Northwestern University Athletics
Wildcats Travel to Virginia for Big Ten/ACC Challenge
11/28/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 28, 2005
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EVANSTON, Ill. - The Wildcats hit the road for the second straight game when they travel to take on the Virginia Cavaliers Wednesday night, Nov. 30 at University Arena in Charlottesville, Va., part of the seventh-annual Big Ten/ACC Challenge. Game time is 8 p.m./7 p.m. CT and televised on ESPNU.
Northwestern is seeking the road victory after dropping a 59-49 decision at DePaul on Saturday. Vedran Vukusic again led the Wildcats with 22 points while freshman Craig Moore added nine off the bench for the second-consecutive game.
The Cavaliers are coming off a 81-51 loss at No. 9 Arizona Sunday, despite 24 points from Sean Singletary. Virginia opened the season with wins over Liberty (79-44) and Richmond (59-43) and are led by first-year head coach Dave Leitao who spent the last three years as the head coach at DePaul. Leitao faced Carmody's Wildcats twice in his three seasons as the Blue Demons' head coach, going 1-1.
A Glance at the Wildcats
In the season-opening win over Lehigh, Vukusic drained the go-ahead baseline jumper with 12.8 seconds left as the Wildcats came back from a double-digit deficit to defeat the Mountain Hawks at the BCA Invitational.
In the surprise win over Charlotte the following night, Vukusic scored a season-high 28 and connected on 5-of-7 treys to turn away any possible comeback chance by the 49ers.
Then against Florida Atlantic last Monday, with his team desperately needing a bucket, Vukusic drove the lane and delivered a thunderous dunk while getting fouled for a three-point play to put NU back out in front by seven. This after the Wildcats' lead had shrunk from 19 to four with under two minutes to go.
Big Ten/ACC Challenge Matchups:
In its seventh year, the Big Ten/ACC Challenge will increase to 11 games for the first time and take place on Monday through Wednesday, Nov. 28-30. The new, expanded event increasing from nine games in the six previous years - will include two telecasts on ESPNU, while ESPN and ESPN2 will combine to televise the other nine games, marking the fourth consecutive year every game will be televised nationally. Boston College, new to the ACC this season, is the odd man out this year.
Big Ten/ACC Challenge Schedule
Monday, Nov. 28
Virginia Tech 56, at Ohio State 69
Tuesday, Nov. 29
Illinois at North Carolina - 9 EST (ESPN)
Miami (Fla.) at Michigan - 9:30 EST (ESPN2)
Clemson at Penn State - 8 EST (ESPNU)
Purdue at Florida State - 7:30 EST (ESPN2)
Wisconsin at Wake Forest - 7 EST (ESPN)
Wednesday, Nov. 30
Northwestern at Virginia - 8 EST (ESPNU)
Duke at Indiana - 9 EST (ESPN)
N.C. State at Iowa - 9:30 EST (ESPN2)
Georgia Tech at Michigan State - 7 EST (ESPN)
Minnesota at Maryland - 7:30 EST (ESPN2)
How High Will He Finish?
With 22 points against DePaul, Vedran Vukusic moved into 15th place on Northwestern's all-time scoring list with 1,173 points, passing Andre Goode (1981-85; 1,155). The all-time scoring record is more than a quarter-century old when Billy McKinney finished with 1,900 points at the end of his career in 1977. Vukusic started the year 24th with 1,048 points and has 125 so far this season.
About Virginia
The Cavaliers enter Wednesday night's game with a 2-1 record with victories over Liberty (79-44) and Richmond (59-43). No. 9 Arizona handed head coach Dave Leitao his first loss at Virginia with a 81-51 setback in Tucson, Ariz.
Juniors Sean Singletary and J.R. Reynolds have paced the Cavaliers offensive attack this year with 17.7 and 14.7 ppg, respectively. Reynolds had 23 in the win at Richmond while Singletary paced UVA with 24 in the loss at Arizona.
As a team the Cavaliers are outrebounding their opponents by an average of 12.0 per game while scoring 63.0 and holding opponents to 56.0 ppg.
The Series With Virginia
Virginia won the only meeting with the Wildcats last season in Evanston, 48-44. (see complete recap on the right).
UVA Head Coach Dave Leitao
Dave Leitao, in his first year at Virginia, is quite familiar with Bill Carmody and the Wildcats, having spent the last three seasons as the head coach at nearby DePaul where he amassed a 58-34 record. He led the Blue Demons to the second round of the NCAA Tournament in 2004, including NIT berths in 2003 and 2005. Prior to DePaul he spent six seasons as the associate head coach at Connecticut under Jim Calhoun. He also served as the head coach at Northeastern from 1994-96.
Vukusic Atop Big Ten Scoring List
Though early, Vedran Vukusic has established himself as a prime candidate for top conference honors this season. He is currently leads the Big Ten in scoring with 25.0 ppg and ranks among the conference leaders in FG percentage (14, 58.9) three-point field goal percentage (10th, 48.5), three-pointers per game (5th, 3.20) and minutes played (2nd, 37.6).
Other Wildcats among the Big Ten statistical leaders include Tim Doyle who is sixth with 5.2 assists and 14th in free throw percentage (82.4). Mohamed Hachad is 12th with 1.60 steals per game.
Magic No. 60
Northwestern is 3-0 this season when they score at least 60 points and have held all of their opponents below 60, including a tournament-low 47 to Charlotte in the BCA semifinals. The 56.0 points per game given up by the Wildcats this season is good for third in the Big Ten in scoring defense.
Last Time Out: DePaul 59, NU 49
Vedran Vukusic had 22 points for the Wildcats on 9-of-16 shooting, the only Wildcat in double-figures. The Blue Demons had three hit double figures, led by Kerron Clarke's 15 points and 10 rebounds.
Missed shots and second chance points for DePaul ultimately did the Wildcats in as the Blue Demons grabbed 10 offensive rebounds which led to 13 points. DePaul outrebounded the Wildcats 35-22 overall and had 10 offensive boards to five for Northwestern.
Northwestern started to make shots down the stretch as three-pointers by Vukusic, Evan Seacat and Craig Moore brought the 'Cats back to within three at 52-49 late in the game.
Moore's third triple of the game pulled the Wildcats to within three with 2:08 left, giving the Wildcats a chance to pull out the come-from-behind victory. But each time the Wildcats got close, DePaul answered with one big shot after another. After a Vukusic three-pointer cut the DePaul lead to 46-41 with 5:08 left, the Blue Demon's answered right back with a Jabari Currie trey, pushing the lead back to eight.
Then after Moore's late three-pointer cut the lead to three with 2:08 remaining, Clarke came right back with a three-pointer of his own on DePaul's next possession to push the lead back to six.
