Northwestern
Central Arkansas
Wildcats Rip Central Arkansas 81-39 in Season Opener
11/16/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 16, 2008
EVANSTON, Ill. -
Junior forward Kevin Coble poured in 15 points and grabbed eight rebounds and Northwestern turned 23 Central Arkansas turnovers into 29 points on its way to a 81-39 season-opening win against the Bears at Welsh-Ryan Arena Sunday. Sophomore guard Michael Thompson chipped in 10 points and four assists in the win for NU.
Northwestern shot an impressive 60.9 percent from the field in the game while limiting the Bears to just 25.0 percent. UCA never got closer than 12 points after halftime.
NU's 42-point margin of victory marks its largest since Nov. 27, 1993, in a season-opening 94-43 win against the University of Chicago. The 39 points allowed by Northwestern were the fewest it has given up to an opponent since Dec. 14, 2006, in a 41-39 win over Wheaton (Ill.).
The Bears had not been limited to under 40 points since the final game of the 1981-82 season when they scored 39 points against Southern Arkansas.
Northwestern senior guard Craig Moore reached a milestone on opening day by cashing in two field goals from beyond the three-point arc Sunday. Moore is now tied with former Wildcat Vedran Vukusic for first-place all-time at Northwestern with 212 career three-pointers.
Both squads held firm defensively in the early going, with the two teams combining for just three baskets in the game's first seven minutes. After ceding the first basket of the game to UCA just over a minute into the contest, Northwestern used a 15-1 run over the next 7:14 to claim a 12-point advantage over the Bears. Buckets in the paint by Coble and freshman Kyle Rowley gave NU a 4-2 lead at the 15:28 mark which remained the score until Moore buried his first three of the year to put the 'Cats up five with 12:43 remaining in the first.
On the next Wildcat possession, Coble sent a bounce pass to a cutting Jeff Ryan, who converted the lay-up while being fouled in the act. His ensuing free throw gave Northwestern a 10-2 lead at the under-12 media timeout. Following a three-pointer by Thompson, NU forced three consecutive turnovers on the defensive end before freshman Davide Curletti knocked down a trey at the top of the arc--on his first collegiate shot--to give Northwestern a commanding 22-5 lead with 7:51 left before halftime.
A Marcus Pillow three-pointer cut Central Arkansas' deficit to 15, but two free throws by Rowley and a tough fall-away baseline jumper by Coble pushed the score back to 29-10 in Northwestern's favor. Coble kept the hot hand with two free throws and another lay-up, making him the game's high scorer at the break with 10 first-half points.
Coble also pulled down six first-half rebounds, tops among all players, to help the Wildcats to a 35-17 lead at the break.
After the intermission, Coble got things started once again with a lay-up to lift NU's lead to 20. But Pillow nailed two threes and Chris Brown got into the lane for a lay-up of his own, cutting the lead to 13 and prompting a Northwestern timeout.
The 'Cats would keep the Bears at bay after that, however, thanks in part to a three-pointer by Thompson as the shot clock expired. After a lay-up by UCA's Landrell Brewer made it 47-35, Northwestern put the game out of reach with a 21-2 spurt over the next nine minutes of action. Seven Wildcats scored for Northwestern in that span.
Rowley finished his college debut with 10 points on 3-of-5 shooting from the field and 4-of-5 shooting at the free throw stripe. Ryan also finished in double figures with 10 points for NU.
Pillow paced Central Arkansas with 13 points while Mitch Reuter and Brian Marks each grabbled six boards.
NU is back in action Wednesday when it hosts Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at Welsh-Ryan Arena at 7 p.m. Tickets are available and can be ordered at NUsports.com, by calling 847-491-CATS or at the arena the night of the game.
