Northwestern University Athletics
Wildcats Are Back At It Wednesday
12/16/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 16, 2003
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EVANSTON, Ill. - The Northwestern men's basketball team opened the season with seven games in 15 days; that was followed by 11 days off due to exams at the University.
Tonight, the Wildcats tip off what can be called the second leg of the season-and this start bears a strikingly similar feel to the beginning of the campaign.
In that game, Northwestern faced off with Colorado, a 2003 NCAA Tournament team out of the Big 12 Conference. Tonight's opponent, Arizona State, also made last year's NCAA Tourney out of the Pac-10 Conference.
Colorado entered the season receiving votes in both national polls; so did ASU. This week, both continue to earn voting points in the USA Today/ESPN rankings.
The Buffaloes boasted a man in the middle, David Harrison, who brought the scouts to Welsh-Ryan. The bird-dogs will be in the house again tonight, this time to get a look at the Sun Devils' precocious sophomore, Ike Diogu.
What NU head coach Bill Carmody is hoping is that the result will not be similar.
"After playing so many games in a row, we needed a break," he acknowledged. "But we were playing a little bit better.
"The first couple of days back last week, we worked on getting the guys back into shape mentally more than anything-we wanted to get that concentration back after exams."
The Wildcats won the last two games they played, showing outstanding shooting prowess as well as nice distribution. The team has shot 50 percent or better in four of its seven games, including each of the last two. At Bowling Green, where 20 straight non-conference foes had tasted defeat to the Falcons, NU hit 12 of its 24 three-point attempts to win in a rout.
"The shooting has improved," said Carmody. "During the last month we asked guys to come in before practice and take shots if they could. During the year you may not shoot that much while you are in practice or playing games, but we emphasized shooting the ball during the last month or so."
Northwestern is also showing a penchant for being equal-opportunity. While senior Jitim Young continues to be the Wildcats' main gun-he is third in the Big Ten in scoring-he averages fewer than 11 shot attempts per game. Everyone is getting their opportunity to take shots, and judging from the percentages they are making them.
"The way we play, the ball should be distributed pretty evenly," said Carmody. "I like it when that happens. Everyone should be looking to shoot it."
Carmody's team struggled to stop the centers from Bucknell and Bowling Green, and he knows they will have their hands full with Diogu-one of just two freshmen last year to earn All-America honors, along with Syracuse's Carmelo Anthony.
"Ike is one of the best big players in the Pac-10 and the country," said Carmody. "He is powerful and quick, and the best big guy we have seen this year."
GAME 8
Northwestern (4-3, 0-0 Big Ten) vs. Arizona State (4-1, 0-0 Pac-10)
Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2003 * 7 p.m. CST
Welsh-Ryan Arena (8,117) * Evanston, Ill.
THE COACHES
Northwestern: Bill Carmody, 4th season at NU (43-52); 8th season overall (135-77)
Arizona State: Rob Evans, 6th season (84-73); 12th season overall (170-154)
TV: Fox Sports (Tom Dillon, play-by-play; Tim Kempton, analyst)
Please note the game will be shown live on Fox Sports Arizona, NOT Fox Sports Chicago
RADIO: WGN Radio 720 AM (Dave Eanet, play-by-play; David Kaplan, analyst)
THE FUN FACT: Last week, Northwestern senior Jitim Young led the nation in scoring-by points, not average. He had 133 points following the Dec. 6 game at Bowling Green, which was more than anyone else in the nation had scored at that time. Currently, Young is third in the Big Ten in scoring average, at 19.0 ppg.
Northwestern vs. Arizona State
Today's game marks the fifth meeting between the Wildcats and the Sun Devils in men's basketball; Arizona State holds a 3-1 lead in the series. The last meeting occured two years ago, when NU and ASU met in the championship game of the ASU/azcentral Hoops Classic in Tempe. The Devils won that game, 77-60.
Northwestern vs. The Pac-10
The Wildcats enter tonight's game with a 13-30 all-time record against the schools that currently constitute the Pac-10. NU is 1-1 vs. the Pac-10 under head coach Bill Carmody; in addition to the loss at Arizona State, NU defeated a nationally ranked USC squad 63-61 here at Welsh-Ryan Arena Dec. 27, 2000.
Arizona 0-2
Arizona State 1-3
California 1-2
Oregon 0-2
Oregon State 1-4
Stanford 1-1
UCLA 1-3
USC 3-6
Washington 2-5
Washington St 3-2
Back At It
Tonight's game is Northwestern's first in 11 days, due to exams at the University. That is a far cry from the beginning of the season, when the Wildcats opened with seven games in 15 days, and the longest break between games was three days-the Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of Thanksgiving.
