win was the most clutch home win since we upset Michigan in 1994 in a one-game makes or break the NIT. Last night, the stakes were much higher, but it could go down as the most important clutch win in modern NU history.

The student section was phenomenal last night and the electricity is building. So much to break down with Sobo’s amazing performance and JerShon Cobb’s return which was the most influential impact not seen on a stat sheet game I can remember. If not for Minnesota’s Welch, last night would’ve been a coronation from start to finish with zero consternation. It was an impressive performance and Coach Carmody deserves a lot of credit, especially for neutralizing Tubby Smith’s gameplan of attacking John Shurna and going physical early. What a win. How exciting is this?

In a game that could have adequately been called a must-win for both teams, John Shurna and Dave Sobolewski and JerShon Cobb and all the rest of the Wildcats kept the dream very very much alive.

Shurna completed a long journey to the top of Northwestern’s all-time scoring list. He went on a scoring run in the latter stage of the first half with a 7-0 run on his own to give Northwestern a lead it would not relinquish. He then busted the Minnesota 2-3 zone with a straight-away 3-pointer for the record, sending the crowd into a frenzy.

It might have been his effort on the defensive end and the efforts from Dave Sobolewski that secured a comfortable win.

The Wildcats took a 10-point lead in the first half on that Shurna run and were never really threatened in a 64-53 win over the Golden Gophers, gaining a measure of revenge with another strong offensive performance.

This game seemed to teeter on that edge of comfort and panic as all Northwestern games seem to. The Wildcats had the lead and never let the Golden Gophers sniff the lead. It got down to eight points at some points in the second half, but Shurna or Sobolewski were there for critical shots to extend the lead and keep the lead.

These are the games NU has let slip away in the past. But Minnesota did not have a run in it. The Wildcats won the second half 28-25 and rode the strong first half performance to the victory.

It would be hard not to lead with Shurna’s record-breaking 18 points, and his run of baskets in the first half proved to be the difference to give NU cushion, but it is hard to recall a time Northwestern had such a complete team performance on both ends of the floor in such a big spot. The Wildcats NEEDED this kind of performance to win this critical game between Big Ten bubble teams.

Shurna played a really complete game with five assists, four blocks and four steals to go with his 18 points. Dave Sobolewski led the team with 22 points and Drew Crawford added 11.

Most nights when your team gives up 57.1 percent shooting in the first half and 17 offensive rebounds, you will not be praising the defense. But the Wildcats did a great job denying the ball inside and took centers Ralph Sampson III and Elliott Eliason out of the game. Sampson played only 18 minutes in the game as Minnesota elected to go small to match Northwestern’s small lineup.

More than that, the Wildcats forced 21 turnovers and contested enough of the put backs on those offensive rebound opportunities to make up for that disadvantage.

Julian Welch was the only player to really get going offensively. He hit all five of Minnesota’s 3-pointers in scoring 21 points and dishing out five assists. But every time he made a big shot, it seemed the Wildcats had an answer on the other end.

Without Welch’s 7-for-12 performance, Minnesota shot 38.9 percent (14 for 36). The Golden Gophers made only 21 field goals in the game, so Welch was one-third of the team’s offensive production based on field goals made. Minnesota shot just 9 for 27 in the second half as Northwestern tightened the screws.

How often can we say that?

Shurna’s effort was a big part of the formula. So too was surprise starter JerShon Cobb. You are not going to see anything special in his box score — except for four steals to match Shurna. Cobb showed the flashes of potential he has shown throughout his career when he was not slowed with injuries.

Again, you think to yourself: when was the last time so many key players stepped up and did those little things in such a big spot?

It just does not happen very often in Northwestern’s history.

Then again, we don’t see player like Shurna very often. Not in 30-40 years apparently.

Shurna is making his case for greatest player in Northwestern’s history. He may have already achieved that. He was able to do whatever Northwestern needed from him again. When the team needed an offensive jolt, he was there to provide it. When it needed a facilitator early in the game, he was there.

More than anything, that is what this record and the way Shurna has approached it say about Shurna. He has done whatever his team has needed from him.

