Northwestern beat Quincy 80-64 Thursday night in its lone exhibition game prior to the start of the The final result was never in question, but nonetheless, there were some interesting takeaways:
Three major takeaways
Man-to-man defense a work in progress
Despite holding the lead for the entire game, the Wildcats still showed some flaws in their man-to-man defense, even against a Division II opponent. Collins chose to play man the entire night, and as a result, Northwestern's defense was exposed on multiple occasions. Subtle lapses — players not making a switch quick enough (or at all), getting sucked into a screen, or leaving a man wide open beyond the arc — led to several easy baskets for Quincy.