Northwestern University Athletics
Men's Basketball Participates In Hoop And Quill Classic
11/24/1999 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 24, 1999
NORTHWESTERN (1-0) vs. Evansville (2-0)
Date: Nov. 26, 1999/1:40 p.m. CT
Site: St. Charles Family Arena
Television: None
Radio: WGN 720
The Matchup
Northwestern travels to St. Louis to take on Evansville in the first round of the Hoop and Quill Classic at St. Charles Family Arena. Northwestern opened the regular season with a 55-47 win over the Chicago State Cougars on Tuesday night. Evansville defeated Western Kentucky, 52-47, on Tuesday night to push its record to 2-0. Evansville?s other victory came over IUPUI, 74-61, on Nov. 20. The Aces were 23-10 last season and advanced to the NCAA Tournament, where they lost to Kansas, 95-74, in the first round.
Series: Evansville leads 1-0
Last meeting: Dec. 9, 1964 at Evansville (83-75)
Next Up
NU will meet the winner/loser of the Nebraska vs. Southern Mississippi game starting at 9:20 p.m. If the ?Cats win, they will play at 8 p.m. Friday night. If the ?Cats lose, they will play in the consolation bracket at 3:20 p.m. Friday.
Chicago State Recap
The Northwestern men?s basketball team opened the 1999-2000 campaign with a 55-47 win over Chicago State at Welsh-Ryan Arena. It was the first time the Wildcats won their opening game in the three-year tenure of head coach Kevin O?Neill. Sophomore Steve Lepore led the way for Northwestern with 14 points.
Starting two freshmen and three sophomores, the ?Cats jumped out to a 21-13 lead on a Lepore jumper, but the Cougars responded by scoring 12 of the last 16 points in the half to tie the game at 25 at the intermission.
Northwestern?s defense was the story of the second half, limiting the visitors to just seven field goals and 27 percent shooting. The offense came around over the final five minutes, as freshman Brody Deren scored six of his nine points in a decisive 8-0 run which gave Northwestern its largest lead, 52-43, with 1:17 left.
Freshman Ben Johnson scored 12 points and sophomore David Newman added 11 for the Wildcats.
Scouting Evansville
Evansville returns four starters from last year?s sqaud which went 23-10 and qualified for the NCAA Tournament. The Purple Aces arrive in St. Louis with a 2-0 record, posting wins against IUPUI (74-61) and Western Kentucky (52-47). Junior forward Craig Snow scored a career-high 31 points against IUPUI and leads the team in scoring (23.5) and rebounding (7.5).
Head Coach Kevin O?Neill
Beginning his third season at the helm of the Northwestern basketball program, Kevin O?Neill has brought his own brand of intensity, excitement and basketball talent to Evanston. In just two seasons, O?Neill has turned the Wildcats into postseason contenders. Northwestern made postseason play for the third time in the school?s history last season when they were selected to play in the National Invitation Tournament. O?Neill?s work was nothing short of miraculous considering the ?Cats started three freshmen and played in a conference that had seven teams ranked in the top 25 for most of last season. O?Neill owns a career record of 186-172 (.520) and is 26-31 in his tenure at NU.
O?Neill?s intensity translates to the court as pressure defense, and the Wildcats proved last season to be one of the best in the country on that side of the floor. NU finished ranked third in the NCAA in field goal defense (.373) and sixth in the NCAA in scoring defense (57.1 ppg).
O?Neill, 42, knows what it takes to turn around a program. In 1994, he inherited a Tennessee program which won only five games the previous campaign, and took them to the NIT two seasons later.
At Marquette, the two-time Great Midwest Conference Coach of the Year took over a program which, like Tennessee, hadn?t enjoyed a winning season in many years. In 1990-91, his first season, he guided the Golden Eagles to a 15-14 record and an appearance in the NIT. Three seasons later (1993-94), he directed Marquette to a 20-8 mark and a spot in the NCAA tournament. The next season, he coached the Golden Eagles back to their glory days by advancing to the Sweet 16 and finishing with a 24-9 record. He left Milwaukee with an impressive mark of four winning campaigns in five years and a Great Midwest Conference championship in 1994. Tabbed as one of the nation?s top recruiters, O?Neill has already overhauled the Northwestern program in just two recruiting classes.
O?Neill Win Total
Head coach Kevin O?Neill begins his third season in Evanston tonight. His 25 wins through his first two seasons at NU is second only to William Rohr, who won 28 from 1957-59. O?Neill needs 14 wins this season to have the best mark through the first three seasons at NU. Rohr also holds that mark with 39 wins.
Age Before Beauty
The best word to describe this season?s Wildcat squad is YOUNG. All 10 of the scholarship players are either freshmen or sophomores. There are seven freshmen, including walk-on Langston Hughes, four sophomores, and one walk-on junior in Jeff Eschmeyer. The starting five tonight will consist of three sophomores and two freshmen.
Tough on ?D?
Last season, the ?Cats led the Big Ten and finished third in the country in field goal percentage defense (37.3%). NU was sixth in the nation in scoring defense (57.1 ppg.). O?Neill?s teams have held opponents to 13 points or fewer in a half five times in the past two seasons: Michigan, 2-4-99, 12 points, Oakland, 11-21-98, 13 points, Wisconsin, Chicago State and Wofford, all in the 1997-98 season, 13 points.
