The Bernstein Brief: Northwestern Must Prove Its Mettle
By Dan Bernstein--
CBSChicago.com senior columnist
(CBS) Northwestern basketball right now is a fun blend of novelty and probability, laced with a healthy dose of fear that the Wildcats could still screw this up.
Coming off a 1-3 stretch without leading scorer Scottie Lindsey, Northwestern faces Illinois in Champaign on Tuesday night looking to improve on its most recent effort, a too-close win over last-place Rutgers on Saturday. The Wildcats (20-7, 9-5) were just starting to learn how to best play without Lindsey, and now he's reconditioning his game on the fly after recovering from mononucleosis. With four games remaining in the Big Ten season, a still-likely NCAA Tournament team has work to do.
It starts with making up for their face-plant against this same Illini team in Evanston two weeks ago and resuming the kind of tough-minded and unselfish play that has powered their ascent to seriousness. Good teams with growing goals can't trip up against also-rans.
Dan Bernstein is a co-host of 670 The Score's "Bernstein and Goff Show" in afternoon drive. You can follow him on Twitter @dan_bernstein and read more of his columns here.