Northwestern University Athletics
Wildcats Take on DePaul in First Round of NIT
6/21/1999 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 8, 1999
EVANSTON, Ill. - For the third time in school history, the Northwestern Wildcats are participating in the National Invitation Tournament. Northwestern also earned NIT bids in 1983 and 1994. The winner of the NU-DePaul matchup will face the winner of Wednesday's first round game between California and Fresno State.
Northwestern Wildcats (15-13, 6-10 Big Ten)
vs. DePaul Blue Demons (17-12, 10-6 C-USA)
Radio: WGN AM 720
TV: ESPN
Northwestern in the Postseason
This will be the third NIT game Northwestern has played at the Rosemont Horizon. In 1983, NU faced Notre Dame and DePaul at the Horizon as Welsh-Ryan Arena was still under construction. Northwestern advanced to the second round in each of its two previous NIT appearances.
Date Opponent Site Score 3/17/83 Notre Dame Rosemont Horizon W, 71-57 3/21/83 DePaul Rosemont Horizon L, 63-65 3/16/94 DePaul Welsh-Ryan Arena W, 69-68 3/21/94 Xavier Welsh-Ryan Arena L, 79-83 (ot)Northwestern-DePaul, The Series
This will be the 22nd all-time meeting between the two schools. DePaul holds a 15-6 series lead. Northwestern has won the previous two matchups, earning a 72-59 decision last season in Welsh-Ryan Arena. The 'Cats defeated DePaul during the 1996-97 season at the Rosemont Horizon, 58-56.
Two of the 21 previous meetings have come in the NIT. DePaul won in the second round of the 1983 tournament, 65-63. The Wildcats avenged the loss in the opening round of the 1994 tournament, 69-68.
Wildcat Probable Starters
Off the bench
F #5 Joe Harmsen (6-9, 248, Sr., Fond du Lac, Wis.) 0.8 1.3
F #11 Danny Allouche (6-5, 200, Sr., Omer, Israel) 2.8 1.5
G #22 Sean Wink (6-2, 176, So., Brea, Calif.) 7.1 1.8
C #35 Aron Molnar (6-11, 242, Jr., Mississauga, Ontario) 3.1 2.5
G #44 Jeff Eschmeyer (6-2, 192, So., New Knoxville, Ohio) 0.0 0.5
Pos. No. Name (height, weight, class, hometown) ppg rpg
G #4 Julian Bonner (6-1, 198, Sr., Detroit, Mich.) 4.5 2.4
G #24 David Newman (5-11, 165, Fr., Des Moines, Iowa) 8.2 2.0
C #42 Evan Eschmeyer (6-11, 255, Sr.-6, New Knoxville, Ohio) 19.6 10.2
F #33 Tavaras Hardy (6-8, 210, Fr., Joliet, Ill.) 6.9 3.9
F #14 Steve Lepore (6-5, 200, Fr., North Olmsted, Ohio) 6.9 4.3
The Last Game: MSU 61, NU 59
The Wildcats advanced to the quarterfinals of last week's Big Ten Tournament, defeating Penn State (54-44) in the first round before falling to second-ranked Michigan State, 61-59.
MSU used an 8-0 run midway through the first half to take a 22-14 lead with 5:35 left in the period. The Wildcats answered with an 8-2 run while holding the Spartans to just 1-for-9 from the floor the rest of the half to trail by just two points (24-22) at halftime.
In the second half, Michigan State opened a six-point lead (49-43) before David Newman nailed back-to-back three-pointers to tie the contest at 49-49 with 7:27 left in the game. Evan Eschmeyer scored eight of NU's next 10 points to give the Wildcats a 59-56 lead with 3:06 left in the game. MSU's Morris Peterson answered two possessions later with a three-pointer to tie the game at 59-59. With 37.1 seconds left, MSU's Mateen Cleaves hit a seven-foot running jumper to give the Spartans a 61-59 lead. The Wildcats were unable to convert in the game's final possession, giving Michigan State a hard-fought victory.
