Dec. 04--For starters, Northwestern dug itself a hole it couldn't crawl out of Wednesday night as Georgia Tech rolled to a 66-58 victory at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
Wildcats coach Chris Collins said he is considering a different starting lineup when his team travels to Indianapolis on Saturday to face Butler.
"If I think change is needed, I am going to do it," Collins said. "With last year's team, every guy on our team started. ... I don't know. I have to talk with my staff. Right now it's too emotional, you're right after the game. But there's no question starts to the games are something we have to get better at. And I am not sure if it means personnel. But it might."
NU (5-2) fell behind 20-2 to start the Big Ten-ACC Challenge game, yet managed to pull within 57-56 with 1 minute, 17 seconds left on an Alex Olah jump shot.
Olah, the 7-foot center, came alive in the second half and finished with 19 points, 10 rebounds, two blocks and two steals.
"I knew I had to do something, be more aggressive. I played soft in the first half," Olah said. "We have to throw the first punch."
Georgia Tech (6-1) imposed its will early.
"If we didn't get off to such a good start, the game probably would have been different," Yellow Jackets coach Brian Gregory said. "Any time you get a win on the road against a well-coached team, you have to take it and get the hell out."
After shooting just 27 percent in the first half, Northwestern connected on nearly 58 percent (15 of 26 in the second half. Olah converted all six of his second-half attempts that included deft jump hooks as well as a well-stroked and timely 3-point shot.
"I was really surprised the way we started," Collins said as he shook his head. "We were down 20-2 before we started to play. I am a little dumbfounded with our shooting because it is not indicative of the shooters we have."
The Wildcats know they will have to regroup quickly against Butler.
"To me this is very much like a Big Ten week," Collins said.
Collins had predicted his Wildcats would have to impose their will against a rugged Georgia Tech team.
"It's a matter of who has to match up to (whom)," Collins said. "Do they have to go small, do we have to go big? That's kind of the beauty of basketball."
But the first half was no thing of beauty for the Wildcats.
""Obviously their strength is their power and big guys and their physicality," Collins said. "And ours is our skill and our ability to make plays."
Power and physicality won out Wednesday night.
fmitchell@tribpub.com
Twitter @kicker34
Northwestern hosting Georgia Tech in Big Ten/ACC Challenge
