Northwestern University Athletics
Wildcats to Tangle Tonight with Cougars
11/23/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 23, 2003
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EVANSTON, Ill. - This season, Northwestern men's basketball is doing its part to add spice to the local rivalries.
The Wildcats are home again tonight, taking on Chicago State. This game represents the first of three against NCAA Division I programs from the city-two of which are coming in a row. NU meets DePaul at Allstate Arena in its next outing, which comes Tuesday night.
"I think it is important for us to play the other teams in the city," said NU head coach Bill Carmody recently. "It generates additional interest in college basketball in the city, and it gives us some other rivalries that make the non-Big Ten portion of the schedule more exciting.
"There is good college basketball in Chicago."
Two concerns Carmody had heading into the 2003-04 season were depth and size. Those concerns were borne out Friday night in the Wildcats' season opener, when Colorado was able to wear Northwestern down and take an 11-point win here at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
The first half gave indications that this Wildcat group can certainly make things happen. Using a nice mix of running-and-gunning and some great passing in the half-court set, the 'Cats jumped on top of the highly regarded Buffaloes and took a five-point advantage into the locker room.
However, foul trouble for some of Northwestern's inside players gave Colorado some leeway, and the Buffs' depth came into play. Led by Michel Morandais, Colorado outscored Northwestern 40-24 in the second half and held the Wildcats to just three field goals in the game's final 13 minutes.
"I thought we played well in that first half, but Colorado played a 40-minute game and we did not," said Carmody. "I don't know if we just got tired, but these guys shouldn't be tired; they are 20-year-old kids."
Today's game will certainly test NU's stamina. Chicago State averaged a staggering 112.5 points per game in its two exhibitions, but like NU the Cougars enter tonight's game 0-1 after an 83-59 loss to Northern Iowa Friday night. Tony Weeden led the Cougars with 22 points; he was the only CSU player in double figures.
NOTES HEADING INTO CHICAGO STATE
The Series
Tonight's game represents the fifth meeting between the Wildcats and the Cougars in men's basketball, with NU holding a 4-0 lead. This is the second time a Bill Carmody-led Wildcat team has faced Chicago State; the 'Cats defeated the Cougars 80-42 on Nov. 24, 2001 at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
Northwestern vs. The Mid-Con
The Wildcats enter tonight's game with a 17-6 all-time record against the schools that play in the Mid-Continent Conference. NU is 1-1 against the Mid-Con under Bill Carmody--in addition to their win over Chicago State two years ago, the 'Cats were also pinned with a loss by IUPUI last year.
Centenary 0-0
Chicago State 4-0
IUPUI 0-1
UMKC 0-0
Oakland 2-1
Oral Roberts 0-0
Southern Utah 0-0
Valparaiso 8-2
Western Illinois 3-2
Keeping it Local
Northwestern is getting into the spirit of the local rivalries this year, beginning tonight. The 'Cats also play DePaul Tuesday, and Illinois-Chicago Dec. 20 at the UIC Pavilion. The last time NU played three of the other Division I programs in the city was 1985-86 (that year the 'Cats played DePaul, UIC and Loyola).
Jumping Right Into It
Northwestern is not messing around when it comes to the start of the season. Tonight's game with Chicago State is the second of seven the 'Cats are playing between Nov. 21 and Dec. 6--a span of just 15 days--when reading period begins for final exams.
After today's contest, NU travels to Allstate Arena for its first regular-season meeting with DePaul since 1997. After a brief Thanksgiving respite, NU hosts Northwestern State Saturday, then it's off to Florida State and a Monday night game as part of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. The run ends with a home game against Bucknell next Wednesday (Dec. 3) and a road trip to Bowling Green next Saturday (Dec. 6).
NOTES FROM THE COLORADO GAME
* Mohamed Hachad tied a career high with seven rebounds.
* Davor Duvancic made his first career start, had a career-high four assists, and tied a career high with two steals.
* Vedran Vukusic had the fifth double-figure scoring game of his career, but his first since he had 11 at Iowa on 1/9/02.
* Jitim Young has now scored in double figures 10 straight times in the month of November (5 in 2001-02, 4 in 2002-03), averaging 15.3 ppg. The last time he did not reach double figures in a November game, he was a freshman.
* Ivan Tolic made his college debut; his first collegiate touch was a deft bounce pass for a backdoor layup, and he nearly had a putback to end the half.
