Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern Hosts Purdue Saturday at Welsh-Ryan Arena
2/22/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 22, 2007
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Feb. 24, 2007 -- 11:15 a.m. CT
Northwestern (13-14, 2-11) vs. Purdue (17-10, 6-7)
Welsh-Ryan Arena (8,117)
Evanston, Ill.
Radio -- WGN 720 AM (Dave Eanet and Dave Kaplan)
Television -- ESPN Plus Regional, WCIU in Chicago (Wayne Larrivee and Bob Ford)
The Game
Saturday is the second of a three-game homestand as the Wildcats (13-14, 2-11) welcome the Purdue Boilermakers (17-10, 6-7) for a matinee at Welsh-Ryan Arena. Game time is 11:15 a.m. CT.
Northwestern picked up an 11-point win over Texas-Pan American Wednesday where freshman Kevin Coble and senior Tim Doyle led four NU players in double-figures. NU hit 21-of-24 free throws to close out the win. Purdue is coming off a 78-59 road loss to Iowa where guard Chris Kramer led the team with 19 points.
The Wildcats have had Purdue's number over the last few years, winning five-straight. They will have their work cut out Saturday, however, as they go up against one of the top offensive teams in the league (70.3 ppg) and two of the top 10 scorers in Carl Landry and David Teague.
This is the first of two meetings in seven days between the two teams. They will meet again next Saturday in West Lafayette.
Northwestern Sets Nonconference Win Record
With the win Wednesday night, Northwestern set the school record for nonconference wins in a season with 11. The 10-3 (.769) mark before Big Ten play gave NU 10 wins before league play for the first time in its history and was the best record since the Wildcats went 9-0 to open the season in 1993-94. That year the Wildcats advanced to the NIT where they defeated DePaul in the opening round before falling to Xavier in the second round--giving them a 10-1 (.909) nonconference mark.
Coble Among Top NU Freshmen
With his 12.8 ppg average, Kevin Coble is on pace to become just the fifth true-freshman to lead the Wildcats in scoring since the 1972-73 season when freshmen became eligible for varsity competition. Ben Johnson was the last Wildcat to do it in 2000 when he averaged 11.6 ppg. Cedric Neloms also did it in 1992 with 14.4 ppg, Jim Stack in 1980 with 12.9 and Billy McKinney--Northwestern's all-time leading scorer--with 15.8 ppg in 1974.
Coble is one of the leading candidates for Big Ten All-Freshman honors. He is averaging 15.0 points over the last seven games. He has scored in double-figures 17 times and has four games with 20 or more points. Among conference newcomers, he ranks third in scoring (12.8) and rebounding (5.2), fourth in FG percentage (.502) and third in 3FG percentage (.392). He is eighth in the Big Ten overall in FG percentage and 15th in scoring.
Doyle Leads NU vs. Purdue
In three career games with Purdue, Tim Doyle is averaging 13.0 points and 5.3 rebounds while shooting better than 60 percent from the field and 71 percent from the line (10-14). In the home win over Purdue last season, Doyle scored a career-high 20 points on 8-of-11 shooting and dished out five assists.
Back-to-Back Double-Doubles
With 14 points and 11 rebounds in the road loss to Iowa, Kevin Coble became the first Wildcat since Jitim Young in 2003 to record back-to-back double-doubles. He had 16 points and 10 boards against the Nittany Lions on Feb. 10. Young had 23 and 12 against Indiana on Feb. 5, 2003 and 25 and 10 three days later against Wisconsin. He almost pulled the trifecta with 12 points and nine rebounds the next game against Purdue.