And so for one more game, Shurna did what was necessary to keep Northwestern’s tournament dreams alive. And they are alive for Shurna and the Wildcats to keep fighting.

So far, the Wildcats have avoided the losses that are absolutely crippling. Northwestern has not lost to a team with an RPI in triple digits . The only problem is, it has failed to consistently beat the teams that are on its level. The Wildcats currently are No. 45 in RPI according to RPIScoreboard.com but are just 3-5 against teams with an RPI of 26-100 and just 1-3 against teams with an RPI of 26-50.

If making the Tournament becomes an exercise in getting ahead of other teams in the pecking order, then this is truly Northwestern’s last chance.

It could also be one of Minnesota’s last chances too.

The Golden Gophers are 4-3 against the 26-100 in RPI. They, unlike the Wildcats, have losses against those 100+ RPI teams after Iowa swept them this season. A win against Northwestern would be a big help to Minnesota’s last-chance resume to get into the Tournament.

Tubby Smith was willing to call it a must-win game for his Golden Gophers. And several “Bracketologists” recognize that both teams are on the edge of falling off the bubble. If there was ever a game that was a play-in game in the middle of February, it might be tonight.

 

“They’re thinking like we are; it’s a must win, it’s a must game, if you expect to go to postseason play or build some momentum,” Minnesota coach Tubby Smith told Marcus R. Fuller of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. “They’re sitting there at 15-10 and we’re 17-9, so there’s a lot to play for. We both have only five wins in the league. They’re tough to beat there. We know that. We have to go there ready to play”

 

“It’s not really an elimination game because there’s too much time left,” CBS Sports college basketball writer Jerry Palm said about the five games remaining in the regular season. “But the loser is a step closer to being left out. I would say Northwestern needs it more because the game is on its home floor. But they both really need it in terms of just quality wins.”

Yes, both teams need this win. REALLY need this win.

Northwestern has to overcome some bad history too. The Gophers absolutely dominated the Wildcats in January at Williams Arena in a game that was a perfect storm of the Gophers strong offense and the Wildcats just having an awful offensive night. It took eight minutes for Northwestern to score and the game was more or less done by then. It was a game for the program to forget for sure.

And it came at the low point of the season for the Wildcats when things seemed pretty hopeless.

A three-game win streak and the establishment of an identity with the short rotation and efficient offense have renewed the Tournament hopes. Now though, Northwestern has fallen back into late-game struggles on this two-game losing streak.

Purdue has raced ahead of Northwestern in the middle of the Big Ten bubble. The Wildcats have to fend off the Golden Gophers for that potential seventh Big Ten berth in the tournament.

No one is going to hand anything to Northwestern. A 3-2 finish might not be enough. A 4-1 finish with the loss coming to either Michigan or Ohio State might be enough or might need more help from a strong Big Ten Tournament appearance.

The end of the journey though starts tonight at Welsh-Ryan Arena. A loss tonight puts the Wildcats really behind the 8-ball.

No pressure.

Let me start this open letter that it may seem a little odd that a grown man who you have never met is using a blog to write a personal letter in a not so personal manner. I hope you understand that this letter represents the general sentiment of the thousands of Northwestern basketball fans across the globe.  I know that you know that you’re just 16 points away from becoming Northwestern basketball’s all-time leading scorer. I’m pretty confident it will happen tomorrow night against Minnesota (6pm ct, BTN). When it does, it will cement the next-to-last bullet in your incredible collegiate basketball resume. The beauty of all this? I know that you don’t give a care about the personal accomplishment as your selfless style, team-first always attitude and class act ways preclude you from even thinking like that.

It’s very clear that you realize this is it. For all of us who at any level have played competitively, we can relate on the base level of a senior year and the sense of urgency and “I can’t believe it is coming to an end” feeling. You’re mindset is likely 100% geared on whatever it takes to win, one 4-minute mini-game within the game between timeouts to get you to a “w”. The laser-beam focus of getting four more wins and getting an NCAA bid are pretty apparent for all involved. Sometime in March, or if I know your mindset, April, you’ll be able to reflect on your career. However, as we get to the make-or-break stretch of the Wildcat basketball run for immortality, I felt it was appropriate to express my deepest and heartfelt thanks for what you’ve done in Evanston.