Eschmeyer scored a season-high 30 points, the second-most points ever scored in a Big Ten Tournament game. Twenty of his 30 points came in the second half. Steve Lepore added 11 points and dished a then-tournament-record nine assists. NU established tournament records for free throw percentage (.917, 11-for-12) and three-point percentage (.667, 6-for-9).
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 10th 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 25-30 record at NU and a 147-139 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.
O'Neill Taking Third Team to Postseason
This marks the fifth time in 10 seasons as a Division I head coach that Kevin O'Neill has led a team to postseason. He has accomplished this feat despite facing a rebuilding job at all three schools. Interestingly enough, he has taken a team to postseason within his first two seasons at each school.
In his first season at Marquette, he directed the Golden Eagles to the 1990 NIT. Three seasons later, O'Neill led the school to back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances in 1993 and 1994. After taking the head coaching job at Tennessee, O'Neill led the Volunteers to the 1996 NIT, his second season in Knoxville.
Among the Best Wildcat Teams Ever
The turnaround of the Wildcat program under head coach Kevin O'Neill is making a dent in the Wildcat history books.
NU has notched 15 wins for just the seventh time in school history, the last coming in the 1993-94 NIT campaign (15-14 overall). The 'Cats also won six Big Ten games for the first time since the 1983-84 squad compiled a 7-11 mark in the conference. In addition, this year's six conference victories doubled last year's win total of three.
A victory in the first round of the NIT would give the 'Cats 16 wins for just the third time in school history. The 1982-83 squad holds the school record for wins, recording an 18-12 overall record. The 1930-31 squad (16-1 overall) is the only other Wildcat team to reach the 16-win plateau.
One of the Nation's Top Defenses
As of the March 1 national statistics, NU ranked second in the country in field goal percentage defense, holding opponents to .369 shooting from the field. NU is sixth in the nation in scoring defense, allowing just 56.6 points per game. The Wildcats led the Big Ten in three-point field goal defense, holding opponents to just .300 from beyond the arc.
Here's what NU did to some opposing offenses this season:
Eschmeyer's Postseason Honors
Northwestern sixth-year senior center Evan Eschmeyer earned first-team All-Big Ten honors for the third-straight season. Since the Big Ten began naming all-conference teams in 1948, only 14 other players have ever been named first-team All-Big Ten for three-straight seasons. The last to accomplish the feat was Indiana's Calbert Cheaney (1991-93).
In its March 8 issue, Sports Illustrated named Eschmeyer to its All-America team. The other four members of the team: Arizona's Jason Terry, Duke's Elton Brand, Utah's Andre Miller and Miami of Ohio's Wally Szczerbiak.
CNN/SI named Eschmeyer to their All-America team on March 4. The other four members of the team: Brand, Miller, Terry and Auburn's Chris Porter.
Among the other postseason accolades for Eschmeyer:
Eschmeyer is Consensus National Player of the Year Finalist
Evan Eschmeyer has been named a finalist for all three of the major "National Player of the Year" awards.
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. In February, he was named a finalist for the Oscar Robertson Award, presented by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association, and the Naismith Award, presented by the Atlanta Tipoff Club.
The Oscar Robertson Award will be presented March 28 at the Final Four in St. Petersburg, Fla. The Wooden Award will be presented in Los Angeles on April 2. The Naismith Award will be presented in Atlanta on April 3.
Eschmeyer Leads the Big Ten -- Times Three
Evan Eschmeyer led the Big Ten this season in three statistical categories: rebounds (10.2 rpg), field goal percentage (.579) and double-doubles (15). He also is third in the Big Ten in scoring (19.6 ppg).
Nationally, "Esch" ranks 10th in rebounding, 10th in field goal percentage and 37th in scoring. He enters the NIT with 45 career double-doubles and has scored in double figures 70 of the last 71 games.
More on Eschmeyer
Evan Eschmeyer concluded his Big Ten regular season career having scored 1,134 points in his 68 games against Big Ten competition. His total is tied for 31st in the all-time Big Ten annals with Minnesota's Willie Burton. Billy McKinney is the only other NU player to score more career Big Ten points (1,197).
