Northwestern University Athletics
Men's Basketball Ready to Host La Salle
12/3/1999 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 3, 1999
NORTHWESTERN MEN'S BASKETBALL (1-4) vs. La Salle (3-1)
RICKY BYRDSONG FOUNDATION DAY
Date: Dec. 4, 1999/1 p.m. CT
Site: Welsh Ryan Arena (8,117)
Television: none
Radio: WGN 720-AM
THE MATCHUP
Northwestern plays the second of five straight home games against the La Salle University Explorers. NU will try to bounce back from a 60-46 setback on Wednesday to Florida State in the inaugural ACC/Big Ten Challenge. La Salle comes into the game with a 4-1 record. The Explorers have defeated Mount St. Mary?s, Central Connecticut State and High Point. Their only loss came at Alabama, 85-70. Today is 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 for today?s game. All proceeds from the sale of those tickets will benefit the Ricky Byrdsong Foundation. Byrdsong's wife, Sherialyn, will be featured at halftime to talk about the Foundation?s mission and will also be around after the game.
THE SERIES: La Salle leads 1-0 (91-69 in 1963)
OFFICIALS: Phil Bova, Glen Mayborg, Jim Jenkins
SCOUTING LA SALLE
The Explorers return four starters and nine letterwinners from last season?s squad that finished third in the Atlantic 10. La Salle is led by senior guard Donnie Carr. Carr leads the team in scoring at 20.8 points per game. Other returning starters include Victor Thomas (18.0 ppg, 7.8 rpg), Rasual Butler (18.5 ppg, 6.8 rpg.) and Julian Banks (9.0 ppg., 4.5 rpg). As a team, the Explorers are averaging 74.5 points per game, shooting .415 from the field and .352 from three-point range.
FLORIDA STATE RECAP
Sophomore Steve Lepore hit six three-pointers en route to a game-high 18 points. However, it was not enough as Northwestern (1-4) fell to Florida State (3-2), 60-46, in the inaugural ACC/Big Ten Challenge. Florida State stormed out of the gate, opening a 13-2 lead in the first five minutes. The Seminoles hit their first eight shots, but could not shake the ?Cats. A jumper by sophomore David Newman cut the lead to five, 17-12. Florida State then answered with a 14-3 run to take a 31-17 lead into intermission. Northwestern roared back in the second stanza behind Lepore?s long-range shooting. Down 39-23, Lepore hit three consecutive three-pointers in a quick 9-2 spurt that cut the lead to nine with 13:04 remaining. Northwestern pulled within eight on a three-point play by freshman Winston Blake, but would get no closer. Lepore was 5-for-6 from three-point range in the second half (6-of-12 overall) for the ?Cats who shot just 31 percent for the game. Florida State shot 50 percent from the field.
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 22-13 (.629) 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.
AGE BEFORE BEAUTY - ?CATS ARE YOUNGEST IN THE NATION
According to statistics compiled by Stats Inc., Northwestern is the youngest basketball team in Division I basketball. NU is the only team in the nation to have 100% of its minutes played by freshmen and sophomores. No other Big Ten team ranks in the top 10. Michigan is next at No. 11 at 80.5% of its minutes played by freshmen and sophomores, Illinois is 46th (61.67%), Minnesota is 60th (58%). NU is also the least experienced team in America. Stats Inc. rated 234 Division I basketball teams experience based on eligibility of the athletes and the percentage of minutes played by each class. NU grades out at 1.545 (1.00 = freshmen have played 100% of minutes, 4.00 = seniors have played 100% of minutes). Michigan is fourth at 1.678, while Minnesota is 34th at 2.156. No other Big Ten team is in the top 50.
AND A FRESHMAN SHALL LEAD THEM
Through five games, one of the brightest spots in the Wildcat lineup is freshman guard Ben Johnson. Johnson is second on the team in scoring with an 11.6 points per game average. At the Hoop and Quill Classic over Thanksgiving weekend, 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 Nov. 27 vs. Nebraska. Hardy scored 12 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in the loss. The next day against Mississippi State, Hardy came within one rebound of his second straight double-double when he registered 16 points and nine rebounds.
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 SOPHOMORE
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 JITIM 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 second show of the season will air Tuesday, Jan. 4 at 5:30 p.m., before the Wildcats start the Big Ten Conference season at Iowa on Jan. 5. 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.