This is the second straight year NU has taken an 11-day break between games during the season; it is the longest break since the 'Cats went 12 days between games in 1992.
Some Team Notes
* NU hit 12 three-pointers in its most recent game, at Bowling Green. It was the most by the 'Cats in a game since they knocked down a dozen vs. Liberty on Dec. 17, 2001.
* NU's three-point percentage has gone up in its last five games: .292 (DePaul), .389 (NSU), .421 (FSU), .467 (Bucknell), .500 (BGSU).
* NU shot 53.1 percent from the field (26-of-49) at Bowling Green, its fourth game over 50 percent this season. That matches the number of times the 'Cats reached that mark all of last year; they have done it 19 times in the Carmody era (see page 8 for list).
* NU has 114 assists on 157 baskets, a .726 ratio. According to Stats, Inc., that places them second in the nation-behind tonight's opponent, Arizona State. The Sun Devils have a .732 ratio (82 assists on 112 baskets).
* Also according to Stats, Inc., NU leads the nation in minutes played by the starters, at 85.07 percent, and is fifth in points scored by the starters, at 87.86 percent (see page 8 for scoring breakdown).
* NU has won 11 games in a row when shooting a better percentage from the field than its opponent, the latest case being Bowling Green.
* NU has scored 72.3 points per game in its four wins and 54.0 in its three losses.
* NU has shot 54.0 percent from the field in its four wins (102-of-189) but just 39.9 percent in its three losses (55-of-138).
* NU has shot 44.6 percent from three-point land in its four wins (33-of-74) but just 30.7 percent in its three losses (20-of-65).
* NU boasts a 1.15 assist-to-turnover ratio (114 assists/99 turnovers); five of NU's seven regulars have a ratio better than 1.00.
* NU has averaged 18.4 foul shots per game this season; its opponent have averaged 12.9. The 'Cats have taken more free throws than their opponents in six of seven games to date.
Player Notes following Bowling Green...
* NU's starters scored all 77 points; the last time that happened was last year at Kansas State, when the starters scored all 59 points.
* Jitim Young matched a season high with 23 points; he has now met that mark three times this season. His career high is 29, set last year vs. New Hampshire.
* Young went 9-of-10 from the foul line, the best single-game performance from the charity stripe of his career (minimum five FT attempts).
* Vedran Vukusic had been battling the flu, which hampered him vs. Florida State and Bucknell (he scored 11 points total in those games), but he broke out with a career-high 20 points. He also matched a career best with four treys.
* Vukusic also tied for team-high honors with five rebounds.
* Davor Duvancic had a season-high 13 points and a career-best three treys; he went 5-of-6 from the field including 3-of-4 beyond the arc.
* Duvancic shot .750 from the field in the last two games (9-of-12) and has been above .500 in six of NU's seven contests; he has averaged 10.5 ppg in NU's four wins this season.
* Mohamed Hachad had 12 points, his second game in double figures this season and fourth career. NU has never lost when Hachad reaches double digits.
* Evan Seacat was averaging 8.0 ppg in the five games leading up to Bowling Green, but did not take a shot from the field and was held scoreless by the Falcons.
And notes in general...
* The starting five of Parker, Hachad, Young, Vukusic and Duvancic has accounted for 87.9 percent of NU's scoring this season.
* Young had 23 points at Bowling Green and 20 vs. Bucknell; it marked the fourth time in his career he had consecutive 20-point games; he pulled off the feat twice last season and already two times this season. No other NU player has done it more than once in the Carmody era.
* For his career, Young has 14 20-point games, the most since Evan Eschmeyer had 34 from 1995-99.
* For the season, Young has made 38 free throws, which is 15 more than any other NU player has attempted. Young's 55 free-throw attempts are well ahead of T.J. Parker, who is second on the team with 23 attempts.
* Young has 15 offensive rebounds this season; the rest of the NU players have combined for 20 this season. Mohamed Hachad (6) is second on the team in that category.
* Six of NU's seven regulars-the starting five plus Seacat-have hit two or more three-pointers in at least one game this season, and five have hit three in a game at least once. The only player among the six not to have three treys in a game? Parker, who led the team with 41 last season.
* Talk about equal opportunity offense-no player in the NU lineup averages more than 11 shots per game. Young leads the team (10.4), followed by Vukusic (8.9), Parker (8.3), Hachad (6.6), Duvancic (5.1) and Seacat (4.7).