My original plan was to save this post for senior night – your final home game at Welsh-Ryan Arena (vs Ohio State). However, with the Wildcats at 15-10, 5-8 and an assumption that 4-1 the rest of the way is necessary to land our first ever NCAA Tournament appearance, I felt the eve of what will kick off a stretch of must-win after must-win games was a more appropriate time.

It’s been an absolute joy to watch you through your four seasons at Northwestern. The team statistics and individual statistics speak for themselves:

• 16 points away from becoming Northwestern’s all-time leading scorer (Billy McKinney, 1900 points)
• Anchor for most wins in four year stretch in school history.
• Led team to first 20-win season in school history and then did it in back-to-back seasons.
• Three straight NIT appearances after school had three NIT appearances in school history.
• Scored 20+ points 40 times in your career, best among all active Big Ten players
• Scored 30+ points 7 times in your career
• Top ten all-time at Northwestern in following categories: Games played (#2 – 7 behind Juice Thompson), Games started (#2 -9 behind Juice Thompson), Minutes played (will finish at #2), FGs (#2), FGA (#3), 3-point FG (#3), 3-point FGA (#3), FTs (#8), Assists (will finish #7 at worst),3-point FG % (#8),career scoring average (#10 at 15.4 ppg), and of course #1 all-time in scoring.

Those stats are nice, but they don’t tell the full story and why the appreciation is so high. You’ve endured quite a bit of adversity in your time in Evanston. I’ve never heard or read one negative comment from you in your four years, despite the fact you’ve given everything you’ve had and been a part of so many last minute heartbreaking losses. Your junior season was plagued with a severe ankle sprain that would have sidelined many players. Yet, you knew that at 50% of your health you could still be an asset to the team and help win games.  You suffered a concussion at Minnesota after being shoved in to the stanchion. No complaints. It was a year of complete sacrifice to do what it took to win and you led Northwestern to its most successful season of the modern era and the NIT quarterfinals. Before that, you endured the Kevin Coble departure, which I’m sure challenged the notion of team.  My only selfish regret is that we did not get to see the potential magic of you, Juice, Drew and Kevin all playing together.

The white elephant, however, has been playing with the shadow of your head coach’s future.  Your freshman year was on the heels of a 1-17 Big Ten season and 8-22 overall disaster. It was part of a two-year stretch that saw NU win only three Big Ten games (3-33).  While you may not have been the leader of the team as a frosh, you were a key factor in helping with the dramatic turnaround to helping NU go to 17-14,8-10 and give fans hope that perhaps the ‘Cats could make it to the dance. The last three seasons have been filled with fans leaning in to really, authentically believe, THIS is the year. With each passing season, you’ve become that centerpiece of an entire generation of fans and players’ hopes and dreams. Yet, I’m sure somewhere in your brain, you also unjustly feel like you’re carrying another burden, playing for your coach’s future. I truly hope you don’t carry this – you shouldn’t.  

Throughout your career, you’ve been pegged as almost too nice. You were deferential to upper classmen and opponents. Robbie Hummel tells a great story about how you accidentally elbowed him in a game and every time down the floor you were apologizing to the point where he had to tell you to shut up.  I can’t remember a time when you’ve ever lost your cool on the floor. I don’t know how you do it. As fans we might as well have an updated version of the old-school TV tactc of a laugh track. However, it would be called the Shurna-unspoken-white-man-stereotype. I can’t remember a television broadcast that didn’t include some version of “John Shurna, he’s the guy you’d likely pick last in the pick-up game based on appearance and then one minute in to the game you realize he’s going to eat you for lunch”. I’ve gone from abhorring it to embracing it.

