Northwestern University Athletics
Men's Basketball Travels to La Salle This Weekend
12/8/2000 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 8, 2000
NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY MEN'S BASKETBALL (3-2)
vs. La Salle University (3-3)
DATE/TIME: December 10, 2000/1 p.m. CT
SITE: Tom Gola Arena (Philadelphia, Pa.)
capacity 4,000
TV: None
RADIO: WGN (720 AM)
Today marks a homecoming of sorts for head coach Bill Carmody -- in just his sixth game as the head coach at Northwestern, he returns to the mid-Atlantic region for a matchup against La Salle.
Carmody is no stranger to Philadelphia and the Big Five schools. He spent the last 18 years just up the road at Princeton, and witnessed some epic battles with Penn during that time. Ironically, La Salle was a fixture on the Tiger schedule when Carmody was an assistant -- the two teams played every year from 1991-92 to 1995-96. That rivalry ended when Carmody became head coach at Princeton prior to the 1996-97 season.
Today's game marks the first in eight days for the Wildcats, who have been off for final exams since an 83-62 win over Mississippi Valley State last Saturday.
Winston Blake hit five 3-pointers in the first half against MVSU en route to an 18-point night -- a welcome sight, considering he had gone without a point or a rebound at Clemson in the previous game. Jitim Young led the 'Cats with 21 points, and added seven rebounds (tying Tavaras Hardy for team honors), five assists and three steals. As a team, NU shot 51.9 percent (28-of-54) from the field including a staggering 64.7 percent (11-of-17) from 3-point land.
Northwestern will host St. Peter's Wednesday in Evanston.
THE SERIES WITH LA SALLE
This is the third meeting between the Wildcats and the Explorers, with La Salle holding a 2-0 lead. Last year, the Explorers earned a 62-44 win in Evanston.
HEAD COACH BILL CARMODY
Bill Carmody is in his first season at Northwestern after spending 18 years at Princeton University, the last four as head coach of the Tigers. While at the helm, Carmody guided the Tigers to an overall record of 92-25 (.786), an Ivy League mark of 50-6 (.893) and four postseason appearances. During his first season as head coach (1996-97), Carmody led the Tigers to a 24-4 record, the third-best first year mark for a Division I head coach in 30 years. Carmody followed that up with an even better sophomore campaign, when he directed Princeton to a 27-2 record, a Top 10 national ranking and the second round of the 1998 NCAA Tournament.
Carmody graduated from Union College (Schenectady, N.Y.) in 1975. A basketball standout, he led Union to a 59-11 record in three seasons as a starter. During his senior year, he captained his team and was named first-team All-ECAC as well as the school's Most Outstanding Athlete. Upon graduation, Carmody served as the head coach of Fulton-Montgomery Community College in New York, leading the team to a 17-10 record and a conference title. He returned to Union the following year as an assistant coach before heading to Princeton to be an assistant under the legendary Pete Carril in 1982.
BIG BEN
Sophomore Ben Johnson has picked up where he left off last year, leading the team in scoring in two of the first five games (16 vs. Arkansas-Little Rock, 14 vs. Clemson). Last year, Johnson was just the fourth player in NU history to lead the team in scoring as a freshman, as he averaged 11.6 ppg. He is also stepping up in other ways, as evidenced against Vermont when he led all players with eight rebounds.
A HARDY SOUL
Looking for a durable body on the Wildcat roster? Last year, junior Tavaras Hardy led Northwestern with 171 rebounds and got to the foul line a team-high 106 times. This year he leads the team with 31 boards and 21 foul shots.
TEXAS TWISTER
Sophomore Winston Blake played in all 30 games last year, starting two times and averaging 3.9 ppg. This season, he has hit double figures in four of five games after reaching the plateau just once all of last year. He leads the team with 12.0 ppg, 14 treys (36.8 percent shooting) and 12 steals.
THIS CD IS PAYING DIVIDENDS
The straw that is stirring the NU drink? How about junior Collier Drayton. Through five games he has taken control at the point, and leads the team with 22 assists against 13 turnovers. After a freshman year that saw him play just seven minutes total, Drayton started 20 games last year, averaging nearly 25 minutes per contest. He was third on the team with 60 assists (against just 49 turnovers) and 21 steals.
THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS
In a lineup as young as Northwestern's, it is inevitable that some freshmen will make an impact. Jitim Young is averaging 10.6 ppg and 4.6 rpg and has 15 assists while averaging more than 27 minutes per game. Ed McCants has established himself as a sparkplug off the bench. He had 12 points (on four 3-pointers) and five rebounds in 19 minutes against Vermont, then added nine in 14 minutes against Mississippi Valley State. He is second on the team with nine 3-pointers.
YOUTH SHALL BE SERVED
For the second year in a row, Northwestern boasts a roster with nary a senior to be found. In fact, the 13-player roster has just two juniors -- Collier Drayton and Tavaras Hardy -- to go with five sophomores and six freshmen. According to Stats, Inc., the Wildcats lead the nation in minutes played by freshmen and sophomores at 88.1 percent.
Do not assume it is an inexperienced group, though. Last year, the Wildcats led the nation in minutes played by freshmen and sophomores at a staggering 99.9 percent.
Another Stats, Inc., gem: NU is fifth in terms of experience based on eligibility and minutes played (1.000 for freshmen, 4.000 for seniors). The Wildcat average is 1.878.
GOTTA SHOOT 'EM TO MAKE 'EM
In Northwestern's season-opening loss to Arkansas-Little Rock, the Wildcats did set an offensive record -- for 3-pointers attempted, with 30. Actually, that tied the mark that was originally established against Iowa on March 8, 1997. Since then, the Wildcats have taken 28 treys (making 10) in a win over Vermont and 25 in a loss at Clemson.
According to Stats, Inc., as of Monday the Wildcats were seventh in the nation with 116 of its 254 (45.7 percent) field-goal attempts this season coming from beyond the arc. Does that continue a Carmody trend? The No. 1-ranked team in that category is Princeton, at 62.5 percent (110-of-176).
DEE-FENSE!
In the win over Maryland-Eastern Shore on November 22, Northwestern held UMES to just 33 points. It was the fewest points allowed by a Wildcat team in almost exactly two years (on November 21, 1998, NU defeated Oakland, 61-30), and the second-lowest total allowed by a Northwestern team since a 70-31 win over SIU-Edwardsville during the 1982-83 season. Currently, the Wildcats lead the Big Ten in team defense by a wide margin, allowing 49.4 points per game (Ohio State is second at 57.3 ppg), and they are also first in field goal percentage defense at 35.2 percent.
VALUE THE BALL
It is a mantra Coach Carmody preaches, and his young charges are listening. This season, Northwestern has 77 assists against 67 turnovers (compared to last year, when the 'Cats had 367 assists and 484 turnovers). The best example that the Wildcats are valuing the ball came against Vermont, when they had 19 assists (on 21 field goals) and committed just eight turnovers to match last year's season low. Against Mississippi Valley State, NU had 25 assists on 28 field goals.