Eschmeyer's league-leading 15 double-doubles was more than double that of his closest Big Ten competitor. Penn State's Calvin Booth had seven double-doubles for the season.
On January 13, Eschmeyer recorded just the second triple-double in program history with his 27-point, 12-rebound, 10-assist performance at Indiana. It also was the first-ever triple-double posted in IU's Assembly Hall.
In the Jan. 27 USA Today, Eschmeyer was named to their midseason All-America first team and described as "the most productive player in the nation's best conference." CNN/SI also named him to their midseason All-America team on Jan. 25.
Three-time Big Ten Player of the Week
Evan Eschmeyer was named Big Ten Player of the Week three times this season. On Dec. 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).
On Jan. 11, he earned the honor again after leading NU to wins at 16th-ranked Minnesota (24p, 15r) and at Illinois (16p, 17r, 5a). Eschmeyer earned the nod for the third time on Feb. 8 after scoring a combined 57 points (29 vs. Michigan, 28 at PSU) and adding 22 rebounds in just 56 minutes of play.
Eschmeyer Holds Four NU Career Records
Evan Eschmeyer has already set four NU career marks and enters the NIT needing just two blocked shots to break the NU career blocks record. Here's where Eschmeyer ranks among NU's all-time career leaders:
Category Eschmeyer Next Up FG Pct. 1st - .593 --- FT Attempts 1st - 856 --- Rebounds 1st - 988 --- FT Made 1st - 561 --- Blocked Shots 2nd - 132 Kevin Rankin (133) Scoring 2nd - 1,787 Billy McKinney (1,900) Field Goals 3rd - 613 Jim Stack (623), Billy McKinney (768)What They're Saying About Eschmeyer
Here's a brief sampling of what has been said about National Player of the Year finalist Evan Eschmeyer:
"The most productive player in the nation's best conference."
-- USA Today (January 27)
"As long as I've been in the Big Ten, I'm not sure there has been a single player like Eschmeyer where his team has played to and from one guy. Not even Magic Johnson. I love to watch him."
-- Indiana head coach Bob Knight (February 13)
"There's no better post player in college."
-- Seth Davis, Sports Illustrated (February 2)
"Northwestern is efficient - playing the inside-outside game with Evan Eschmeyer, who averages 20 points and 10 rebounds despite being double-, triple- and quadruple-teamed in the paint."
-- Chris Altruda, Sportsticker (January 29)
"He's the best center in the Big Ten, if not the country."
-- Purdue head coach Gene Keady (January 27)
Bonner's Tough on 'D'
Senior guard Julian Bonner has drawn quite a few tough defensive assignments this season. He has already defended the second-, third- and fifth-ranked scorers in the NCAA this season.
Against Bonner and the Wildcats, Ray Minlend of St. Francis, currently second in the NCAA at 24.3 ppg, scored just 11 points on 3-of-12 shooting. Brian Merriweather of Texas Pan-Am, currently fifth in the NCAA at 23.7 ppg, scored just 14 points on 5-of-23 shooting.
On February 10, alternating between Wisconsin's backcourt of Sean Mason and Ty Calderwood, Bonner helped keep the Badger duo to 7-of-25 (.280) from the field. They had entered the game shooting a combined .421 for the season.
Versus Michigan, he held Louis Bullock to just eight points on 2-of-11 shooting, and also snapped Bullock's streak of 45-straight games hitting a three pointer. Approximately 36 hours later, he held Penn State's Joe Crispin to 1-of-12 from the field.
Offensively, he ranks fourth in NU history with 288 career assists. Bonner enters the NIT with 104 career three-pointers, fourth on NU's all-time list.
'Cats Near the Top of the Big Ten in Threes
Northwestern enters the NIT second in the Big Ten in three pointers made, averaging 6.8 per contest (191 in 28 games), and three-point percentage, shooting .374 from beyond the arc. NU's 191 treys this season is a school record. The 1993-94 squad held the previous mark with 187 three-pointers.
