EVANSTON, Illinois — Joe McKeown stood at the virtual podium after Northwestern’s 84-63 loss to No. 16 Michigan with a simple message: “Tonight was a wakeup call.”
In its first game against a ranked opponent this season, Northwestern (4-2, 2-2 B1G) looked nothing like the team capable of defending its Big Ten Championship.
The Wolverines utterly dominated NU in a 21-point victory, stretching the margin to as much as 35 in the second half.
“We just got outplayed,” said junior guard Lindsey Pulliam, who finished with 13 points on 5-of-14 shooting from the field.
The last time the ‘Cats played Michigan, the then seven-seed Wolverines took advantage of some sloppy play from NU to pull off the upset in the Big Ten tournament.