Northwestern University Athletics
Men's Hoops Hosts No. 17 Wisconsin Jan. 16
6/21/1999 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
January 14, 1999
NORTHWESTERN WILDCATS (9-4, 2-2 Big Ten)
vs.
#17 WISCONSIN BADGERS (15-3, 3-2 Big Ten)
Sat., Jan. 16, 1999 - 11 a.m. CST
Radio: WGN AM 720
TV: ESPN
Northwestern looks to get back on the right track this Saturday as the Wildcats host 17th-ranked Wisconsin. NU is coming off a 81-78 loss at 20th-ranked Indiana on Wednesday night, a game which saw NU center Evan Eschmeyer record the second triple-double in school history, as well as the first-ever triple-double at IU's Assembly Hall, with 27 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists.
The game was close throughout much of the first half. NU led by as much as five points early (11-6) before the Hoosiers rallied to take a nine-point margin (37-28) late in the period. Indiana led 39-34 at halftime, the first time this season NU has trailed at the break. The Indiana lead was just six points (56-50) before a 10-0 Hoosier run gave IU a seemingly comfortable 66-50 lead with 11:05 remaining in the game. However, the Wildcats stormed back, outscoring Indiana 24-8 over the next 7:33 to knot the contest at 74-74 with 3:32 left on the clock. IU's Richard Gladness hit his first career three-pointer as the shot clock expired to give the Hoosiers a 77-74 lead. The 'Cats had possession of the ball at 81-78 with 12 seconds remaining, but were unable to send the game into overtime.
Eschmeyer scored 22 of his 27 points after halftime. Tavaras Hardy added 13 points and six rebounds while Sean Wink hit four three-pointers en route to a 13-point performance. The 'Cats as a team hit 11-of-22 from three-point range.
Northwestern-Wisconsin, The Series
This marks the 148th meeting in the all-time series between Wisconsin and Northwestern, with the Badgers holding a 90-57 series lead. The Wildcats have won five of the last seven contests in the series played in Welsh-Ryan Arena and seven of the last 13 overall.
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 19-21 record at NU and a 159-141 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.
Eschmeyer Records Triple-Double
Evan Eschmeyer recorded just the second triple-double in program history with his 27-point, 12-rebound, 10-assist performance in Wednesday's loss at Indiana. It also was the first-ever triple-double posted in IU's Assembly Hall. The only other time the feat was accomplished by a Wildcat was by Jim Pitts versus Purdue in 1966. The last triple-double posted by a Big Ten player was Penn State's Calvin Booth (19p, 10r, 10b) last year at Dayton.
The Nation's Top Defense
The biggest reason for Northwestern's good start has been the team's work on the defensive end of the floor. The Wildcats have adopted a "blue collar" approach to defense, diving after loose balls and making the hustle plays necessary to win games.
The Wildcats entered the week atop the NCAA in field goal percentage defense and third in scoring defense. The 'Cats come into Saturday's game second in the Big Ten in both categories, holding opponents to .360 from the field and just 55.7 points per game. Northwestern also leads the Big Ten in three-point field goal defense, allowing opponents to shoot just .280 from beyond the arc.
Here's what NU has done to some top offensive teams:
Quick Hits
Eschmeyer Named Big Ten Player of the Week
Evan Eschmeyer was named Big Ten Player of the Week on Monday after leading the Wildcats to back-to-back Big Ten road victories at 16th-ranked Minnesota and at Illinois. Eschmeyer tallied 24 points and 15 rebounds in the win over the Golden Gophers. He followed that with a 16-point, 17-rebound, five-assist performance at Illinois.
It is the second time this season that Eschmeyer has earned conference player of the week honors. On December 28, he was named Big Ten Co-Player of the Week after recording double-doubles in NU's games against Boston College (23p, 10r) and Long Beach State (16p, 13r). In the two games, "Esch" went 21-for-25 (.840) from the free throw line.
Eschmeyer Leads the Big Ten -- Times Three
Evan Eschmeyer enters Saturday's game atop the Big Ten in three statistical categories: rebounds (10.2 rpg), field goal percentage (.621) and double-doubles (eight). He also is third in the Big Ten in scoring (20.3 ppg). Nationally, "Esch" ranks 10th in field goal pct., 14th in rebounding and tied for 41st in scoring. Eschmeyer enters the Wisconsin game with 37 career double-doubles and has scored in double figures 54-straight games.
