The 'Cats looked better today, but it wasn't enough to come away with a win.
It was a game of whistles this Super Bowl Sunday in Iowa City, where the home team took down Northwestern by a score of 76-70.
The 'Cats finished with 25 fouls on the day, and many of their key players were in foul trouble for much of the contest. Despite that, and a 34-22 margin on the boards in favor of Iowa, Northwestern hung around. It played better defense than we've seen as of late, and it shot the ball at a 47% clip.
Freshman Jake West was Northwestern's best player today with 18 points and four assists. He hit four threes and had a shocking dunk on the dribble-drive over an Iowa big man. Nick Martinelli also scored 21 in the game, but he was highly inefficient for the second straight game, shooting 6-of-19 from the field.
For the Hawkeyes, leading scorer Bennett Stirtz was difficult to stop. He finished the afternoon with 36 points on 12-of-20 shooting.
In the opening half, Northwestern couldn't stop fouling. The 'Cats had a whopping 15 fouls before the break, including three from Angelo Ciaravino, Arrinten Page and, most concerning, Martinelli.
The refs were certainly pulling out their whistles more than they do in some games, but Northwestern committed some pretty careless infractions as well. When a team is doing that, it makes itself more susceptible to ticky-tack calls, and that's exactly what happened.
Otherwise, though, Northwestern played a nice first half. West continued to ascend, scoring eight points and making two triples -- something the 'Cats have been needing. One was a beautiful step-back move and a a swish, and the other was wide open from the wing.
Martinelli struggled inside, but he also made two threes in the opening half despite foul trouble. The 'Cats were bad on the boards, but they shot the ball better than Iowa in the first half, and their defense was much sharper than it was earlier in the week against Illinois.
But the Hawkeyes went on a run at the end of the half to head to the locker room up 39-35. The run started after a technical foul was called on NU point guard Jayden Reid for trash talking after he stymied Bennett Stirtz on a breakaway opportunity. Collins was understandably upset, and it ended up being a costly mistake for the Wildcats.
In the second half, Iowa sprang out to an 11-point advantage with around 10 minutes left. Then, the 'Cats turned it on defensively and got a little more physical on the offensive end. West had his impressive slam, Martinelli started converting a little more, and the 'Cats brought it back to a three-point deficit with around 8:30 to play.
But Iowa immediately lengthened the lead back out on a Stirtz three, and he wouldn't stop there. The Hawkeyes' best player killed Northwestern in the final minutes, but West wouldn't let the 'Cats bow out of this one. With just under two minutes, he drilled his fourth triple of the game to make it 70-67.
With about 1:30 to play, down five, West finally missed his first shot of the game, another three-point attempt. From there, Northwestern didn't have enough fuel to complete the comeback.
NU will be back in action on Wednesday at Welsh-Ryan to take on No. 2 Michigan.