Northwestern University Athletics
NU To Face Bowling Green...In Hoops
12/5/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 5, 2003
NU-Bowling Green Game Notes in PDF Format
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EVANSTON, Ill. - The Northwestern men's basketball team opened the season by scheduling seven games in 15 days. Today, the Wildcats play the last of those contests after going 3-3 in the first six, and NU head coach Bill Carmody feels it is important to finish this brutal starting period with a winning record.
"If we can be 4-3 after today it is a positive in a lot of ways," he said. "For one thing, it means we were able to get a win in a tough road venue. Second, 4-3 just sounds a lot better than 3-4. Third, the guys head into an 11-day exam period feeling a lot better about things, and I think that is important."
The Wildcats put themselves in this position with a workmanlike, 69-61 win against Bucknell Wednesday, Senior guard Jitim Young put together a scintillating line with 20 points and 12 rebounds-his second double-double of the season-as well as six assists (with no turnovers) and five steals.
Beyond that, everyone else in the lineup did their part to keep the Bison at bay. Sophomore guard T.J. Parker-whom Bowling Green will remember from last year-scored 14 points; after that, classmate Evan Seacat had nine points off the bench, while Vedran Vukusic and Davor Duvancic had eight apiece and Mohamed Hachad had six.
"We had balanced scoring Wednesday, and I think the hardest thing is to defend a team where everyone can score," said Carmody. "It means the ball is being spread around and guys are all looking for their opportunities; to me, that is indicative of a team that is playing together."
Carmody was also pleased at how his team took care of the ball.
"We had 10 turnovers, which was significantly less than we have had in any other game this season," he said. "If we stay under 10 in any game, I think we will have a chance."
In all, Carmody has begun to see progress in the last week.
"In the last two games I have seen us getting a better sense of what we are trying to accomplish on the offensive end," he said. "We have been more patient and we are seeing things through in the offense, not rushing stuff."
Carmody understands that his team may be walking into a hornet's nest this weekend-Bowling Green's Anderson Arena is notorious for being a tough host to visiting teams. However, he sees the game as an opportunity.
"This will be a tough road game for us, but we will play eight of them during the conference season whether we want to or not," he said. "We need to get experience playing in a hostile environment. There are still a lot of things we need to work on, and one of them is how to go on the road and play well. We need to learn how to take opposing crowds out of games, and put teams back on their heels."
Following today's game-which is Northwestern's third this week, after Florida State and Bucknell-the men are off until Dec. 17 (Arizona State at home) due to exams at the University.
GAME 7
Northwestern (3-3, 0-0 Big Ten) at Bowling Green (2-2, 0-1 MAC)
Saturday, Dec. 6, 2003 * 1 p.m. EST
Anderson Arena (4,700) * Bowling Green, Ohio
THE COACHES
Northwestern: Bill Carmody, 4th season at NU (42-52); 8th season overall (134-77)
Bowling Green: Dan Dakich, 7th season (104-75); same overall
TV: None
RADIO: WGN Radio 720 AM (Dave Eanet, play-by-play; Shon Morris, analyst)
Northwestern vs. Bowling Green
Today's game marks the third meeting between the Wildcats and the Falcons in men's basketball; the series is tied, 1-1. Last year Northwestern won 62-60 thanks to T.J. Parker's layup in the final seconds. Parker ended the game with 15 points to lead NU; for Bowling Green, Kevin Netter had 20 points.
BGSU won the first meeting between these teams, 79-68, on December 29, 1979 at the Blade Glass City Classic in Toledo, Ohio.
Northwestern vs. The MAC
The Wildcats enter tonight's game with a 42-18 all-time record against the schools that currently constitute the Mid-American Conference. NU is 4-1 vs. the MAC under Bill Carmody (3-0 Buffalo, 1-0 Bowling Green, 0-1 Kent State).
Akron 0-0
Ball State 1-1
Bowling Green 1-1
Buffalo 3-0 Ohio 8-5
C. Michigan 3-0
E. Michigan 0-0
Kent State 0-1
Marshall 0-1
Miami (OH) 0-1
N. Illinois 7-2
Toledo 0-1
W. Michigan 19-5
Reaching the Finsh Line
Today's game with Bucknell is the seventh the Wildcats have played since they opened the season with Colorado Nov. 21-just 15 days ago-and the third contest this week. Since the season began, the longest break Northwestern has had between games is three days; they were the Wednesday, Thursday and Friday around Thanksgiving.
