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ANN ARBOR, Mich. \u2014 Northwestern (12-5, 3-3 Big Ten) hopes to rebound against Michigan (10-7, 4-2 Big Ten) just days after a crushing home loss to the Rutgers I was there. Went to Ann Arbor for a Sunday matinee game. Unfortunately, the Cats suffered their first road loss in Big Ten play, losing to the Wolverines 85-78.<\/span><\/p>\n Senior forward Robbie Veran’s layup opened the scoring for the Cats.<\/span> The defense was the Wildcats’ calling card all season, but the Wolverines continued to score early. <\/span><\/p>\n Coach Chris Collins spoke of the Cats’ unusual defensive struggles during Sunday’s contest. <\/span><\/p>\n Collins said, “We couldn’t stop when we needed to in the second half.” <\/span><\/p>\n NU had an offensive buildup after two dunks from senior center Matthew Nicholson. The Clarkston, Michigan native had to be replaced early due to foul trouble in the opening minutes of the contest, leaving the Cats unattended in the paint. <\/span><\/p>\n NU’s deficit widened to 12 midway through the first half, but efficient possession on the attacking side and tight defense afterwards helped limit the damage.Veran’s 3 followed by sophomore guard Brooks Bernheiser’s fast break dunk<\/span> He rejuvenated the Cats and led them to a 7-0 run.<\/span> After an aggressively hot start, NU held the Wolverines to 6 points in a 5-minute stretch. By the end of the first half, Veran shot 5-for-6 from the field and led all scorers with 12 points.<\/span><\/p>\n The Cats continue to fight back despite the deficits they face. Collins emphasized the importance of his team’s ability to do so. <\/span><\/p>\n “This group has amazed me all year in terms of their fighting, their will and their competitive spirit,” Collins said. “The first eight minutes of play were disappointing. Taking the lead at half-time showed a lot of who our group was and who we were all year.” <\/span><\/p>\n After a slow start, the Cats began to awaken aggressively. His two sets of 3’s by redshirt senior Chase O’Digi pushed his NU to the first advantage of the game in the 4th minute.<\/span> The Cats maintained their lead in point-off turnovers in the final minutes of the first half. A steal by Auge led to a fast-breaking floater, and a steal by Barnhizer led to transition 3 by his sophomore guard Julian Roper II, giving the Cats his 39-37 lead at the end of the first half. Audigier continued his team-leading fine play defensively in his end he recorded five steals.<\/span><\/p>\n Collins noted the dichotomy of forcing 18 turnovers against the Wolverines but giving up 85 points. <\/span><\/p>\n “We were aggressive in the passing lanes, especially the chase,” Collins said. \u201cHe’s definitely the best defender and steal in the conference. <\/span><\/p>\n The aggressive firepower with which the Cats finished the first half was less evident at the start of the second half. His pair of NU scoring droughts in his 3rd minute of the second half saw the Cats midway through he faced a 9-point deficit. They shot a bad 1\/9 from deep in the second half. <\/span><\/p>\n While the Wildcats struggled offensively, they continued to rack up steals and were able to stay within range in the second half stretch. Back-to-back stolen bases by senior guard Boo Bouillet, Odizi and Roper led to free throws in fastbreak transition to cut the Cats’ deficit to one. However, continued shooting failures in the stretch allowed the Wolverines to re-establish a double-digit lead in the final minutes of the game. <\/span><\/p>\n Collins acknowledged the team’s game plan to attack Michigan on defense and eventually produce a fast-paced offense. <\/span><\/p>\n “We wanted to try to attack if we could, especially when they’re playing against bigger players and trying to get them up and down the floor as quickly as possible,” Collins said. “Whether it’s rebounding long or forcing turnovers, we wanted to see if players could push the ball out onto the open court and take chances before the defense locked up. .” <\/span><\/p>\n Much of the Cats’ offense in the second half revolved around Bouillet. With a spinning reverse layup and New York native Nicholson dunk, the Wildcats were able to get out of his sketch scoreless. The senior guard then scored 16 of a game-high 22 points in the second half. Despite Bouillet scoring at the end, continued scoring by the Wolverines put the game out of reach for the Cats. <\/span><\/p>\n Heading into Wednesday, when the Cats move to Iowa City, Collins realized the team needed to perform at a higher level defensively to achieve better results. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe had to recommit ourselves to play better defense,\u201d he said. We have to make sure of that before the next game.” <\/span><\/p>\n Email: <\/b>[email\u00a0protected]<\/span><\/p>\n