Travelin? Man
Sophomore Steve Lepore spent the summer traveling the globe playing basketball. Lepore was a member of the United States team at the World Junior Championships in Portugal. The Americans won a silver medal and Lepore finished second on the team in scoring with a 10.5 ppg average. He started all eight games and was tops in the team in three pointers, shooting 18-36 for the tournament. Lepore also traveled to Austria with a Big Ten All-Star team in August. The Big Ten team finished 3-3, as Lepore averaged 6.5 ppg and shot 47% from the field.
Old Sophomores
David Newman and Tavaras Hardy started all 29 games as freshmen a year ago. Through just one season, Newman ranks 10th on the career three-pointers made list with 55. Newman was second on the team in scoring last season averaging 8.3 ppg. Hardy, who averaged 6.9 ppg, came on strong in the postseason scoring 12 points vs. Penn State in the Big Ten Tournament, then collecting eight points at DePaul in the NIT.
Big Ten/ACC Challenge
ESPN will bring back the conference challenge concept with the first-ever Big Ten/ACC Challenge ? nine games between these two top conferences over two days at nine different sites, Nov. 30-Dec. 1. ESPN and ESPN2 will each televise four games, while ESPN Regional Television will syndicate one game. Northwestern will play Florida State Seminoles on Wednesday., Dec. 1 at 8:30 p.m. at Welsh-Ryan Arena. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN2.
Cyber O?Neill
ESPN.com will be airing live chat session with coaches and players from ACC and Big Ten teams on Monday, Nov. 29 and Tuesday, Nov. 30. Coach O?Neill will be on live Tuesday for approximately 15 minutes. Time is TBA.
NU Signs Young
Northwestern signed Jitim Young (guard, 6-2, 185, Chicago, Ill./Gordon Tech) to a National Letter of Intent to play basketball beginning in the fall of 2000. Young was the only player NU signed in the early signing period, the Wildcats have one scholarship remaining for this season.
?Jitim is a great get for our program,? said O?Neill. ?He will have a great senior year and come and make an immediate impact at Northwestern. We hope we can fill our other scholarship with as good a player as Jitim.?
Young led Gordon Tech to a 22-8 record along with Catholic North and regional championships last season. He averaged 18.7 points, 6.1 rebounds, three assists and two steals per game. Young was named all-state by the IBCA and all-area by both the Chicago Tribune and Sun-Times. This past summer, Young was named the Most Valuable Player of the 5-Star Camp All-Star Game and was given the 5-Star Sportsmanship and Defensive Awards. He is invited to play in the Reebok Capital Classic in April. Young is a four-year honor roll student and a member of the National Honor Society. Young chose Northwestern over Notre Dame, Michigan State, Penn State and Marquette.
Wildcats on the Air
All Northwestern regular-season games can be heard on WGN-AM Radio 720. Once again this season, Dave Eanet will handle the play-by-play duties while former DePaul head coach Joey Meyer handles the color analysis. Coach O?Neill can be heard after every game on his postgame show. At home, fans can stay and listen to the show live over the Welsh-Ryan Arena sound system.
The Kevin O?Neill Show
Fox Sports Chicago is the home of the Kevin O?Neill Show. The half-hour show will appear 11 times during Northwestern's 1999-2000 season. The first show will air Tuesday, Nov. 30 at 5:30 p.m., before the Wildcats face the Florida State Seminoles in the inaugural Big Ten/ACC Challenge.
Hosting the Kevin O?Neill show will be Dave Eanet. Eanet, sports director at WGN, has handled the play-by-play duties for WGN radio the past two seasons.
Again for the 1999-2000 season, fans can submit questions to Coach O?Neill via NUSPORTS.COM, the official internet site of Northwestern athletics. Three questions will be chosen weekly and answered on ?The Kevin O?Neill Show.? Every fan who has their question read on-air will receive a special gift pack courtesy of Ameritech.
Ricky Byrdsong Foundation Day
In honor of the late Ricky Byrdsong, Northwestern University has given 1,000 complimentary men?s basketball tickets to the Ricky Byrdsong Foundation. The tickets are for Saturday, December 4, when the Wildcats host La Salle University at 1 p.m. in Welsh-Ryan Arena.
The Foundation plans to sell these tickets at $10 each, with all the proceeds going directly to the Foundation. Tickets may be purchased individually or in blocks. For more information, call the Ricky Byrdsong Foundation at 1-877-BRDSONG (1-877-273-7664).
Wildcat Probable Starters
Pos. No. Name (Ht., Wt., Cl., Hometown) PPG RPG F 14 Steve Lepore (6-5, 200, So., North Olmstead, Ohio) 7.2 4.3 F 33 Tavaras Hardy (6-8, 223, So., Joliet, Ill.) 6.9 3.9 C 43 Brody Deren (6-7, 242, Fr., Harlan, Iowa) na na G 5 Ben Johnson (6-2, 180, Fr., Minneapolis, Minn.) na na G 24 David Newman (5-11, 191, So., Des Moines, Iowa) 8.3 2.0
OFF THE BENCH C 55 Aaron Jennings (6-11, 200, Fr., Atkins, Iowa) na na G 32 Collier Drayton (6-2, 189, So., Lyons, N.Y.) na na F 3 Winston Blake (6-5, 191, Fr., Plano Texas) na na G/F 30 Jason Burke (6-6, 189, Fr., Plano, Texas) na na F 41 Adam Robinson (6-10, 210, Fr., Cedar Falls, Iowa) na na G 44 Jeff Eschmeyer (6-2, 192, Jr., New Knoxville, Ohio)0.0 0.5 G 10 Langston Hughes (5-11, 186, Fr., Waukegan, Ill.) na na