Some Team Notes
* NU's last two wins have come by the same score, 69-61 (vs. Northwestern State and Bucknell).
* NU set season highs Wednesday vs. Bucknell with 28 made field goals and 20 assists, and a season low with 10 turnovers.
* NU shot 53.8 percent from the field (28-of-52) Wednesday, its third game over 50 percent this season. Last year, the 'Cats reached that mark four times total; they have done it 18 times in the Carmody era (see page 7 for list).
* NU had 13 steals Wednesday, the most by the 'Cats since they had 13 last Dec. 18 vs. Elon. In the last three games NU has collected 31 steals (10.3 per game).
* NU has 98 assists on 131 baskets this season, a .748 ratio. Against DePaul, the 'Cats had 15 assists on 17 buckets; the following game, against Northwestern State, NU had 19 assists on 23 baskets.
* NU has won 10 games in a row when shooting a better percentage from the field than its opponent, the latest case being Wednesday vs. Bucknell.
* When Northwestern opened the season against Colorado Nov. 21, 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 54.3 percent from the field in its three wins (76-of-140) but just 39.9 percent in its three losses (55-of-138).
* NU shot 42 percent from three-point land in its three wins (21-of-50) but just 30.7 percent in its three losses (20-pf-65).
* NU boasts a 1.12 assist-to-turnover ratio (98 assists/88 turnovers); five of NU's seven regulars in the rotation have a ratio of 1.00 or better this season.
Some Player Notes
Notes following Bucknell...
* Jitim Young had his second double-double of the season (fifth of his career) with 20 points and a season-high 12 rebounds; he also had a career-high six assists (without a turnover) and tied a career best with five steals.
* Young's performance came on the heels of his game at Florida State, where he fell one rebound shy of a double-double with 17 points and nine boards.
* Young had four offensive rebounds, giving him seven in the last two games and 14 for the season; the rest of the NU players have combined for 16 this season. Mohamed Hachad (5) is second on the team in that category.
* T.J. Parker had his fifth double-figure scoring game of the season and third in a row, with 14 points. He is tied with Young for the team lead in double-figure scoring games.
* Parker also had five assists; he has had five assists in all three of NU's wins, but just eight total in the three losses.
* Evan Seacat came off the bench to score nine points. Wednesday's game marked the first time this season Seacat's minutes went down (10, 15, 18, 20, 23, 22), and he is averaging 8.0 ppg since going scoreless in the season opener.
* Vedran Vukusic was held to single digits in scoring for the second straight game; however, in those games he has nine assists and five steals.
* Davor Duvancic also had eight points Wednesday, on 4-of-6 shooting; he has averaged 9.7 ppg in NU's three wins this season but only 2.3 ppg in the Wildcats' three losses.
Notes in general...
* Young's back-to-back 23-point efforts against Chicago State and DePaul marked the third time in his career he reached the 20-point plateau in consecutive games; he pulled off the feat twice last year. No other NU player has done it more than once in the Carmody era.
* For his career, Young has 13 20-point games, the most since Evan Eschmeyer had 34 from 1995-99.
* Young leads NU in rebounding despite the fact he did not collect a board vs. Northwestern State; the last time he did not grab a rebound in a game was Dec. 4, 2002 at N.C. State, and he has had just four such games in his career.
* Young's 7-of-7 night from the field vs. Chicago State was the best in the Carmody era at Northwestern; Vedran 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).
* Young went 10-of-15 from the foul line at DePaul. The 10 makes were the most by an NU player since Young had 11 vs. Wisconsin last February 8, and the 15 attempts were the most by an NU player since Tavaras Hardy attempted 15 vs. Virginia Commonwealth in the season opener of the 2001-02 season (11/14/01).
* For the season, Young has made 29 free throws, which is eight more than any other NU player has attempted. Young's 45 free-throw attempts are more than double T.J. Parker, who is second on the team with 21 attempts.
