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Men look to exorcise demons against Indiana
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The scrappy Hoosiers could be a tougher test than
expected for Northwestern (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)
It has been a trial by fire this year at Indiana (5-13,0-6) as they have seen almost every winning streak they owned in the Big Ten come to an end.
That should give Northwestern (10-7,2-5) enough of a psychological edge tonight to exact some revenge for a season sweep last year at the hands of the Hoosiers.
Northwestern enters the game with its tail between its legs after failing to continue their winning streak against Michigan on Saturday.
But revenge can be quite a cure-all for any woes you might have and this is the perfect year to pay back Indiana. They probably won’t even need a career-high scoring performance from Kevin Coble as they received the last time that Indiana came to town (L 82-85).
That’s because this isn’t the same Hoosier team that normally rolls into town. Ninety-nine percent of Indiana’s scoring from last year is gone; a consequence of graduation, transfers and a full-team overhaul executed by new coach Tom Crean.
Crean has spent the weeks leading up to practice trying to drill the new blood with ways to break the Northwestern 1-3-1 defense, something that Michigan seemed to have no trouble with.
“We have gotten ready for it by going five-on-seven in practice. We didn't go five-on-six until the end of practice and we've never gone five-on-five because we have a lot of respect for their defense right now,” Crean said Tuesday at a press conference.
On the back of that defense, Northwestern still owns a +4.6 turnover advantage despite a down game against the Wolverines.
Indiana is no slouch on the defensive end either, with a +3.2 turnover advantage of its own. That is part of what makes a young team like the Hoosiers scary for Northwestern.
They have nothing to lose, and will go at you as hard as they can. That is the stuff that upsets are made of.
But Coble wants to make sure that doesn’t happen as he told the Chicago Tribune:
There is no better evidence for that than Coble fretting over the effort the Hoosiers have demonstrated in certain games, wanting to make sure the Wildcats are ready so the visitors don't "come in and upset us."
The junior forward also doesn’t want to spoil what could be a milestone night for him. Coble is seven points away from 1,000 in his career. Given the way he has been playing, that mark could fall in the first five minutes of the game.
Even Crean had to acknowledge that.
“When you look at Coble, there may not be any body better at being an all-around player right now, as far a scoring from three, scoring from mid-range and scoring at the rim.”
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