Banged up Northwestern men's basketball team prepares for Big Ten Tournament
EVANSTON, Ill. (CBS) – Northwestern's men's basketball team is on its way to Minneapolis for the Big Ten Tournament but won't have to play until Friday.
CBS 2 caught up with a banged up Wildcats squad that's getting some much-needed rest.
Head coach Chris Collins said the Cats will still be without big man Matthew Nicholson for the Big Ten Tournament. He'll be re-evaluated next week.
With senior guard Ty Berry out for the year, the absences are forcing other guys to step up.
"That's just kinda how we've been constructed is, 'Hey we're gonna figure it out with the guys we got and that's the mentality," Collins said. "I see the way [forward] Blake Preston stepped up the other night. I thought it was Blake's best game in a long time."
Northwestern will rely heavily on their two All-Big Ten players, unanimous first-teamer Boo Buie and Brooks Barnhizer, who got third-team honors and an all-defensive team nod that should make assistant coach Chris Lowery a happy man.
"Brooks was incredibly proud to be able to tell coach Lowery to stop getting on him about his defense," Collins said, jokingly. "That he's now an all-league defender, so 'Lay off me.'"
Barnhizer added, "Yeah it was funny. I was kinda teasing with him yesterday. I was like, 'Maybe you could cut me some slack. I'm an all-league defensive guy.' And he was like, 'Maybe, but you better keep getting better.' It was definitely a friendly conversation between me and C-Lowe."
It's the second straight year that Northwestern will have a double bye in the conference tournament. Collins said they use their time to fine-tune things and focus on themselves instead of getting ready to face a specific opponent.