More on Eschmeyer
Evan Eschmeyer has scored 907 career points against Big Ten Conference competition. He is looking to become just the second Wildcat ever to record 1,000 Big Ten points. Billy McKinney is the only NU player to accomplish the feat.
On December 29, he was named to the mid-season top 30 team for the John Wooden Award, which is presented by the Los Angeles Athletic Club to the national player of the year. Eschmeyer was one of only two true centers to earn a spot on the list (Washington's Todd MacCulloch).
Watching Esch in the Record Books
With his 27 points against Indiana, Evan Eschmeyer surpassed the 1,500 career point barrier. Here's where Eschmeyer currently ranks among NU's all-time career leaders:
Category Eschmeyer Next Up FG Pct. 1st - .603 --- FT Attempts 1st - 714 --- FT Made 3rd - 445 Kevin Rankin (458) Blocked Shots 3rd - 103 Jim Pitts (123) Rebounds 3rd - 836 Joe Ruklick (868) Scoring 5th - 1,501 Cedric Neloms (1,533) Reb. Avg. 6th - 8.7 Willie Jones (9.0) Scoring Avg. 9th - 15.6 Sibley/Ragelis (15.7)Wink, NU Lead the Big Ten in Three-Pointers
Sophomore guard Sean Wink currently stands atop the Big Ten in three pointers made, averaging 2.92 per game. In his last 10 contests, Wink has hit 30-of-61 (.492) from three-point range. Wink has hit 124 three pointers in his 39 career games, the third-most threes in school history. For his career, Wink is shooting .440 (124-282) from three-point range.
Against Boston College, Wink hit 6-of-12 from three-point range, marking the fifth time in his brief NU career that he has hit six three-pointers. All five of those have come at home, the most recent being last season vs. Ohio State. Wink also hit five three-pointers against Long Beach State and four in each of the last three games (at Minnesota, at Illinois, at Indiana).
Northwestern, as a team, leads the Big Ten in three pointers, averaging 7.1 per game. The 'Cats are on a 27-game pace for 191 three pointers, which would break the school record of 187 set during the 1993-94 season.
Big Ten Stat Leaders
Here's where the 'Cats rank among the Big Ten and NCAA stat leaders (Big Ten as of Jan. 14, NCAA as of Jan. 11):
Individual - All Games
Scoring: Evan Eschmeyer - 3rd Big Ten, t41st NCAA (20.3 ppg)
Rebounds: Evan Eschmeyer - 1st Big Ten, 14th NCAA (10.2 rpg)
FG Pct.: Evan Eschmeyer - 1st Big Ten, 10th NCAA (.621)
Assists: David Newman - 8th (3.3 apg)
FT Pct.: David Newman - 7th (.791)
Evan Eschmeyer - 14th (.703)
3pt Made: Sean Wink - 1st (2.9 tpg)
3pt Pct.: Sean Wink - 7th (.404)
Blocks: Evan Eschmeyer - 6th (1.5 bpg)
Off. Rebs: Evan Eschmeyer - 2nd (3.2 orpg)
Def. Rebs: Evan Eschmeyer - 2nd (7.1 drpg)
Team - All Games3pt Pct. Defense: 1st (.280) 3pt FG Made: 1st (7.1 tpg) Scoring Defense: 2nd Big Ten, 3rd NCAA (55.7 ppg) FG Pct. Defense: 2nd Big Ten, 1st NCAA (.360) Rebound Margin: 4th (+4.7 rpg) Assists: 4th (16.1 apg) 3pt Pct. Offense: 5th (.365)Home Court Advantage
In Kevin O'Neill's two seasons as head coach, the Wildcats have made Welsh-Ryan Arena a tough place to play. NU has a 17-8 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.
Last year, 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.
In Memoriam
The Wildcats will wear a patch on the left corner of their shorts for the remainder of the season bearing the initials "D.P." The patch is in memory of Don Pomeday, father of senior guard Nate Pomeday, who passed away on December 9.
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.
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.
Coaches vs. Cancer
Head coach Kevin O'Neill is one of several coaches across the country who have joined 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.
Ask the Coach
Fans have an opportunity to submit questions to Kevin O'Neill and have them answered either on his weekly television show on Fox Sports Chicago or following games on WGN radio. Go to the Wildcat web site at NUSPORTS.COM and click on the special "Ask the Coach" link.
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.
The Kevin O'Neill Show
Once again this season, Fox Sports Chicago will air "The Kevin O'Neill Show." Dave Eanet, play-by-play announcer for NU football and basketball on WGN radio, hosts the half-hour show. The next show will air Tue., Jan. 19, at 3:30 p.m. and replayed that night at 9:30 p.m. CST.
