Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Chicago -- Exhibition
Torrid Shooting Propels Wildcats to Victory
11/7/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 7, 2007
Box Score
video highlights.
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern opened and closed the books on its preseason schedule Wednesday night with an 84-76 victory over the University of Chicago at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
Freshman Mike Capocci (Lombard, Ill./Glenbard East) led the way for NU in scoring and rebounding with 18 points, on 7-of-14 shooting, to go along with his nine boards. Sterling Williams (Chicago, Ill./Whitney Young) also nearly missed a double-double, chipping in 16 points, on 7-of-10 shooting from the free throw line with eight rebounds.
"Capocci has a lot to learn, but he got five offensive rebounds and when he came back in for the last seven minutes or so, he banged a nice three, got an offensive rebound and a foul shot that was really important," head coach Bill Carmody said of his freshman forward.
NU scored the first five points of the game and after regaining the lead at 15-14, it never looked back. With 9:11 remaining, a layup by Craig Moore (Doylestown, Pa./Lawrenceville (N.J.) Prep) put the 'Cats up 19, their largest lead of the game. From there, Chicago fought back, but could get no closer than eight points as Northwestern salted the rest of the clock away.
"I thought that we had a nice stretch in the beginning when we got the lead and maintained it," Carmody said. "University of Chicago is a very well-coached team with a bunch of guys that make shots. I think they're going to win a lot of games."
NU dominated Chicago in the paint, outscoring the Maroons 42-21, while grabbing 37 boards. Their scrappy play inside earned the 'Cats 17 second-chance points.
In the first half, the Wildcats buried Chicago from beyond the arc, shooting 46.2 percent, while making 48.3 percent overall from the floor. The 'Cats also turned up the heat on the defensive end of the court, forcing 11 Maroon turnovers, while coughing it up just four times themselves.
Jason Okrzesik (Itasca, Ill./Chicago Fenwick) scored 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting to lead the NU attack, while freshman Michael Thompson (Chicago, Ill./Lincoln Park) contributed 11 points and two steals in his first-half game action. The duo's 24 combined points helped NU to a 42-34 advantage in the frame. Okrzesik finished with 15 points and Thompson added three more in the second half with five assists.
Wednesday's contest was NU's only of the preseason, as it begins regular season play at 8 p.m. Nov. 15 against Stanford at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
