Northwestern University Athletics
Men's Basketball Hits the Court Against UW-Milwakee
6/21/1999 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
December 8, 1998
EVANSTON, Ill. - After nine days off for final exams, Northwestern returns to the court next Monday to face the UW-Milwaukee Panthers. The Wildcats have won four-straight games, including last Saturday's 61-57 victory over Dayton. The Flyers entered the game ranked 47th in the Sagarin power ratings.
NU scored the first five points of the game, getting a three-pointer by David Newman just nine seconds into the contest. That was followed the next possession by a putback-dunk by Evan Eschmeyer. Dayton rallied to claim an 18-11 lead on the strength of four three-pointers, three of which were made by UD's Tony Stanley. The 'Cats took a 32-27 lead into the locker room, and expanded the lead to 12 points at 41-29 with 15:21 remaining in the game. UD went on a 9-0 run over the next five minutes to close the gap to 41-38, but would never get closer as NU used a 7-0 run of its own to push the lead back to 10 points.
Eschmeyer had his best game of the season, posting a season-best 28 points on 11-of-16 shooting from the field. He also paced the 'Cats with nine rebounds, four assists and three blocks. Newman scored 11 points and, more importantly, committed just one turnover in 32 minutes of play.
Wildcat Probable Starters
Pos. No. Name (height, weight, class, hometown) ppg rpg F #33 Tavaras Hardy (6-8, 210, Fr., Joliet, Ill.) 11.6 4.6 F #14 Steve Lepore (6-5, 200, Fr., North Olmstead, Ohio) 4.8 6.0 C #42 Evan Eschmeyer (6-11, 255, Sr.-6, New Knoxville, Ohio) 20.6 9.0 G #22 Sean Wink (6-2, 176, So., Brea, Calif.) 8.2 2.6 G #24 David Newman (5-11, 165, Fr., Des Moines, Iowa) 10.4 3.0
Off the bench
G #4 Julian Bonner (6-1, 198, Sr., Detroit, Mich.) 2.8 1.2 F #5 Joe Harmsen (6-9, 248, Sr., Fond du Lac, Wis.) 1.4 2.2 G #10 Matt Kammrath (6-0, 185, Jr., Boca Raton, Fla.) 0.0 0.0 F #11 Danny Allouche (6-5, 200, Sr., Omer, Israel) 1.8 1.8 G #23 Napoleon Harris (6-3, 230, So., Dixmoor, Ill.) 1.0 2.0 G #31 Nate Pomeday (6-2, 201, Sr., Cedar Grove, Wis.) 1.0 0.8 G #32 Collier Drayton (6-1, 175, Fr., Lyons, N.Y.) 0.0 3.0 C #35 Aron Molnar (6-11, 242, Jr., Mississauga, Ontario) 0.6 2.0 G #44 Jeff Eschmeyer (6-2, 192, So., New Knoxville, Ohio) 0.0 0.0
WILDCAT QUICK FACTS
Home games in CAPS at Welsh-Ryan Arena. All times central.Times and dates subject to change. All of NU's Big Ten games (except Jan. 16 vs. Wisconsin) are televised by ESPN Regional. Stations carrying the game will vary by market.
Location 1501 Central Street, Evanston, Ill. 60208
Enrollment 7,400 undergraduates
Colors Purple and White
President Henry S. Bienen
Athletic Director Rick Taylor
Home Arena (Capacity) Welsh-Ryan Arena (8,117)
Season 94th, starting in 1904-05
Head Coach Kevin O'Neill
Years as Head Coach 2nd at NU, 11th in Div. 1, 13th overall
Record at NU 14-18
Career Record (Division I only) 154-138
Overall Career Record (All Years) 174-159
1997-98 Record 10-17
1997-98 Big Ten Record/Finish 3-13 (t9th)
Letterwinners Returning/Lost 9/1
Starters Returning/Lost 4/1
Northwestern Wildcats (4-1) vs. UW-Milwaukee Panthers (2-4)
Mon., Dec. 14, 1998 -- 7 p.m. CST
Radio: WGN AM 720
Northwestern-UW Milwaukee, The Series
This will be the first meeting ever between NU and UWM on the basketball court.
Head Coach Kevin O'Neill
Kevin O'Neill (McGill, 1979) is in his second season at the helm of the Wildcat basketball
program. This is his 11th season as head coach at the Division I level and 13th overall
as a collegiate head coach. He also has served as head coach at North Country CC
(1980-82), Marycrest (1982-83), Marquette (1989-94) and Tennessee (1994-97).
