Northwestern hasn’t won at Illinois since January 2013, which was two months before Chris Collins became the Wildcats’ head coach. Collins has led Northwestern to its first three NCAA Tournament appearances in school history, but he’s still searching for a victory in Champaign.
The Wildcats have lost all eight of their trips there by an average of 12.4 points. However, could Sunday’s Big Ten game between Northwestern (12-7, 3-5 conference) and 17th-ranked Illinois (13-6, 5-4) be the one where Collins gets his first win?
One reason for hope: When Illinois and Northwestern faced off on December 6 in Evanston, the Wildcats came from behind, erasing a 10-point second-half deficit to win 70-66 in overtime. Nick Martinelli, who finished with 27 points, did most of his scoring after halftime as Northwestern kept giving him the ball and Illinois struggled to defend him one-on-one.
Another factor: Illinois comes into this game on a two-game losing streak, their first since ending last season with losses in the Big Ten and NCAA tournaments. More troubling is that they’ve lost their last two home games by 10 points to Southern California and by 21 points to Maryland.
Illinois head coach Brad Underwood was critical of his team after Thursday’s 91-70 loss to Maryland, saying, “Been a long time since the Illini took a good ol’ ass-kicking like that. Really, no excuses from us.”
However, there’s a twist: Illinois didn’t have freshman point guard Kasparas Jakucionis, their leading scorer with 16.2 points per game, during the USC loss.
Illinois also announced Saturday that starting center Tomislav Ivisic will miss Sunday’s game due to mononucleosis. Ivisic, who missed the loss to Maryland, leads the team with 8.5 rebounds per game and is second in scoring with 13.0 points per game.
When Jakucionis or Ivisic aren’t playing, Illinois lacks their main offensive threat, which involves running a high ball screen that usually leads to a Jakucionis drive and kick or an Ivisic pick-and-pop for a 3-pointer.
Underwood discussed the team’s difficulties with illness, saying, “We’ve just got to find a way to get whole again, so guys can settle back into their roles.”
On the other hand, Northwestern has started to find success again with fifth-year senior Ty Berry returning to form as the team’s top 3-point shooter. Earlier this month, Berry went 1-for-10 from 3-point range during a three-game losing streak against Penn State, then-No. 20 Purdue, and then-No. 16 Michigan State. This led Collins to move Berry to the bench and give freshman Angelo Ciaravino a starting role.
In the Wildcats’ last three games — an overtime win over Maryland, an overtime loss at Michigan, and Wednesday’s home win over Indiana — Berry has made 12 of 26 3-pointers, averaging 16.7 points and 5.7 rebounds. His hot shooting includes a career-high 7-of-10 performance against Indiana.
Collins praised Berry’s energy and enthusiasm, saying, “I love feeding off his energy and his enthusiasm and that smile he has when he’s playing with joy.”
