Northwestern practice notes and quotes: Jan. 20

This was the scene Tuesday about 30 minutes before Northwestern practice began at Welsh-Ryan Arena. Bryant McIntosh was the first player out on the court, long before any of his teammates joined him:

- McIntosh said there "wasn’t a lot of sleep" in the days after the Michigan game. "It was a tough one to swallow."

- McIntosh said he knew he missed the shot when it left his hand.

- McIntosh said he "lost it" in the locker room, and said all of his teammates were around him patting him on the chest and back. "That was nice of them, but it still didn’t take away the pain."

- McIntosh on when Collins picked him up off the floor: "He told me he loved me."

- McIntosh on losing, which he hasn’t really experienced in his basketball career until now: "I’m probably not handing it very well. Each loss, I kind of dwell on. It’s just part of it, I’ve got to learn… At some point, you’ve got to just let it go."

- McIntosh said he barely left his room on Sunday. "I was kind of locked in my room thinking about it – the entire game, not just the one shot I missed."

- McIntosh said he re-watched the game three times on the bus ride home.

- Collins on Vic Law, who injured his elbow in the second half against Michigan: "Vic should be fine. He just banged his elbow. He landed on that funny bone area."

- Collins on Nate Taphorn, who missed Saturday's game with a foot injury: "Tap is going to be out this week for sure." NU has a week off after Sunday's matchup with Maryland, so that’ll give Taphorn two weeks to recover. The target for his return is the following Saturday, when the Wildcats welcome Purdue to Welsh-Ryan.

- Collins on Taphorn: "His is a stress related injury, so over time, he was having pain, and we were treating it, and he was able to play, and it just got to the point where he wasn’t able to play anymore."

- Collins said he likes that Bryant McIntosh was taking Saturday’s loss really hard. "There’s no one that cares more than he does," Collins said. "I love his competitiveness, I’m glad he cares that much, I’m glad he takes it hard."

- Collins on how he dealt with McIntosh after the game: "I wanted him to understand that he played a brilliant game. He made every play against [Michigan’s] 1-3-1."

- Collins said he gave his team Sunday off to recover after Michigan, and went light on Monday. "Last week was really tough on us emotionally. We put a lot into those games."

- Collins said around this time of year, teams start paring down practices and start focusing solely on game preparation. There’s a lot less "banging," he said.

- Collins on McIntosh: "He’s one of the rare guys, he watches basketball when he’s not playing it, which I think is part of being good too. You watch games, you study the game, you learn more about it. He invests a lot. And he’s smart enough to be able to take it on."

- Collins said he actually wanted McIntosh to shoot a three on that final possession to go for the win.

- Collins said Saturday was the best Scottie Lindsey and Vic Law had played all season.

- I asked Collins if he’s playing Cobb more than he thought he’d be able to. He laughed and said, "probably… I’ve been pleasantly surprised."

- Collins on Cobb: "He's doing a better job of understanding that maybe the way he played when he was younger, he's got to play a different kind of game." As Ben Goren explored earlier Tuesday, Collins said Cobb is becoming a really good spot shooter. "Early in his career, he was more of a guy to play with the ball and get to his spot," Collins said. "He can't do that as well anymore. He's had to learn how to find his offense in other ways."