O'Neill owns a 14-18 record at NU and a 154-138 record as a Division I head coach. Known as one of the best recruiters in the nation, O'Neill resurrected the Marquette and Tennessee programs, taking two teams which had not enjoyed recent success to postseason play.
Iowa Game on Jan. 3 Set for Noon
Tipoff time for NU's Big Ten opener on January 3 has been set for noon CST. The
tipoff time for that game had been listed previously as either noon or 3 p.m.
Top-Notch Defense
As of December 7, the Wildcats rank third in the Big Ten in opponent's field goal
percentage (.353) and scoring defense (55.4). Since Kevin O'Neill took over the helm of
the Northwestern program, the Wildcats have held opponents to fewer than 70 points in 22
of 32 contests.
In the November 21 win against Oakland, the Wildcats set a couple of defensive standards:
Eschmeyer Among Big Ten Leaders
Sixth-year center Evan Eschmeyer enters the week ranked third in the Big Ten in
rebounds (9.0 rpg) and fourth in scoring (20.6 ppg). Last year, Eschmeyer led the Big Ten
in rebounds, averaging 10.7 per contest. He enters the UWM game with 32 career
double-doubles and has scored in double figures 46-straight games.
Last week, he was named one of 31 candidates for the Oscar Robertson Award, presented by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association to the national player of the year. Eschmeyer was one of four Big Ten players on the award's preseason list (Mateen Cleaves, A.J. Guyton, Michael Redd).
Watching Esch in the Record Books
Evan Eschmeyer enters the UWM contest with 1,340 career points, good for eighth in NU
history. He surpassed Joe Ruklick (1,315 points from 1957-59) in last week's win against
Dayton. Rod Roberson (1,347 from 1978-81) is in seventh. Here's where Eschmeyer
currently ranks among NU's all-time career leaders:
Category Eschmeyer Next Up FG Pct. 1st-.604 --- FT Attempts 2nd-627 Cedric Neloms (676) FT Made 3rd-384 Kevin Rankin (458) Blocked Shots 3rd-95 Jim Pitts (123) Rebounds 5th-748 Don Adams (773) Reb. Avg. 7th-8.5 Ron Kozlicki (8.6) Scoring 8th-1,340 Rod Roberson (1,347) Scoring Avg. 9th-15.2 Sibley/Ragelis (15.7)
Attendance Moving Up
Through five games, the Wildcats have increased their attendance 19 percent over last
season. NU has drawn 18,432 fans at home this season, an average of 3,686 per game. Last
year at this same point, 15,613 fans (3,123 average) had come through the Welsh-Ryan Arena
turnstiles.
Eschmeyer Preseason Honors
The following are some of the preseason honors gained by Wildcat center Evan Eschmeyer:
Wildcat Freshmen Stepping Up
They may not be flashy, but the Wildcats' freshmen trio of Tavaras Hardy, Steve Lepore and
David Newman certainly give NU fans definite hope for the future.
Hardy is establishing himself as a nice counter-option for Evan Eschmeyer. He is currently second on the team in scoring and is tied for the team lead in steals.
Lepore is one of those players who you appreciate the more you watch him play. His stats appear modest at first glance (6.0 ppg, 7.0 rpg), but take a closer look and you'll find Steve Lepore's name among the Big Ten leaders in several different statistical categories (total rebounds, offensive rebounds, assists, and assist-to-turnover ratio).
Newman has been thrust into the role of a freshman point guard having to learn the college game on the fly. And, after two games, he ranks sixth among the Big Ten assist leaders (3.6 apg) and has a 1.8-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio, also good for sixth in the conference.
Newman Coming Through in the Clutch
Freshman point guard David Newman has made several clutch plays this season down the
stretch. Against St. Francis, Newman hit three pointers with 56 and 48 seconds left to
tie the game at 66-66. He then followed his own missed shot on the game's final
possession, tipping the ball to Julian Bonner who hit the game-winning three pointer with
0.4 seconds left.
In the win against Furman, Newman hit a three pointer with 2:27 left to give NU a 56-50 lead. He also made 3-of-4 free throws in the final 48 seconds to help the Wildcats secure the victory. Against Dayton, Newman scored eight of his 11 points in the second half, all of which came in the final 10 minutes after the Flyers had cut the NU lead to three points.