I must say, this year has been something truly special.  The context of this season might get lost for future generations as it relates to your level of play, but not for me. The passion and grit this team has showed, fielding six players more often than not is such a remarkable handicap for any Big Ten team. However, this isn’t just any Big Ten season. It’s the best RPI ranking in memory, statistically making the backdrop of your season among the toughest.  Yet, there you are atop the Big Ten in scoring with a 20.3 ppg average. The amazing thing is that you can go 6-7 minutes without scoring in a game, leveraging the coverage your getting to be so unselfish to setup your teammates.  You’ve played with tremendous heart and are playing nearly every minute of every game – and here is the underscore – with every Big Ten coach spending the majority of their time building their defensive gameplan with the sole mission of finding ways to stop you.

The past week you’ve taken your game to new heights. The talent, determination and relentlessness has gone up a notch and I can see and feel the sense of urgency. You’ve gone in to takeover the game mode and refuse to lose mode posting ridiculous 29 point and 30 point performances ON THE ROAD at Purdue and Indiana, two  very good defensive teams with hostile crowds. It’s been head-shaking. I can see the senior urgency and you so close to being the centerpiece of a team that would go down in the history banks forever. Yet, somehow, you seem to have more fun than anyone else on the floor. You smile. You laugh. You celebrate team. It’s freakin’ awesome and inspirational. 

Let’s face it. Every player that has signed up to play at Northwestern has come to campus with “the dream”. You can’t compete at this level without the mentality that “I want to be the one who helps us make the dance for the first time”.  A little ego can be a very good thing.  I feel like I can see that thought bubble above you on every trip down the floor. Fans are big fans of stats and my favorite John Shurna stat is your record for minutes played in a game – 45, but you’ve done it FIVE TIMES.  You really seem like the consumate team player and have set the gold standard for what it means to be an all-time great at Northwestern. You’ve been the key reason that Northwestern basketball is now at least respected in the best conference in America. You’ve done something very right when you have quotes from media members and fellow competitors like this:

John Shurna is my favorite player. You can have anyone else in the nation. I want Shurna. Good luck to your team.”—Tom Dienhart  BigTenNetwork.com senior writer

“He’s one of those guys you see and you say there’s no way he plays basketball, but he’s one of the best players in the country. He’s an unbelievable player. It’s fun and honor to play against him.” —Jordan Taylor, University of Wisconsin guard

I’ve scanned some of the alleged college basketball experts’ projections for national player of the year honors. Your name has not come up on many of the lists. It’s a travesty. You’ve put together one of the more remarkable seasons in Big Ten memory when you account for all of the variables.  The beauty is we get the sense you could care less.

John, it’s time we step up and make sure you know how much you are appreciated. On Saturdays in the fall I still get a good feeling when I see hundreds of players and even kids sporting the #24 Northwestern football jersey. It sends off an unspoken chain of memories of Darnell Autry for all of us that experienced that magical Rose Bowl season. The tension and excitement around NU basketball is that it could be the same type of blow-the-lid off the program euphoria. We want this as much as you do. However, regardless of the outcome of the next five regular season games and the Big Ten Tournament, you deserve to have your #24 hanging in the rafters at Welsh-Ryan Arena. I don’t believe a number has ever been retired in NU basketball history. But, as you’re trying to prove, there is a first time for everything. Ten years from now when a little kid is wearing a #24 NU basketball jersey, we’re all going to have that same kind of internal reaction knowing that you represent doing things the right way.

Best of luck,

LTP Nation

Go-U, N-U Continues Mastery Over UNL

If there is one collective fan base that is currently holding Northwestern Athletics up in the highest regard it would have to be Nebraska. Congratulations to the Northwestern women’s basketball team for their 63-51 upset of #16 Nebraska last night in Lincoln.  Coach McKeown has been suffering a disappointing season of major proportions (I thought we’d be NCAA Tourney bound) as he too has been stung by the injury bug. However, Northwestern entered the game 13-12,3-9 and thanks to Kendall Hackney and Danielle Diamant, escaped with a shocking win.

In this calendar sports year Northwestern upset #9 Nebraska in football in Lincoln, upset national women’s volleyball power Nebraska in Evanston, beat the men’s basketball team in our sole match-up and now this. Bring on the Huskers!

