Seven games into Northwestern's 2015-16, its offense had been impressive. The Wildcats were nearly a top-50 team nationally in adjusted offensive efficiency, and had gotten off to a 6-1 start in large part due to their scoring.
However, Northwestern's offense had also been somewhat one-dimensional, meaning it hadn't reached its full potential. It had been extremely guard-oriented through seven games. In fact, coming into the game, center Alex Olah's shot rate — the percentage of his team's shots while he is on the floor that he takes — was only the sixth-highest on the team, at 16.5 percent.