Big Ten Stat Leaders
Here's where the Wildcats ranked among the Big Ten stat leaders as of December 7:
Individual
Scoring: Evan Eschmeyer - 4th (20.6 ppg)
Rebounds: Evan Eschmeyer - 3rd (9.0 rpg)
Steve Lepore - t12th (6.0 rpg)
FG Pct.: Evan Eschmeyer - 4th (.661)
Tavaras Hardy - 11th (.519)
Assists: David Newman - t6th (3.6 apg)
Steve Lepore - t6th (3.6 apg)
FT Pct.: David Newman - 12th (.750)
3pt Made: Sean Wink - 7th (2.4 tpg)
David Newman - 10th (2.2 tpg)
3pt Pct.: David Newman - 11th (.423)
Blocks: Evan Eschmeyer - 4th (2.2 bpg)
Asst/TO ratio: David Newman - 6th (1.80-to-1)
Steve Lepore - 11th (1.38-to-1)
Offensive Rebs: Evan Eschmeyer - 1st (3.8 orpg)
Steve Lepore - 10th (2.6 orpg)
Defensive Rebs: Evan Eschmeyer - t3rd (5.2 drpg)
Team
Asst/TO ratio: 1st (1.18-to-1)
Assists: 3rd (17.4 apg)
FG Pct. Defense: 3rd (.353)
Scoring Defense: 3rd (55.4 ppg)
Blocked Shots: t4th (4.0 bpg)
TO Margin: 6th (+1.20 pg)
Rebound Margin: 6th (+4.0 rpg)
Home Court Advantage
In Kevin O'Neill's first season as head coach, the Wildcats made Welsh-Ryan Arena a
tough place to play. The 'Cats went 10-6 at home, the first time in a decade that NU had
won 10 games in their own arena. That mark included a seven-game home winning streak.
Northwestern has a 14-7 home court record under O'Neill, which is a marked improvement considering that, in the three seasons prior to O'Neill's arrival in Evanston, NU won just 14 home games.
NCAA Recognizes Wildcat Greats
In its recently-released book "Men's Basketball Finest," the NCAA recognized three
former Wildcat players and two former NU coaches. Wildcat All-Americans Otto Graham, Max
Morris and Joe Reiff were among the 396 players chosen while Dutch Lonborg and Harold
Olsen were among the 119 coaches to earn a place among the best in NCAA history.
Nationalism
Freshman guard Steve Lepore spent part of this past summer representing the United States
at the Junior World Championship qualifying tournament in the Dominican Republic. He
started all six games during the tournament, leading the USA to a perfect 6-0 record and
the gold medal.
Lepore paced the team in three-point shooting, hitting 13-of-29 (.448) from beyond the arc, and was tied for the team lead with 11 steals. Lepore finished third on the team in scoring, averaging 12.8 points (in only 21 minutes) per game.
The Brothers Esch
For the second-straight season, the Wildcats will have two Eschmeyers on the team (Evan
and Jeff). Last year was the first time that the duo was able to play together on the
same team due to the fact they are four years apart in age. In fact, Jeff's first
collegiate field goal (last year vs. Minnesota) came on an assist from Evan.
Letter-of-Intent Signees
During the November early signing period, the Wildcats signed five players to National
Letters of Intent to begin playing basketball at NU next season:
Winston Blake (F, 6-5, 180, Plano, Texas/Plano Senior)
Brody Deren (F, 6-7, 223, Harlan, Iowa/Harlan Comm.)
Aaron Jennings (C, 6-11, 200, Atkins, Iowa/Benton Comm.)
Ben Johnson (G, 6-3, 180, Minneapolis, Minn./De La Salle)
Adam Robinson (F, 6-10, 210, Cedar Falls, Iowa/Cedar Falls)
Johnson (No. 60) and Blake (No. 95) are each ranked among the top 100 players in the
country by Bob Gibbons. Deren was "Southwest Iowa Player of the Year" as a junior, while
Jennings and Robinson were both named All-Americans this season by various publications.
Coaches vs. Cancer
Head coach Kevin O'Neill is one of several coaches across the country who have
partnered together to help the fight against cancer. Fans are asked to pledge a certain
amount of money for each assist the Wildcats make throughout the 1998-99 season. O'Neill
will personally donate $5 for every assist this season to Coaches vs. Cancer. Fans can
pick up pledge forms and brochures in the Welsh-Ryan Arena lobby during all home games.
Wildcats on the Air
Once again this season, WGN-AM 720 will be the radio home of Wildcat basketball. Dave
Eanet handles the play-by-play chores while Joey Meyer will handle the color analysis.
Every Wildcat game this season will be aired by WGN.
