Northwestern University Athletics
Wildcats Hitch Up For El Paso
12/26/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 26, 2003
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EVANSTON, Ill. - Northwestern men's basketball coach Bill Carmody likes it when there is balance in the lineup, which is one reason he has been so pleased with his current Wildcat squad lately.
"I am enjoying watching these guys play, because they distribute everything pretty well," he said prior to last Saturday's game at Illinois-Chicago. "There is good balance in our passing and shooting."
Those words seemed to ring hollow following NU's 19-point loss to a Flames team that gave the Wildcats a lesson on balance (UIC had five players in double figures). For one thing, Jitim Young had 27 points and Vedran Vukusic added 23; after that, no NU player had more than five. Not coincidentally, Young took 16 shots and Vukusic added 12; the other three starters combined for 11 shots.
"We had Vedran getting good looks in the first half and Jitim going to the basket in the second half, but that was not enough," Carmody said following the game. "It is hard to depend on just two players when your opponent has five in double figures."
Carmody hopes to see more of what he saw three days earlier, when his 'Cats took on an Arizona State team receiving votes in the USA Today/ESPN national coaches poll and ended up with a rousing victory.
In that contest, Northwestern had three players reach double figures -- Vukusic with 26, Young and T.J. Parker with 12 apiece -- but the shot distribution was much more evident among the regulars. In addition, NU did a great job of finding the open man; 20 of the Wildcats' 22 baskets came from assists, and one of the two that did not have an assist was Parker's length-of-the-floor drive for the game-winning shot at the buzzer.
Following that contest, Carmody expressed pleasure at his team's ability to withstand an opponent's rally and find a way to win.
"We played well for awhile against Arizona State," he said. "I think, if we had lost that game, it would have knocked the wind out of our sails; but whenever Arizona State made a shot to take the lead, we came back and made a shot to get it back. We could have folded, but we didn't."
Northwestern -- which leads the Big Ten in field goal and three-point field goal percentage -- certainly has its hands full this weekend in El Paso. The Wildcats face a 6-1 Rutgers team in the first round, and if they think their unique offensive system will cause the Scarlet Knights problems they are wrong; RU faces Princeton (where Carmody came from) every year, and beat the Tigers two weeks ago.
In addition, UTEP finished last weekend with a 7-1 mark that includes four wins in a row heading into the SunClassic. Mississippi Valley State, the fourth team in the tournament, comes to El Paso with a 5-2 mark.
This tournament will conclude nonconference play for the Wildcats; they are next in action Wednesday, Jan. 7 at Michigan in the Big Ten opener.
GAMES 10/11
Northwestern (5-4) at Sierra Providence SunClassic
Saturday/Sunday, Dec. 27-28, 2003 * El Paso, Texas
with Rutgers, Mississippi Valley State and UTEP
THE NU COACH:
Bill Carmody, 4th season at NU (44-52); 8th season overall (136-77)
TV: TBA
RADIO: WGN Radio 720 AM (Dave Eanet, play-by-play; Shon Morris, analyst)
The Fun Facts
* Northwestern is 0-2 in this tournament; the Wildcats participated in 1974, falling to Texas A&M 67-55 and Miami (Ohio) 89-88 in overtime.
* Bill Carmody, on the other hand, already has a SunClassic title; he won it as head coach of Princeton in 1996, when the Tigers defeated Texas A&M 46-38 and UTEP 74-62.
Northwestern vs. Rutgers
The Wildcats open the tournament with Rutgers, a team they have faced four times before and beaten all four times. The last meeting with the Scarlet Knights occurred in Evanston, Ill. on Dec. 5, 1988 and was won by the Wildcats, 75-69.
This is the second time Bill Carmody and Gary Waters have squared off with each other since Carmody arrived at NU. Waters' Kent State team defeated the Wildcats, 67-58, at the 2000 Carolina (Puerto Rico) Shootout.
Northwestern vs. UTEP
The Wildcats have met the Miners once before; UTEP won the Dec. 2, 1977 matchup, 58-54, at the Show-Me Classic in Columbia, Mo.
Northwestern vs. MVSU
The Wildcats have met the Delta Devils once before-in fact, it was just three years ago on Dec. 2, 2000. NU, in its first season under Carmody, defeated MVSU 83-62 in Evanston.
