Northwestern wins MKE Tip-Off matchup
Tech men’s hoops traveled to Milwaukee to take on Northwestern in the MKE Tip-Off in their third straight game away from McCamish Pavilion after starting the season with seven straight at home. The Jackets looked to halt a two-game slide with a win over the Wildcats after dropping back to back games against ranked teams in Oklahoma and UNC, while Northwestern hoped to continue their momentum after a win over ranked Illinois. Tech closed out the game with a hot-shooting stretch, but lost by 11 in the neutral site tilt.
The MKE Tip-Off opened with the host UW-Milwaukee winning a high-scoring affair over Akron, and a matchup between Loyola-Chicago and the University of San Francisco rounded out the event. The University of San Francisco team includes center Saba Gigiberia, who started his career at Tech before heading to the Bay Area.
Around a thousand fans dotted Fiserv Forum, the home of the Milwaukee Bucks, for the day’s action. A solid cohort of Northwestern fans made the hour-long trek up from Chicago, but a respectable smattering of Tech fans were visible in the crowd among fans of the six schools in the event and a handful of local hoops fans who simply wore Packers or Bucks gear.
Tech rolled out a three guard starting lineup with seniors Lance Terry and Luke O’Brien and sophomore Nait George comprising the backcourt. Sophomore forward Baye Ndongo and freshman center Doryan Onwuchekwa rounded out the starters. Northwestern is led by forward Nick Martinelli and guard Brooks Barnhizer, who average a combined 40 points per game.
Northwestern kept a short bench, with only seven players seeing the floor despite a late 20-point lead. Wildcat coach Chris Collins said the decision was “about winning,” and later said that it was “exciting to play an ACC team” and that he “expects [Tech] to win a lot of games in that league.”
Tech coach Damon Stoudamire joined the press conference solo. He said that “the outcome of the game is decided in the first four minutes of each half and we were outscored 18-0.” He acknowledged the turnover and fast break points margin, saying, “we are our own worst enemy at times and tonight that’s what happened.”
On-court action
Northwestern pulled down the opening tip and opened the scoring with a corner three by Martinelli. Tech’s first three possessions resulted in a block and two turnovers, and the two teams combined to miss seven straight shots before a pair of Wildcat free throws gave them a 7-0 lead. Tech center Ryan Mutombo, seeing his first action of the year, recorded a big block before a three by Javian McCollum gave the Jackets their first points to end an 11-0 Wildcat run.
Back to back Ndongo buckets gave Tech some life on the offensive end, and a few free throws by O’Brien got the Jackets past the double digit mark. Stoudamire shifted to a small-ball lineup with Ndongo and four guards on the floor, and the Jackets cut the lead to six. Back to back threes by George and Terry brought Tech within three in the final two minutes of the half, their first deficit of less than five since the first minute of the game.
The squads traded threes late in the half, and Tech went into the locker room down 31-26. Both teams shot 32% in the half, but the Jackets had twice as many turnovers as Northwestern. Terry and Martinelli paced their teams with eight points each, while George led all players with six rebounds. Mutombo recorded five boards and a block to go with a team-best plus-5 in his first half of play for the Institute.
Northwestern opened the second half with a 12-2 run. Mutombo recorded Tech’s first four points of the frame with a tough finish that drew a foul and a strong dunk. The Jackets shot 2-13 through the first eight minutes of the half as the Wildcat lead ballooned to 17. Tech fought back with a 7-0 run, capped by a Jaeden Mustaf three, but Northwestern quickly opened the margin to 20 with a 10-0 run of their own.
The game slowed late, and improved Tech shooting in the final minutes was not enough to overcome the big lead. The Jackets finished the game on a 6-0 run and made eight straight field goals against the Wildcats’ late game lineup, but Northwestern took the matchup 71-60.
Barnhizer led Northwestern with a 20 point double-double, and was joined in double digit scoring by Martinelli, Jalen Leach, and Ty Berry. Terry led Tech in scoring with 17, followed by Mustaf with 11. George led all players with seven assists, and Barnhizer’s six stocks rounded out a full box score for him.
Takeaways
The key to the first half was turnover margin, and the margin only grew after the break. Despite Tech entering a full court press for stretches of the second half, Northwestern had a plus-ten turnover margin and outscored Tech on fast breaks 19-0.
Tech did not use many ball screens and had trouble passing into the paint for easy looks. Three to four Jacket players were often standing in the same spot for long stretches of offense, and Tech’s few transition opportunities meant that Northwestern could get set on nearly every possession.
Mutombo had one of the best games of his career in his first game for Tech. He put up 10 points, seven rebounds, an assist, and two blocks and Tech’s only player to shoot over 50% on at least five shots. Stoudamire said “Ryan wasn’t going to sit over there all season… he played well and I look forward to him getting out there more.”
Tech ranks in the bottom 100 teams in the country in field goal percentage, a symptom of shot selection driven by the team’s ball movement woes and the need to hunt three pointers to cut into leads.