Northwestern University Athletics
Mississippi Valley State In Review
12/15/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
By Skip Myslenski
NUsports.com Special Contributor
BACK IN THE LAST CENTURY there was this ad for Mennen Skin Bracer, and it ended with some guy slapping that after shave on his jowls and then loudly declaring, "Thanks. I needed that." The `Cats, saddled by a three-game losing streak, enjoyed a Mennen Skin Bracer of a game early Sunday evening at Welsh-Ryan, where they scored 101 while routing Mississippi Valley State by 52. "We've had our struggles offensively," Chris Collins later said.
"So anytime you can have a game and put up a hundred points and a lot of guys see the ball go in, no matter what, it helps your confidence. When you see the ball go in, you smile a little bigger. It is what it is. When you're struggling a little bit, if you can have a game where you shoot the ball well, you see it go in, you have some success, I think it definitely carries over. We needed that."
SENIOR GUARD JerShon Cobb watched this win while wearing a white shirt and a rep tie and a pair of black pants and a gray walking boot on his right foot. He had struggled through the first part of this season, averaging a mere 5.1 ppg while contending with various ailments, and here he was granted a bit of R-and-R. "He probably could have continued to play," explained Collins.
"JerShon, I feel for him. He's working incredibly hard. He's been a great older, veteran leader. He's just not moving great. He's got a lot of nicks and bruises and soreness, and we just felt (after) talking to our doctors, (after) talking to him, to preserve him for the long run the best bet is to shut him down now. We don't know how long that's going to be. Hopefully he'll respond well to some rest.
"But right now he'll be out indefinitely. We want to have him ready and playing pretty well for the Big Ten."
ALL OF THE `CATS PLAYED WELL against the Delta Devils, who were under-sized and over-matched. Seven-foot center Alex Olah, often guarded by a 6-foot-5 defender, went for 17 points and 10 rebounds in just 20 minutes. "He did what he was supposed to do. He was the biggest guy on the floor," Collins said of his performance. Tre Demps, starting in place of Cobb, rediscovered his recently-errant shooting eye and scored 15 while going six-of-10 overall and three-of-six on his threes. "He knows we need him to score and he hasn't been shooting as well as he can. Today was a big confidence boost for him," Collins said of him.
The `Cats also got a boost off the bench from forward Nathan Taphorn, who scored 16 while going seven-of-11 from the floor, and from their overall display, which was replete with a cornucopia of dunks and drives and displays that delivered smiles to their faces. Olah dunked. Demps dunked. Taphorn dunked. Freshmen forwards Vic Law and Gavin Skelly dunked. Six-foot freshman guard Johnnie Vassar did not dunk, but still dazzled while often going coast-to-coast.
They shot 57.4 percent overall and 45.8 percent on their threes, and celebrated often throughout this game that was never in doubt. "It makes me happy when I see guys having fun. At the end of the day, that's why they play this game," Collins later said of their demeanor. "They've grown up loving it, and sometimes the pressure can rob you of some of that joy. So we're big on enjoying the positive moments, enjoying every win. They're hard to get. So it doesn't matter who you play, where you play them. If you play a good 40 minutes and you win, you should enjoy it."
THEIR ENJOYMENT WAS TEMPERED only by the absence of Cobb, who is expected to sit out (at least) their Wednesday game with Central Michigan and their Saturday game with Western Michigan. His unavailability has pushed Demps into the starting lineup, which is one reality the `Cats must adjust to as they hone themselves for their Dec. 30 Big Ten opener at Rutgers. "With JerShon out, I feel we need Tre's scoring (in the starting lineup)," Collins said, explaining this move.
"Whatever the team needs, to be honest," Demps said of his new role. "A guy went down. That was a role that needed to be filled. You've got to adjust on the fly. That's what life is all about in anything you do. It's new. It's definitely new starting games. I'm used to being that guy coming in when the starters are a little bit tired and having that fresh mojo. So it's a little bit different feel. But I'm kind of getting the hang of it a little bit."
That, in turn, leaves the `Cats facing another adjustment as they search for a Sixth Man who can reprise what Demps has done in the past. "We need pop off the bench," is how Collins put it, and a pair who can certainly provide that are the freshmen Skelly and Vassar. Both have big motors, both are fueled by high octane, yet neither can score with the proficiency of Demps.
This is why Taphorn's 16 points and 63.6 percent shooting on Sunday were notable. "That was huge for his confidence, huge for his team," Collins explained. "That's the element he can bring. You kind of have him and Sanjay (Lumpkin, a defensive specialist) at that position and they're two different players, bring two different things to the table. I think that can keep teams off balance."
BUT THOSE ARE ADJUSTMENTS to be addressed in the future. On this night, on this Sunday night, there were only smiles all around, and so the final words shall go to Demps. "It stinks when you lose three in a row. There's kind of this cloud that hangs over everybody's head that carries over into everything you do," he said here. "So it's refreshing to get a win."
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