Back At It
Northwestern enters this tournament having played just two games since Dec. 6; the Wildcats knocked off Arizona State on Dec. 17 (63-61), and fell to Illinois-Chicago on Dec. 20 (90-71). That is a far cry from the beginning of the season, when the Wildcats opened with seven games in 15 days. Following this tournament, NU is out of action until Wednesday, Jan. 7 when the Wildcats open Big Ten play at Michigan.
Some Team Notes
* NU scored 71 points in its loss to UIC on Dec. 20; that is the most points scored by the Wildcats in a loss in the Bill Carmody era.
* NU is now 15-2 when reaching the 70-point mark in a game under Carmody.
* UIC's 90 points were the most by a nonconference opponent against the 'Cats in the Carmody era; in fact, they were the most since Marquette scored 94 on Dec. 3, 1994.
* NU had 19 assists on 24 baskets vs. UIC; in the last two games the Wildcats have 39 assists on 46 buckets (a .848 ratio). NU had 20 assists on 22 baskets vs. Arizona State Wednesday, its best ratio in the Bill Carmody era (.909); one of the baskets that did not have an assist was T.J. Parker's game-winner.
* For the season, the 'Cats have 153 assists on 203 baskets, a .754 ratio. According to Stats, Inc., they lead the nation in that category.
* According to Stats, Inc., NU also leads the nation in minutes played by the starters, at 84.39 percent, and is third in points scored by the starters, at 87.90 percent.
* NU is 5-0 this season and has won 12 in a row when shooting a better percentage from the field than its opponent, as the 'Cats have done in three straight games.
* NU has scored 70.8 points per game in its five wins and 58.3 in its four losses.
* NU has shot 51.4 percent from the field in its five wins (124-of-241) but 42.2 percent in its four losses (79-of-187).
* NU has shot 43.3 percent from three-point land in its five wins (42-of-97) but just 31.5 percent in its four losses (28-of-89).
* NU boasts a 1.22 assist-to-turnover ratio (153 assists/125 turnovers) this season, including 1.60 (75/47) in the last four contests.
* NU has averaged 18.4 foul shots per game this season; its opponent have averaged 13. In fact, after nine games the 'Cats have six fewer makes (111) than their opponents have attempts (117).
Noting the Northwestern Players
following UIC...
* Jitim Young scored 27 points, the second-best scoring game by an NU player in the Carmody era. Young also has the best, a 29-point performance vs. New Hampshire last season.
* Young was 9-of-16 from the field; he has shot 50 percent or better from the field in every game this season.
* Vedran Vukusic scored 23 points, his third straight game over the 20-point mark. He is the first NU player to do that under Carmody; the last player to do it was Evan Eschmeyer in 1999.
* Vukusic is averaging 23.0 ppg and 5.0 rebounds in the last three contests; prior to that, he was battling the flu and scored 11 points combined vs. Florida State and Bucknell.
* The last time a player other than Young had back-to-back 20-point games at NU was Winston Blake in February 2002 (23 vs. Wisconsin, 25 at Ohio State).
* Vukusic is 12-of-20 from beyond the arc (60 percent) in the last three games.
* Vukusic played the full 40 minutes in each of the last two games, the first times he has done that as a collegian.
* Parker has had 14 assists (against five turnovers) in the last two games; that includes a career-high eight vs. Arizona State on 12/17.
* Vince Scott tied a season/career best with five points in 12 minutes of action.
* Ivan Tolic saw action for the second straight game and played a season/career-high four minutes in the first half. Tolic redshirted last year with knee problems.
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.
* Of the 71 bench points scored this season, Evan Seacat has 51 of them. After going scoreless at Bowling Green -- snapping a five-game streak during which he averaged 8.0 ppg -- Seacat has 11 points in the last two games.
* For his career, Young has 15 20-point games, the most since Evan Eschmeyer had 34 from 1995-99.
* For the season, Young has made 46 free throws, which is 13 more than any other NU player has attempted. Young's 67 free-throw attempts are more than double Vukusic, who is second on the team with 33 attempts.
* Young has 18 offensive rebounds this season; the rest of the NU players have combined for 32 this season. Mohamed Hachad (10) 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 (10.8), followed by Vukusic (9.9), Parker (8.2), Hachad (6.0), Duvancic (5.1) and Seacat (4.9).
