Michael Carney and Northwestern kept their heads high after they went 2-9 in the 2014 portion of their schedule. Photo by Caleb Williams, d3photography.com

Even though the Northwestern (Minn.) men’s basketball team lost nine of its first 11 games, the coaches and players believed they had a good team.

Since the beginning of the New Year, the Eagles have proven they’re better than their slow start indicated.

Northwestern has won 14 games in a row, sweeping its conference schedule to claim its third straight UMAC regular season championship.

“It feels great,” said UNW coach Tim Grosz, whose teams have won the conference title 12 times during his tenure at Northwestern. “Being 14-0 is a great accomplishment for our guys. I’ve been here 15 years, and we’ve won the conference our share, but we’ve never been undefeated.”

The Eagles last went unbeaten in conference play during the 1994-95 season, but the league schedule was only 10 games. So UNW’s 14-win mark in conference competition is a program best.

Now as the No. 1 seed in the UMAC tournament, Northwestern will attempt to break the program’s record of 15 consecutive wins as they vie for their fifth straight automatic qualification to the NCAA Tournament.

But early on this season, the Eagles had little success – at least in terms of wins and losses.

The team got off to a 1-8 start before securing a win over UW-Stout just before Christmas and then suffered a 25-point loss at St. Olaf.

“I feel like everyone had that positive attitude and we stuck with it,” junior guard Michael Carney said. “We tried to focus on our potential as a team and what we were capable of.”

“Their attitudes were good. The practices were good. It wasn’t translating to wins and losses, but the attitude and the work ethic stayed really consistent throughout the year, from Oct. 15 on,” Grosz added. “I just don’t think there was a panic mode.”

It felt like things were starting to turn around for the Eagles when they met with Bethel on Dec. 3. Even though UNW fell to the Royals in overtime, the team was understanding its strengths.

“Even though we lost that game, I think it gave us some confidence,” Grosz said.

“I think how hard we played in that game, we started to realize the potential we had,” Carney explained.

That potential materialized after a two-and-a-half week break in competition. The Eagles returned to the court refreshed in January.

“The guys came back focused,” Grosz said. “We said, ‘Let’s learn from first semester, put these things into play in practice and make a good run in conference.’”

 Northwestern handed North Central (Minn.) a 75-67 defeat on Jan. 10 and hasn’t lost since.

Carney credits the team’s success to a strong work ethic and a specific mindset.

“I think it’s just how hard we play,” Carney said. “Our coach tells us every game is a championship game. I think that really helps us a lot. Whether we’re playing the worst team in our conference or one of the best teams in the country, we’re going to approach every single game like that championship game.”

Carney personifies the team’s work ethic, leading by example before workouts, during practice and in the weight room.

The guard sees to it that he makes 400 shots every day.

As a result, Carney is averaging a team-high 15.4 points per game and is shooting better than 41 percent from 3-point range.

During the Eagles’ winning streak, Carney has scored in double figures 13 times.

“He has been phenomenal. He has just been shooting the ball so, so well over this stretch,” Grosz said, adding that Carney’s ball-handling and defense have been excellent too. “He has great shot selection. Sometimes we almost want him to shoot more because he’s shooting the ball so well. But he’s taken and made so many big shots for us over this stretch.”

Grosz said his team has made an overall improvement on defense since losing to St. Olaf in late December, which has been instrumental in the current winning streak also.

“I said, ‘Guys, we’re going to play man-to-man. We’re not going to play any zone. We’re going to get really good at our man-to-man and we’re not going to bail you out by switching to something else,’” the coach recalled. “From that point on, we’ve worked really hard at it and continued to get better at it.”

With 14 wins in a row and the UMAC title in hand, the Eagles are not ready to let up. Northwestern will host St. Scholastica in the UMAC tourney semifinals Wednesday, looking to advance to Saturday’s championship game.

“We’re a confident group, coming out of the conference 14-0. But by no means do we think it’s going to be anything but really tough,” said Grosz. “I think they’re really focused to go and give a good effort. We have a lot of respect for the other teams in the conference tournament.

“We know we have to work hard and we’re going to have to execute well to be successful. If not, it could be a short run.”

The Eagles hope that playing with the same attitude will lead them back to the NCAA tournament and to the program’s first victory in the national tourney.

 “We have the same exact mindset,” Carney said. “If we take care of everything we need to take care of, we have a chance to win every game that we play in.”

1,000 points

Bluffton’s Thayne Recker went over the 1,000-point mark when he scored 24 in the Beavers’ 73-49 win over Earlham Feb. 18. He is one of 11 players in program history to go over 1,000 career points and 500 career rebounds.

Stephanie Wong made a school-record seven 3-pointers in Caltech’s 72-61 win over Occidental Feb. 21, helping her become the fastest player in program history to score 1,000 points. Wong, only the second Caltech women’s basketball player to go over 1,000, finished the night with 31 points.

Andrea Villanueva became the seventh player in the Chapman women’s basketball program to eclipse 1,000 points. She hit the milestone with a 14-point effort during the Panthers’ 72-57 win over La Verne on Feb. 21.

Spalding’s Jessica Guy surpassed the 1,000-point milestone when she scored 19 in a 59-41 win over Webster on Feb. 16.

Where they rank

UW-Whitewater, St. Norbert and UW-Stevens Point remained ranked in the top-five when this week’s Top 25 poll was revealed. The Warhawks received 10 first place votes and are ranked No. 2. St. Norbert and the Pointers moved up one spot each to Nos. 3 and 4, respectively.

St. Thomas fell three spots to No. 6 and Augustana checks in at No. 8 this week. Whitworth is ranked No. 16 and St. Olaf is the No. 18 team.

Elmhurst (30) and Chapman (29) received votes but fell out of the Top 25. Illinois Wesleyan (18) and Whitman (4) also received votes this week.

St. Thomas and George Fox remained ranked Nos. 2 and 3, respectively, in the women’s Top 25. The Tommies garnered three first place votes while the Bruins earned two.

Transylvania is up two spots to No. 13 while Wheaton (Ill.) dropped two to No. 17. Puget Sound rose three places to No. 18 and Whitworth slid three spots to No. 23.

Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (15), UW-Superior (5), North Central (Ill.) (2) and UW-Oshkosh (2) received votes.

Check in

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