Northwestern University Athletics
Wildcats & Spartans Square Off Saturday in Primetime
2/3/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 3, 2006
Complete Release in PDF Format
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Feb. 1, 2006
6 p.m. CT
Northwestern (10-9, 3-5 Big Ten)
vs. No.12 Michigan State (16-5, 4-3 Big Ten)
Welsh-Ryan Arena (8,117)
Evanston, Ill.
The Broadcasts
Radio: WGN 720 AM
(Dave Eanet, play-by-play; Dave Kaplan analyst)
Television: ESPN+ Local (WWME in Chicago)
(Eric Collins, play-by-play; Bob Ford, expert analyst)
The Game
A Northwestern Win Would ...
Eschmeyer to be Inducted Into NU's Athletics Hall of Fame
Evan Eschmeyer will be one of five inductees in to NU's Athletics Hall of Fame this weekend. The Hall of Fame's 22nd class will be inducted Friday night, Feb. 3 and also will be honored at halftime of the Northwestern-Michigan State game Saturday. Eschmeyer is the only player in Northwestern men's basketball history to be named a three-time first-team All-Big Ten selection and the last player to receive All-America honors. Eschmeyer is the Wildcats' second-leading all-time scorer with 1,805 career points. He was named the team's MVP for the same three years he earned All-Big Ten accolades (1997, '98 and '99). Eschmeyer, who was slowed by a foot injury early in his career, led the 'Cats in scoring, field goal percentage, rebounding and blocks all three of those years.
A Look at the 'Cats
Vedran Vukusic
Big Ten Player of the Year and All-America Candidate ... Only Wildcat to start every game this season ... has a streak of 78-consecutive starts dating to the start of the 2003-04 season ... Leads the Big Ten and ranks 22nd nationally in scoring with 20.4 ppg ... ranks 12th in the Big Ten in FT percentage (.773), 10th in steals (1.42) and ninth with 2.26 3FG per game ... Named Big Ten Player of the Week Jan. 9 after averaging 22.5 points in wins over Purdue and Minnesota ... Scored a season-high 29 points in the win at Purdue and connected on a career-high 12 field goals in that game, including four from downtown ... Has led the 'Cats in scoring in all but three games this season and has hit the 20-point plateau 11 times ... Is seventh on NU's all-time scoring list with 1,440 points ... Sank a career-high nine free throws at Virginia and vs. Northern Colorado ... Got off to a red-hot start this season, scoring 76 points (25.3 ppg) and hit 12-of-22 three-pointers in three BCA Invitational games ... Hit the game-winner with 12.8 seconds left against Lehigh ... Named to the All-BCA Invitational team ... 2004-05 Third Team All-Big Ten selection and 2003-04 Honorable Mention.
Mohamed Hachad
Averaging 16.3 points over his last four games and shooting 61.0 percent (23-of-38) from the field ... had a season-best performance with 20 points, including a career-high four three-pointers, in the win at Purdue (1/25/06) ... Returned to the starting lineup Jan. 21 vs. Illinois (scored 14 points) after undergoing an appendectomy Dec. 28 ... Second on the team in scoring with 10.9 points per game and leads the team with 4.8 rebounds ... Has reached double-figures in scoring 10 times ... Sank a career-high nine free throws (9-of-12) at Michigan Jan. 18 ... Is sixth in the Big Ten in steals with 1.63 per game and is 26th in scoring with 10.9 ppg ... Had a season-high nine rebounds, tying his career high, against Charlotte at the BCA Invitational.
Tim Doyle
Has started 16-of-19 games this season ... has come off the bench in the last three games ... Currently eighth in the Big Ten with 4.3 assists per game ... is seventh in assist/turnover ratio (+1.74), 11th in FG percentage (.516) and ninth in steals (1.47) ... Had a breakout game offensively with a career-high 20 points on 8-of-11 from the field in the win over Purdue (1/4/06) ... also had five assists in that game ... then had 10 points in the overtime win at Purdue (1/25/06) off the bench ... Had a career-best seven assists vs. UIC Dec. 14 ... Recorded 14 points in the season-opener vs. Lehigh Nov. 13.
Craig Moore
Candidate for Big Ten All-Freshman team accolades ... In conference games only, leads all Big Ten freshman with 3.5 assists, is tied for first with 1.0 steals, second with 9.8 ppg and third in 3FG percentage (.449) - minimum one 3FG made per game ... In conference games only, he is first among ALL players in the Big Ten with 22 3FG's, eighth in 3FG percentage (.449), 29th in scoring (9.8 ppg), sixth in assist/TO ratio (+2.0) and 9th in assists (3.5) ... Has 29 three-pointers in his last 10 games, an average of 2.9 per contest and averaging 9.8 points over that span ... hit the game-tying three-pointer with 0.9 seconds left to force overtime in the win at Purdue (1/25/06) ... Drilled a season-high five three-pointers in the win at Minnesota for a season-high 15 points ... Has hit multiple three-pointers on 11 occasions ... Recorded a season-high six assists in the win over Delaware State ... equaled that mark in the win over Purdue (Jan. 4) and against Penn State (Jan. 11) ... Has 51 assists and just 19 turnovers (+2.7) on the year.
Sterling Williams
Candidate for Big Ten All-Freshman team accolades ... In Big Ten games only - leads all Big Ten freshman in steals (1.0), is fifth in scoring (6.6 ppg), fourth in rebounding (3.1) and fourth in assists (1.75) ... Scored a season-high 15 points in the road win against Minnesota Jan. 7 ... also led the team with a season-high six assists ... Had 10 points and six rebounds against No. 7 Illinois ... Has scored in double figures three times this season ... Made his first career start at Virginia Nov. 30 ... Scored 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting in the win over Northern Colorado Jan. 1 ... Has appeared in every game this season with 11 starts ... played a season-high 31 minutes in the win over Purdue and at Minnesota.
About Michigan State
The Series
Saturday is the 108th meeting all-time between the two schools. Michigan State owns a 71-36 lead and has won the last six meetings. Northwestern head coach Bill Carmody last defeated the Spartans 61-49 in 2002 at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
Izzo in 11th Year at Michigan State
Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo (Northern Michigan '77) is in his 11th season in East Lansing and has compiled an impressive list of accomplishments, including one NCAA National Championship, four regular-season Big Ten Championships, two Big Ten Tournament titles, four Final Four appearances, four National Coach of the Year awards and a Big Ten-best eight straight NCAA Tournament appearances. He enters Saturday with a career record of 249-102. Last season he led Michigan State to a second-place finish in the Big Ten, capped off with a trip to the Final Four in St. Louis.
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