Sophomore guard Sean Wink leads the Wildcats in three pointers made, averaging 2.0 per game. For his career, Wink is shooting .426 (142-333) from three-point range. His 142 career threes rank second in NU history. Todd Leslie holds the all-time Wildcat record with 203 treys.
Against Boston College, Wink hit 6-of-12 from three-point range, the fifth time in his NU career that he has hit six three-pointers. Wink also hit five three-pointers this season against Long Beach State and connected on four at Minnesota, Illinois and Indiana.
Freshman point guard David Newman has nailed 52 threes (1.9 per game) while fellow freshman Steve Lepore has 47 (1.7 per game) to his credit. The Wink-Newman-Lepore combination has hit 155 of the Wildcats' 191 threes this year. Wink's 56 threes this season is fifth in NU history while Newman's 52 threes ranks seventh in school history. Wink set the Northwestern single-season record last year with 86 threes.
Wildcat Freshman Trio Starting to Mature
Northwestern's freshman trio of David Newman, Steve Lepore and Tavaras Hardy continue to play a key role as the Wildcats enter the NIT. The trio has combined for 36 percent of NU's scoring, 29 percent of the rebounding and 52 percent of NU's three-point field goals.
Newman, playing the point guard position as a true freshman, leads the team in assists (2.8 apg) and is the team's second leading scorer (8.2 ppg). Newman also is an excellent free throw shooter, connecting on 47-of-58 (.810) on the season. Newman also has begun to emerge as a team leader on the floor as he gains more experience at the point guard position. In the Big Ten Tournament, he committed just two turnovers in 63 minutes of play.
Lepore, who started the first seven games of the season, moved back into the starting lineup on February 13 against Indiana. He is fifth on the team in scoring (6.9 ppg) and is second in rebounding (4.3 rpg). Lepore averaged 12.5 points, 8.0 rebounds and 5.5 assists in the two Big Ten Tournament games.
Hardy stands third on the team in rebounding (3.9 rpg) and fourth in scoring (6.9 ppg). He also is third on the 'Cats in blocks (18) and steals (17).
Allouche Named GTE Academic All-District
Senior guard Danny Allouche earned GTE Academic All-District honors this season, as voted upon by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). The Omer, Israel, native has a 3.78 GPA in economics. The other four members of the all-district team were: Andy Hirchy (Butler), Luke Recker (Indiana), Sean Riley (Illinois State) and Zoran Viskovic (Valparaiso). The five players now advance to the national ballot for GTE Academic All-America consideration.
Dishing the Rock
The Wildcats are an extremely unselfish team, as evidenced by the fact four players are averaging between 2.4 and 2.8 assists per game. David Newman leads the team with 2.8 assists per game. He is followed by Julian Bonner (2.6), Evan Eschmeyer (2.5) and Steve Lepore (2.4).
Eschmeyer tallied a team-high 10 assists at Indiana on Jan. 13 while Lepore recorded a then-Big Ten Tournament-record nine assists against Michigan State on March 5.
