Northwestern University Athletics
The ACC/Big Ten Challenge is Here!
12/1/1999 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 1, 1999
ACC/BIG TEN CHALLENGE
NORTHWESTERN (1-3) vs. Florida State (2-2)
Date: Dec. 1, 1999/8:30 p.m. CT
Site: Welsh Ryan Arena (8,117)
Television: ESPN2
Radio: WGN 720-AM
THE MATCHUP
Northwestern faces the Seminoles of Florida State in the inaugural ACC/Big Ten Challenge. Florida State comes into the game with a 2-2 record after losing to #9 Temple, 69-58 on Monday. The Seminoles have defeated Norfolk State, 81-70, and Jacksonville, 83-59. The ?Noles also lost to archrival Florida, 96-61. The first-ever Big Ten/ACC Challenge consists of 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.
THE SERIES: Florida State leads 1-0 (91-73 win on 12/23/71)
SCOUTING FLORIDA STATE
The Seminoles return four starters from last year?s squad including leading scorer Ron Hale. Hale is off to a good start this season, leading the team in scoring (20.0) and rebounding (8.5). Forward Damous Anderson is coming off a stellar performance in the win over Jacksonville, tying his career-high with 23 points on 10-of-12 shooting from the floor.
HOOP AND QUILL RECAP
The Wildcats went 0-3 over the Thanksgiving holiday at the Hoop and Quill Classic in St. Louis, Mo. Not much went right for the ?Cats against Evansville as NU shot 21% from the floor and were held to 26 points losing 48-26. Defensively, NU held Evansville?s leading scorer Craig Snow to four points, he came into the game averaging 23.5 ppg. Freshman guard Ben Johnson led NU with nine points. The Wildcats were defeated by Nebraska, 61-52, in the consolation semifinals on Saturday. NU was led by sophomore forward Steve Lepore with a career-high 19 points. Johnson, with 18 points, also set a career high. The ?Cats trailed nearly the whole game, but closed the gap to within three points at 49-46 with 2:11 left on a three-pointer by Johnson. Johnson then fouled Cookie Belcher, who wasn?t even supposed to play in the tournament due to an injured wrist, and Belcher made two free throws with his nonshooting (left) hand with 1:50 left. After a lay-up by Tavaras Hardy, Kimani Ffriend knocked down two free throws with 1:01 to play to again put the Huskers up five. The Wildcats were then forced to foul and Danny Walker sank 8-of-10 free throws to seal the win. The Huskers went to the charity stripe 35 times, the ?Cats just 11. Hardy added a double-double with 12 points and 10 boards. Against Mississipi State, Northwestern had its best offensive output of the season but fell short to the Bulldogs, 70-65. Again, Johnson paced the Wildcats with 17 points on 5-of-10 shooting. Sophomore Tavaras Hardy nearly had a second double-double in as many days, finishing with 16 points and nine rebounds. For the third straight day, the Wildcats held the opposing team?s leading scorer in check. The Bulldogs? Antonio Jackson was held to 11 points on 3-of-11 shooting.
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 186-175 (.518) and is 26-34 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. 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.
O?NEILL AT WELSH-RYAN
In Kevin O?Neill?s two plus seasons at NU, the Wildcats have made Welsh-Ryan Arena a tough place to play. NU has a 22-12 (.647) home court record under O?Neill. That is a marked improvement to the 14 home wins in the three seasons before O?Neill took over the program.
AND A FRESHMAN SHALL LEAD THEM
Through four games, one of the brightest spots in the Wildcat lineup is freshman guard Ben Johnson. Johnson leads the Wildcats in scoring with a 14.0 points per game average. At the Hoop and Quill, Johnson registered nine points against Evansville, 18 (career-high) vs. Nebraska, and 17 against Mississippi State. Johnson also leads the team in three-point shooting percentage (.421), is 14-of-17 from the line and averages 4.0 rebounds per game. Johnson has led the ?Cats in scoring in two of four games this season. He is one of only two freshmen (the other being Jamal Crawford/Michigan) in the Big Ten Conference to rank in the top 20 in scoring.
A BOY NAMED ?T?
Sophomore forward Tavaras Hardy recorded his second double-double of his career on Saturday vs. Nebraska. Hardy scored 12 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in the loss. On Sunday against Mississippi State, Hardy came within one rebound of his second straight double-double when he registered 16 points and nine rebounds.
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). This season that trend continues. Entering this week?s play, the ?Cats are second in the conference in scoring defense (56.5 ppg) and No. 3 in field goal percentage defense (.361). 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.
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).
