Northwestern University Athletics
Wildcats, Blue Demons To Battle For Bragging Rights
11/25/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 25, 2003
NU-DePaul Game Notes in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
EVANSTON, Ill. - Tonight, a rivalry is renewed at the Allstate Arena, and some would tell you it has been too long.
Northwestern and DePaul -- arguably the highest-profile college basketball teams in the city, historically speaking -- meet tonight at Allstate in the first of a series that will continue for three years beyond this season.
However, this is a series that resumes after a hiatus that was interrupted only by outside forces. The teams stopped meeting after the 1997-98 regular season; since then, the only contest has been a first-round pairing set up by the National Invitational Tournament (NIT) people in 1999.
"This is a good game for us to be playing," said NU head coach Bill Carmody. "I am glad we are doing this tonight and for the next three years. This is a natural game for us to play."
Tonight's game is Northwestern's third in five days, continuing a brutal early-season stretch that has them playing seven times in 15 days. With just seven scholarship players they can rely on night in and night out, Carmody naturally is concerned as the 'Cats face off against a DePaul team that made the NIT again last year.
"Depth is definitely a concern for us," he said. "Depth will always be a concern for us this season." Northwestern shot lights out Sunday night against Chicago State, hitting nearly 60 percent of their field goals including a staggering 72 percent in the first half. Carmody credits that to judicious shooting-but says even that can improve.
"In looking at the first two games this season, I saw that when we run our offense, we get the shots we want and they are good shots," he said. "We just have not done that enough."
The Waldo Fisher-Frank McGrath Award
The Most Valuable Player of tonight's game (in a vote by you, the attending media) will be awarded the Waldo Fisher-Frank McGrath Award. The award-established in 1974-75-is named after Waldo Fisher, former NU athletic director and head basketball coach (1952-57), and Frank McGrath, former DePaul assistant coach (1956-72) and assistant athletic director. The following is a list of previous winners.
12/30/74 - Dave Corzine, DePaul
12/18/75 - Billy McKinney, NU and Ron Norwood, DePaul
12/1/76 - Billy McKinney, NU
12/17/77 - Gary Garland, DePaul
12/19/78 - Mike Campbell, NU and Curtis Watkins, DePaul
12/21/79 - Skip Dillard, DePaul
12/20/80 - Mark Aguirre, DePaul
3/21/83 - Jim Stack, NU
12/22/84 - Shon Morris, NU
12/19/85 - Kevin Holmes, DePaul
12/22/86 - Dallas Comegys, DePaul
12/21/87 - Jeff Grose, NU
3/16/94 - Cedric Neloms, NU
12/17/94 - Tom Kleinschmidt, DePaul
12/7/96 - Jevon Johnson, NU
12/6/97 - Evan Eschmeyer, NU
3/10/99 - Quentin Richardson, DePaul
The Series With DePaul
Tonight's game represents the 23rd meeting between the Wildcats and the Blue Demons, with DePaul leading the series 16-6. This is the first regular-season meeting between these teams since Dec. 6, 1997 (a 72-59 NU win). These teams did meet in the first round of the 1999 NIT (DePaul won, 69-64).
Northwestern has faced just three non-Big Ten teams more than DePaul-Notre Dame (87 times, ND leads series 63-23-1), Marquette (28 times, series tied 14-14) and Western Michigan (24 times, NU leads 19-5).
Northwestern vs. Conference USA
The Wildcats enter tonight's game with a 25-38 all-time record against the schools that play in Conference USA. This will mark the first time Northwestern has played a Conference USA team under Bill Carmody.
Keeping it Local
Northwestern is getting into the spirit of the local rivalries this year; this is the second straight game against a city foe, and Illinois-Chicago is still on the docket (Dec. 20 at the UIC Pavilion). The last time NU played three of the other Division I programs in the city was 1985-86 (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 DePaul is the third in five days for the 'Cats. Overall, NU is playing seven times between Nov. 21 and Dec. 6-a span of just 15 days-when reading period begins for final exams. After today's contest, NU enjoys a brief Thanksgiving respite before hosting Northwestern State Saturday at noon. 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 About Northwestern
* When Northwestern opened the season against Colorado last Friday, it marked the first time the Wildcats opened with a "major conference" opponent since 1975 (at Nebraska, of the Big 12). The last time NU hosted a major-conference team to start the season was 1970 (Kentucky, from the SEC).
* NU shot 59.5 percent against Chicago State Sunday night, just shy of the team high during the Bill Carmody era (59.6 against Buffalo last season). Of the NU players who took shots vs. CSU, only Mohamed Hachad had a percentage below .500; he was 3-of-7 (.429).
* NU has 31 assists on its 44 baskets so far this season, a .705 ratio; the 'Cats also have a 1.15 assist-to-turnover ratio (31 assists/27 turnovers).
* NU won Sunday for the 12th straight time when outrebounding an opponent.
* NU has won eight games in a row when shooting a better percentage from the field than its opponent, as was the case Sunday vs. Chicago State.
* NU is 14-1 under Carmody when scoring 70 or more points in a game, as the 'Cats did Sunday.
* Mohamed Hachad tied a career high with seven rebounds in the season opener against Colorado.
* Davor Duvancic, who has made the first two starts of his career in the first two games of this season, had a career-high four assists and tied a career high with two steals in the season opener vs. Colorado.
* In his last four games -- dating back to the last two games of last season -- Duvancic is averaging 10.1 ppg.
* After missing most of the second half of 2001-02 and all of last season to injury, Vedran Vukusic stepped back into the lineup vs. Colorado and has hardly skipped a beat. He has hit double figures in scoring in each of the first two games -- the fifth and sixth double-figure scoring games of his career, but the first since he had 11 at Iowa on 1/9/02.
* Perhaps more impressive, Vukusic enters tonight's game having played 72 minutes this season without committing a turnover.
* Jitim Young has now scored in double figures 11 straight times in the month of November (5 in 2001-02, 4 in 2002-03), averaging 16.0 ppg. The last time he did not reach double figures in a November game, he was a freshman.
* Young's 7-of-7 night from the field Sunday was the best in the Carmody era at Northwestern; Vukusic had a 6-of-6 night vs. Kansas State on Dec. 8, 2001. Those are the only perfect shooting nights from the floor in the Carmody era (minimum five field goals made).
* Evan Seacat came off the bench to score nine points in 15 minutes Sunday; that was tied for his second best scoring night as a collegian. His career high of 16 came last year vs. Illinois-Chicago, while he also had nine points at Minnesota.
* Ivan Tolic made his college debut vs. Colorado, and it was a dandy; his first collegiate touch was a deft bounce pass for a backdoor layup, and he nearly had a putback to end the half.
* Walk-ons Joe Kennedy and Josh Grier made their college debuts Sunday vs. Chicago State; Michael Jenkins saw his first action since the 2001-02 season.
