Northwestern University Athletics
Wildcats Packing For Purdue
1/10/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 10, 2003
Purdue Game Notes in PDF Format
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EVANSTON, Ill. - To hear Northwestern head coach Bill Carmody, Saturday's game between Northwestern and Purdue will be a battle of tempo. The Boilermakers will try to force the issue, especially on defense; the Wildcats have been more up-tempo this season than in the last two years, but clearly they would prefer a more methodical approach.
"I watch Purdue and they are devastating," he says. "They defend so well, and a lot of their offense-I would say almost 40 percent-is driven by their defense. They pick up full court, they get great pressure from their guards, and they force a lot of turnovers."
This high-pressure defense may force the Wildcats to look to go inside a little more than they normally do. However, Carmody says that may have been a priority for his team regardless of who they were playing due to NU's struggles shooting the ball from the outside.
"With the defense Purdue plays, there may be opportunities to get inside with penetration and get layups," he said. "No matter how they play us, though, we need to get inside. Our outside shooting has been a problem and dictates that."
Wednesday's game with Iowa was an example of the Wildcats' recent woes. NU shot 43 percent from the field; committed just seven turnovers; and was outrebounded by the bigger Hawkeyes just 36-30. However, Northwestern shot just 6-of-25 from beyond the arc (24 percent), which played a major role in the 68-63 loss.
GAME 13 -- Northwestern (8-4, 0-1) at Purdue (8-3, 0-0)
Date/Time: Saturday, Jan. 11, 2003/12:17 p.m. EST
Site: Mackey Arena (West Lafayette, Ind.)
Capacity: 14,123
Television: ESPN Plus (Tom Hamilton, PBP; Shon Morris, analyst)
(will be broadcast on WCIU in Chicago)
Radio: WGN 720 AM (Dave Eanet, PBP; Bob Hildebrand, analyst)
(also on wgnradio.com)
