Northwestern won its first game of the Big Ten Tournament on Wednesday night, but that didn’t mean the Wildcats coach didn’t have his gripes with the league.
In fact, Chris Collins seemed to think the Big Ten has something against his school.
After Northwestern’s 74-62 win over Minnesota in the first round of the conference tourney, Collins started his press conference by saying his team has had to overcome a lot of adversity — and that included being in a hot hotel that he said had no air conditioner.
“Our guys are just a tough group of guys, they’ve had a lot thrown at them. Even last night, they put us in a hotel, the rooms were 1,000 degrees,” Collins said. “There was no AC in the hotel and our guys’ rooms were 85 degrees. And that’s where the league puts you. Every way they turn, they’re trying to get us. And our guys are a resilient bunch.”
Ty Berry, who scored 14 points with seven rebounds and three assists, said he slept on top of the covers of his bed with the temperature a little too high for his comfort.
“It was hot all night, I was tossing and turning, but at the end of the day, you’ve gotta just play through stuff,” Berry said.
Second-team All-Big Ten member Nick Martinelli said he had a bucket of ice that he grabbed from to rub on his face in the night leading up to the game.
Whether that worked or not to keep him warm, he scored a team-high 28 points.
“I’m not going to say I’m happy it happened, but we came out here and showed them,” Martinelli said.
“We’re used to being treated like that by this league,” Collins then chipped in after Martinelli answered.
The trio at the press conference indicated it planned to go back to the same hotel again.
But what Collins did add was that he hasn’t been happy with how referees officiate his team’s games, which comes a little over a week after he criticized officials after a non-call against Martinelli in a March 3 game against UCLA.
“You guys watch the games,” Collins added Wednesday. “You guys are the ones tweeting out how we’re being officiated and how we’re being treated. I don’t have to say anything. You guys watch the same games I do, so I’m not going to get into any of that stuff.”
Northwestern next plays Wisconsin on Thursday.
Leave a Reply