Wildcats on the Web
Complete statistics and releases on Wildcat basketball will be available throughout the season on Northwestern's official internet site. The web address is WWW.NUSPORTS.COM. Information on the Big Ten Conference is available on the conference web site at www.bigten.org.
Wildcat Probable Starters
Pos. No. Name (height, weight, class, hometown) ppg rpg F #33 Tavaras Hardy (6-8, 210, Fr., Joliet, Ill.) 8.9 5.2 C #42 Evan Eschmeyer (6-11, 255, Sr.-6, New Knox., Ohio) 20.3 10.2 G # 4 Julian Bonner (6-1, 198, Sr., Detroit, Mich.) 4.1 2.2 G #22 Sean Wink (6-2, 176, So., Brea, Calif.) 10.5 2.2 G #24 David Newman (5-11, 165, Fr., Des Moines, Iowa) 8.4 2.4Off the bench
F # 5 Joe Harmsen (6-9, 248, Sr., Fond du Lac, Wis.) 1.0 1.9 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) 2.8 2.2 F #14 Steve Lepore (6-5, 200, Fr., North Olmstead, Ohio) 4.8 4.1 G #31 Nate Pomeday (6-2, 201, Sr., Cedar Grove, Wis.) 1.7 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) 1.5 1.9 G #44 Jeff Eschmeyer (6-2, 192, So., New Knoxville, Ohio) 0.0 0.5
#4 Julian Bonner - Has started the past six games after coming off the bench in the first seven ... Started every game last season at point guard ... Hit the game-winning three pointer against St. Francis with 0.4 seconds remaining on the clock ... Ranks ninth in NU history with 239 career assists ... Ranks fifth in NU history with 93 career three pointers.
#5 Joe Harmsen - Reserve power forward/center ... Grabbed season-high four rebounds against Oakland, Dayton and Seton Hall.
#10 Matt Kammrath - Walk-on ... Saw game action vs. Oakland and UW-Milwaukee this season.
#11 Danny Allouche - Tallied season-bests of seven points vs. UWM and five rebounds against Long Beach State ... Reserve forward ... Sat out last season after transferring from Missouri.
#14 Steve Lepore - Started the first seven games ... Crashes the boards hard ... Excellent all-around game ... Hit three three-pointers at Minnesota and at Indiana ... Had six boards in the win at Illinois ... Is 8-of-12 from three-point range in NU's four Big Ten games.
#22 Sean Wink - NU's top three-point threat ... Has hit 124 career three pointers ... Hit six three-pointers against Boston College, tying his career best ... Also nailed five three-pointers against Long Beach State and four treys on four other occasions ... Is 12-of-22 (.545) from three-point range against Big Ten competition this year ... Set the NU single-season three-point mark (86) as a freshman.
#24 David Newman - Starting point guard as a true freshman ... Tallied a season-best 22 points and five rebounds against Furman ... Dished eight assists in his collegiate debut against Maine ... Has come through in several clutch situations this season, especially from the free throw line in the final minute.
#31 Nate Pomeday - Reserve shooting guard ... Plays with a lot of heart and emotion ... One of the team's most vocal leaders ... Has hit at least one three pointer in four of the last eight games, all coming off the bench.
#32 Collier Drayton - Extremely quick athlete ... Is a stronger defensive player than offensive ... Grabbed three rebounds in seven minutes against Oakland.
#33 Tavaras Hardy - Scored in double figures three of his first five collegiate games ... Tallied first career double-double (18p, 10r) vs. Oakland ... Has a nice outside touch from about 15-feet ... Had 13 points at Indiana, his highest point total since the Oakland game.
#35 Aron Molnar - Backup center ... Pulled down five rebounds in 15 minutes against Oakland and five boards in 10 minutes against Boston College ... Also had three boards in nine minutes against Dayton ... Vastly improved player from last year.
#42 Evan Eschmeyer - National Player of the Year candidate ... One of only two true centers on the mid-season top candidate list for the Wooden Award ... Leads the Big Ten with eight double-doubles this season, including a triple-double at Indiana ... Is double and triple teamed by opposing the majority of the time ... Gained approximately 20 pounds of muscle during the offseason.
#44 Jeff Eschmeyer - Younger brother of Evan Eschmeyer ... Walked onto the squad last season ... Saw action against Oakland and UWM ... Lone rebound came vs. UWM.
