FINAL RECORD
8-22, 1-17 in the Big Ten, 11th place

WHAT WENT RIGHT
Northwestern discovered it has at least three players who can hang with anyone in the Big Ten. Well, the Wildcats already knew sophomore forward Kevin Coble belonged with the big boys, but he reinforced that idea by averaging 15.9 points and 5.4 rebounds.

Junior guard Craig Moore recovered from an awful shooting season about as strongly as a person can. Moore led the Big Ten in 3-pointers with 97 -- and he shot 40 percent while doing it. Northwestern also found a suitable backcourt partner in freshman point guard Michael "Juice" Thompson. Not only did he start from Day One, he led the Wildcats in minutes (35.5 per game) and assists (4.3 per) while making 45 3-pointers and averaging 11.6 points.

WHAT WENT WRONG
Simply put, Northwestern still didn't have enough Big Ten-quality players on its roster. The Wildcats wasted two-thirds of the season receiving little, if anything, from its 5 spot. Not until redshirt freshman Ivan Peljusic moved into the starting lineup for the final nine games did NU start to get production there.

Moreover, the Wildcats' usually puzzling zone defenses didn't fool anybody -- and they struggle to grab the shots that happened to miss their mark. Opponents shot an alarming 48.3 percent from the field and outrebounded the Cats by 10.8 boards per game. That's no way to win in any lower conference, much less the Big Ten.

QUOTE TO NOTE
"I think it's been unfair to some of my perimeter guys. There's a lot of pressure on them. We have to have some new blood that's going to be coming in. It gives us some help upfront." -- Northwestern coach Bill Carmody explaining the result of his team's minimal frontcourt play this season.

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