First things first: shout out to WNUR.
Let me repeat: 🗣️SHOUT OUT TO WNUR!
I don’t pay for BTN+. And, I don’t see myself ever paying for it.
And with just a handful of the women’s basketball team’s games on BTN proper this season, it makes it really hard to watch the team. But the student broadcasters at WNUR are my saving grace. For example, Ben Moskow and Viktor Ostlund took me through the emotional fourth quarter and OT of Northwestern’s come-from-behind win at No. 15 Indiana last night.
Thank you, guys.
With that, let’s blame some things.
📵Blame the AP and the coaches
I’ll let the team’s branded Twitter account get it started:
Last night, Northwestern found itself down 12 in the fourth quarter. And then found itself down down just 1 with under a minute left. The Wildcats needed a stop. And they got that and more:
Star Lindsey Pulliam dove to grab a steal and the Wildcats moved it ahead quickly to point guard Veronica Burton, who finished the hoop, hit the free throw, and eventually sent the game into overtime.
And then in OT, Northwestern went down 4 with two minutes left, but a 6-point run to end the game gave the Wildcats a hard-earned victory over the nation’s No. 15 team.
Northwestern is now 15-2 and 5-1 in the Big Ten. That’s good enough to be at the top of the conference.
As long as they avoid an upset at home over last-place Penn State this weekend, the Wildcats will surely enter both the AP and Coaches Polls next week.
What made last night’s win so impressive was what the Wildcats didn’t have. This game looked nothing like the upset of Maryland earlier this season in terms of output from Pulliam, the team’s leading scorer. Pulliam isn’t an efficient scorer. She’s a bit of a chucker, but that’s a quality that Joe McKeown’s team often needs. Heck, she’s ranked in the top 20 nationally in usage rate.
Pulliam wasn’t at her best in Bloomington. And her 5-22 shooting performance came on the heels of a 3-19 outing against Purdue in the previous contest and a 4-16 game at Minnesota before that.
Northwestern has been able to win those three games by a combined 9 points. But for the Wildcats to really make a run through the rest of the Big Ten slate, Pulliam will have to snap out of her slump ASAP.
📵Blame the Big Ten
Northwestern’s men’s basketball team just finished up arguably the easiest portion of its Big Ten schedule. Yes, easiest.
The Wildcats went 1-3 against Minnesota, Indiana, Nebraska, and Iowa.
Coming up:
at No. 24 Illinois on Saturday
vs. No. 17 Maryland on Tuesday
vs. No. 21 Ohio State on Sunday, Jan. 26
at No. 15 Michigan State on Wednesday, Jan. 29
This thing’s going to get ugly, if it hasn’t already gotten there.
SHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESH.
📵Blame a bunch of small, fun things that don’t warrant a whole section
Vic Law had been lighting it up as a member of the Orlando Magic’s G League team. And he played so well that he inked a two-way deal with the Magic earlier this week, meaning we should see him in the Association sometime this season. The former Wildcat standout was averaging about 18 points per contest while shooting 39% from three. [Source: Orlando Magic]
The Northwestern football program got some good news as quarterback TJ Green was granted a sixth year of eligibility for the Wildcats. Remember, Green was the starter to open the 2019 season against Stanford before suffering a season-ending injury. [Source: Northwestern]
Former Northwestern hooper Charlie Hall has a new comedy web series. FYI, it’s pretty NSFW. It also features cameos from Law and Anthony Gaines. [Source: YouTube]
That’s where we’ll end things this week. Thanks for sticking with another edition of 📵Blame the Phones.
And remember, if you want to be one my bag people, it’s here.
Please let me know if you have any questions or ideas. I’d love to hear them.
Take care,
Josh Rosenblat