When Verdell Jones III hits a jumper from the wing with his foot on the line to give the Hoosiers a six-point lead, the deficit was too much and the chances too few. Panic set in and the normally efficient Princeton had to give way to a panicked rush of playmaking from anyone who could get in the paint. Alex Marcotullio had the opportunity, unable to get a 3-pointer off, but lost the ball driving into the lane.

Indiana could breathe a sigh of relief in a hard-fought 71-66 win at Assembly Hall. Northwestern is not going to feel horrible with the loss. But it increases the pressure in Saturday’s game against Minnesota to keep up in the Big Ten’s Tournament hungry pack.

John Shurna scored 29 points and Drew Crawford added 18. No other player scored in double figures for NU as the team shot 49 percent from the floor but just 6 for 20 from beyond the arc. Indiana got 23 points from freshman Cody Zeller on 9-for-11 shooting.

Crunch-Time Execution Lacking

There is a mysticism that surrounds the final two minutes or moments of a game. Everyone wants to see the best players step up and the team play perfectly. The fact of the matter is that most teams actually perform worse offensively when the pressure is ramped up. Mostly that is because teams turn to their best players to force action rather than running their offense.

Northwestern became a victim of that too. Not that John Shurna was doing anything wrong, but the Wildcats had to get the ball to their best player and Shurna was hard-pressed for time and had to force action against a tough defense that finally found a way to stop him.

It was a 63-63 game with 4:19 to play. It was clear in the final moments that the game would come down to execution.

Obviously, the Wildcats scored only three more points the rest of the game. They had six possessions the rest of the way, which means they posted a 0.50points per possession or a 50 offensive rating. It was bad. NU shot one for five from the floor.

Indiana, on the other hand, had five possessions and scored eight points. That is a 160 offensive rating or 1.6 points per possession. Verdell Jones III had six of those points.

Yes, the Hoosiers stepped up in crunch time and the Wildcats failed to get their shots to fall or execute the offense to get good shots.

Shurna is carrying this team

One thing there should not be a doubt about is the effort from John Shurna. Shurna had another humongous game with 29 points. He shot 11 for 21 from the field and made five of his six free throws. That is good for a 61.3 percent true shooting percentage.

That means John Shurna was scoring and scoring efficiently. This has been his way all year. We should not be surprised with Shurna’s startling efficiency. But every time he puts up a big scoring number on so few shots, you just have to stop and think how impressive and dominant that really is.

Shurna should break the all-time scoring mark Saturday against Minnesota. Likely he will not need many shots to do it.

Also playing really well was Drew Crawford. Crawford was 6 for 12 from the floor for his 18 points. Crawford was also pretty aggressive attacking and creating for Northwestern.

The only problem was that the team got only 19 points from the rest of the roster. Reggie Hearn led the way with eight points. While Shurna and Crawford shot 51.5 percent from the floor, the rest of NU’s roster shot 7 for 16 (43.8 percent). More interestingly, none of the three players off the bench took a shot.

Like we have seen throughout the year, Northwestern needs a third player to step up in scoring to get these kinds of wins.

The Road Ahead

The loss to Purdue stung because it was another team NU is fighting on the bubble. The Indiana loss does not sting as much because Indiana seems to be a lock for a Tournament bid and is among the top teams in the Big Ten. Those two losses combined is going to put a ton of pressure to win Saturday against Minnesota. A Minnesota team that defeated NU by 23.

There are really only two other chances for the Wildcats to really differentiate themselves from the rest of the pack. Michigan and Ohio State still come to Evanston. Those games come in between games at Penn State and at Iowa. Those should both be wins, but they will not be easy.

Minnesota is very much on the bubble too. Northwestern wants to get ahead in the pecking order. I don’t want to sound like LTP (sorry for the dig!), but Saturday’s game against the Gophers looks pretty important for Big Ten tournament seeding and ordering for the selection committee.

The margin for error is not razor thin. But the road ahead is not easy if the Wildcats want to rest easy on Selection Sunday.