Last Time Out
Tim Doyle and Kevin Coble combined for 35 points and led four Wildcats in double figures in a 67-56 win over a pesky Texas-Pan American squad Wednesday night. The win set a Northwestern record with 11 nonconference wins in a season. Doyle scored 17 on 6-of-7 shooting while Coble added 18, including four 3-pointers, to go along with a game-high eight rebounds. Both teams came out red-hot in the first half as both teams were shooting better than 60 percent 10 minutes into the game. The Broncs, however, cooled off as Northwestern took a 37-26 lead into the locker room. Doyle was the spark in the first 20 minutes for the 'Cats, scoring 12 points and hitting five-straight field goals after missing his first attempt. UTPA would heat up once again after halftime and cut the NU lead to two, 44-42, as the Broncs hit four treys in the first nine minutes. Leading by three, 49-46 with 8:14 left, the 'Cats kept their composure and went on an 8-0 run, capped off by Coble's fourth 3-pointer to put NU out in front 57-46 with 5:15 left. UTPA would cut the lead back down to six, but Northwestern, who hit 21-of-24 from the free throw line on the night, hit eight-straight from the stripe in the final 1:13. Jason Okrzesik, who finished with 11 points, was 9-of-9 from the line. Jeff Ryan hit 6-of-7 from the stripe and finished with 10 points. Ivan Tolic scored six points in 18 minutes of action. He has now hit his last nine field goal attempts. Northwestern did a much better job on the boards, limiting UTPA's second chance opportunities as both teams grabbed 24 caroms.
Windex Man
In addition to his scoring, Coble has emerged as one of the top rebounders in the league with 5.2 per game. He is averaging 8.5 rebounds over the last four games, including two double-digit rebounding games against Penn State and Iowa.
Mr. Perfect
Though he doesn't take many shots, center Ivan Tolic has been making the most of his minutes on the floor. In the last five games, while averaging only 10.6 minutes per contest, Tolic has made nine-straight field goals and went 3-for-3 in the win over Texas-Pan American Wednesday night.
He Can Score Too
In addition to Coble, Tim Doyle has been forced to pick up some of the scoring slack of late and is averaging 14.1 points and shooting 57 percent over the last eight games. He scored 30 points in two home games against No. 5 Ohio State and Minnesota, going 13-of-24 from the field in those two games with 10 assists. He scored nine in the road loss at Wisconsin, 16 in the home loss to Illinois and another 15 in the win over Penn State. He then led the Wildcats with 17 in the close loss to Iowa on the road and then again in the win over Texas-Pan American.
'Cats Rank Second in NCAA's in Assist/FG Ratio
Northwestern is ranked No. 2 among all Division I teams in assist-to-field goal ratio, according to the latest statistical release Feb. 18. The Wildcats have assisted on 407-of-565 makes (.720).
About The Boilermakers
Purdue is 17-10 and riding the NCAA Tournament bubble. They have posted solid home wins over Indiana, Michigan State, Illinois and Michigan along with nonconference wins over Virginia, Missouri and DePaul.
Carl Landry is one of the top scorers in the Big Ten, averaging 18.8 ppg--third best in the league behind Iowa's Adam Haluska and Wisconsin's Alando Tucker. Teague is second with 14.1 points.
Purdue is fourth in the league in scoring with 70.3 points per contest. They scored 81 in the home win over the Hoosiers on Feb. 15.
Matt Painter is in his second year as the head coach in West Lafayette after taking over for the legendary Gene Keady. During the 2004-05 season, Painter served as associate head coach during Keady's 25th season with the Boilermakers. Painter spent the 2003-04 season as the head coach of Southern Illinois, where he led the Salukis to a 25-5 record and an appearance in the NCAA Tournament. The Salukis were ranked as high as 15th in the AP poll during the 2003-04 season, and Painter earned Missouri Valley coach of the year honors.
Northwestern In The NCAA Ranks
According to the latest NCAA Division I statistical report released Feb. 18, Northwestern ranks No. 8 nationally scoring defense, giving up just 57.2 ppg. They also are fifth in fewest turnovers per game (11.0) and sixth with only 14.5 personal fouls. Its 8.5 steals per game is good for 37th.
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