Big Ten Stat Leaders
Here's where the 'Cats rank among the Big Ten and NCAA stat leaders (Big Ten as of March 8, NCAA as of March 1):
Individual - All Games Scoring: Evan Eschmeyer - 3rd Big Ten, 37th NCAA (19.6 ppg) Rebounds: Evan Eschmeyer - 1st Big Ten, 10th NCAA (10.2 rpg) FG Pct.: Evan Eschmeyer - 1st Big Ten, 10th NCAA (.579) Double-Doubles: Evan Eschmeyer - 1st (15) FT Pct.: Evan Eschmeyer - 10th (.763) 3pt Pct.: Sean Wink - 9th (.386) Blocks: Evan Eschmeyer - 4th (1.7 bpg) Offensive Rebs: Evan Eschmeyer - 1st (3.4 orpg) Defensive Rebs: Evan Eschmeyer - 2nd (6.8 drpg)Wildcat Record Book UpdateTeam - All Games 3pt Pct. Defense: 1st (.300) FG Pct. Defense: 1st Big Ten, 2nd NCAA (.369) 3pt FG Made: 2nd (6.8 tpg) Scoring Defense: 2nd Big Ten, 6th NCAA (56.6 ppg) 3pt Pct. Offense: 2nd (.374) Blocked Shots: 4th (3.8 bpg) Assists: 5th (15.3 apg)
Here is an update to the Wildcat record book:
Career
Scoring: Evan Eschmeyer (2nd, 1,787)
Scoring Avg.: Evan Eschmeyer (6th, 16.1)
Field Goals Made: Evan Eschmeyer (3rd, 613)
Field Goal Pct.: Evan Eschmeyer (1st, .593)
Three Ptrs. Made: Sean Wink (2nd, 142)
Julian Bonner (4th, 104)
Nate Pomeday (6th, 67)
David Newman (10th, 52)
Three Ptrs. Att.: Sean Wink (2nd, 333)
Julian Bonner (3rd, 312)
Nate Pomeday (6th, 206)
David Newman (10th, 141)
Three Point Pct.: Sean Wink (6th, .426)
Steve Lepore (7th, .376)
Free Throws Made: Evan Eschmeyer (1st, 561)
Free Throws Att.: Evan Eschmeyer (1st, 856)
Rebounds: Evan Eschmeyer (1st, 988)
Rebounding Avg.: Evan Eschmeyer (6th, 8.9)
Assists: Julian Bonner (4th, 288)
Steals: Julian Bonner (9th, 96)
Evan Eschmeyer (t10th, 91)
Blocked Shots: Evan Eschmeyer (2nd, 132)
Games Played: Evan Eschmeyer (t5th, 111)
Games Started: Evan Eschmeyer (8th, 96)
Minutes Played: Evan Eschmeyer (6th, 3,410)
Single Season
Points: Evan Eschmeyer (3rd, 550)
Field Goal Pct.: Evan Eschmeyer (4th, .579)
Three Ptrs. Made: Sean Wink (5th, 56)
David Newman (7th, 52)
Three Ptrs. Att.: Sean Wink (4th, 145)
David Newman (5th, 141)
Three Point Pct.: Julian Bonner (4th, .465)
Free Throws Made: Evan Eschmeyer (1st, 206)
Free Throws Att.: Evan Eschmeyer (2nd, 270)
Rebounds: Evan Eschmeyer (5th, 285)
Blocked Shots: Evan Eschmeyer (2nd, 48)
Single Game
Three Ptrs. Made: Sean Wink vs. Boston College (t2nd, 6)
David Newman vs. Indiana (t2nd, 6)
Three Ptrs. Att.: Sean Wink vs. Oakland (t3rd, 13)
Sean Wink vs. Boston College (t5th, 12)
Sean Wink vs. Long Beach State (t5th, 12)
Sean Wink vs. Maine (t7th, 11)
David Newman vs. Indiana (t7th, 11)
Three Point Pct.: Sean Wink at Illinois (t5th, .800, 4-5)
Free Throws Made: Evan Eschmeyer vs. Minnesota (t1st, 17)
Free Throws Att.: Evan Eschmeyer vs. Minnesota (t4th, 21)
Evan Eschmeyer vs. Michigan (t8th, 19)
Free Throw Pct.: Evan Eschmeyer at Wis. (t7th, 1.000, 10-10)
Rebounds: Evan Eschmeyer vs. Penn State (t9th, 21)
Assists: Evan Eschmeyer at Indiana (t4th, 10)
Steve Lepore vs. Michigan State (t7th, 9)
Blocked Shots: Evan Eschmeyer vs. Purdue (t2nd, 7)
Home Court AdvantageIn Kevin O'Neill's two seasons as head coach, the Wildcats have made Welsh-Ryan Arena a tough place to play. NU has a 21-11 (.656) 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. This marks the first time in school history that NU has recorded back-to-back seasons of 10-or-more home victories. The Wildcats never trailed at halftime in 17 home games this year.
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.
In Memoriam
The Wildcats wear a patch on the left corner of their shorts 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.
