Cats’ Corner: Your source for NU athletics

Kyle Rowley made both free throws to extend the lead to 18. Northern Illinois was unable to score and maintain possession, giving the Cats a chance to widen the gap. Luka Mirkovic drew a foul and went to the line, missing the first and making the second. Juice Thompson fouled Ante Dzepina and jawed with him a bit before the two were separated. Dzepina missed both free throws. Xavier Silas was fouled shooting a 3 and only made one of three free throws. Juice missed a “Craig Moore 3-pointer,” but Northern Illinois was unable to make the Cats pay. Silas went to the free throw line again but only made one of two. The Huskies have been abysmal from the line in this game.

Jeremy Nash made both his free throws to extend the Wildcats’ lead back into double digits. Nash struck again, stealing the ball at the top of the key and slamming it home on the fastbreak. After Northern Illinois missed, John Shurna took control of the ball and took it the length of the court to make a layup and draw a foul. Shurna hit the free throw to complete the three-point play. The sophomore forward looked to have a block on defense, but he was tagged with a foul. NIU’s Tony Nixon made one of two free throws. Nash drove to the basket and got fouled on the ground. The Cats are already in the bonus, and Nash capitalized by hitting two free throws. Shurna nearly had a steal on the next play and dove out of bounds to try to keep the play alive. Shurna had a nice defensive rebound, but NU turned the ball over. Nash took the ball to the basket and got fouled again, hitting both free throws and extending the lead to 53-35. Ante Dzepina made a layup for the Huskies, but Ivan Peljusic hit a 3 for the Cats to further the lead. Shurna missed a 3 and NIU’s Tony Nixon hit one, bringing the score to 56-40.

Northern Illinois opened the half with a quick bucket, but NU came back with a score of its own thanks to a putback by freshman Drew Crawford. He got fouled on the play but couldn’t convert on the And 1 opportunity. Northern Illinois’ Sean Kowal responded by throwing down a dunk to make the score 41-29 NU. Luka Mirkovic drew the foul on NU’s next possession and made only his second free throw. Jeremy Nash fouled NIU’s Xavier Silas on the next possession. The Huskies continue to get the ball into the paint. However, the NIU guard missed both free throws, keeping the Cats in the lead 42-29. Jeremy Nash missed a 3, and then Silas made one from the corner after letting Juice Thompson fly past him. John Shurna drove the ball to the basket and got fouled, but Northern Illinois played stout defense and Tyler Storm made a bucket for the Huskies. Nash got rejected on a drive to the basket, but no damage was done as a Huskies’ 3-pointer rimmed out. Nash drove right back to the basket and got fouled on the play.

Michael Thompson hit a running lefty floater in the lane with two seconds left, giving Northwestern some more momentum heading into halftime. The Wildcats got the crowd into the game with their 15-1 run and amped up the excitement on Mike Capocci’s dunk. Now, NU has given fans confidence that it’ll be OK without Kevin Coble, at least for now. The Huskies aren’t a Big Ten opponent, but they are a pretty athletic team.

Well, we might have just seen the play of the year. Even if the season ended today, most fans would be pretty content. After the media timeout, Jeff Ryan fed an alley-oop pass to Mike Capocci, who threw the ball down with authority. Capocci is one of the Wildcats’ most athletic players, and showed it on the slam-a-jamma that gave NU a 36-21 lead. We’re not sure when you’ll see another one of those, fans, because they don’t happen too often watching NU basketball, but that was impressive.

The Wildcats capped off their increased inside presence with a 15-1 run, extending their lead to 26-17. Then, the teams traded baskets for several possessions. Northwestern sophomore guard Michael Thompson dropped a 3-pointer from the left wing to slow down a Huskies’ four-point charge. Junior forward Mike Capocci followed a missed trey by Thompson and fed the ball underneath for Luka Mirkovic, who hit the easy layup.

With Northern Illinois junior center Sean Kowal out of the game with three fouls, Northwestern started to exert itself in the post. Luka Mirkovic scored on two turnaround jumpers, and Ivan Peljusic hit a turnaround of his own, plus added a free throw on the hack. Jeremy Nash is leading all scorers with nine points, though he missed two free throws.

The Huskies have been playing man-to-man, and the Cats have been breaking the scheme down by using size to their advantage — something that has been very rare in the past.

The game play has been intense and the tempo is fast, as neither team has run the shot clock down into the single digits. The Huskies built the biggest lead on a layup by Darion Anderson, giving Northern Illinois a 16-11 advantage. But the Cats responded with two quick 3-pointers by Jeremy Nash and Michael Thompson. Nash goes to the line shooting two shots after the media timeout. He was fouled on a layup attempt after a steal by Jeff Ryan on NU’s end.

Northwestern and Northern Illinois opened the game by taking four straight 3-pointers, but each one clanked off the rim. The Huskies finally got on the board with a layup by junior guard Darion Anderson, who later added a layup on an easy entry pass. Luka Mirkovic scored the Wildcats’ first points on an underhand scoop layup. He added a turnaround jumper to give NU a 6-4 lead. The Huskies tied the game on a pair of free throws. Xavier Silas goes to the line shooting two shots after the media timeout.

Hello Northwestern fans and welcome to The Daily Northwestern’s live blog of the Wildcats’ opening game of the season, a nonconference game against in-state rival Northern Illinois.

We’ll have basketball in about five minutes, but keep it here for updates throughout tonight’s game.

One note to pass along — Senior forward Kevin Coble held a pre-game press conference to announce the severity of his left foot injury. Coble suffered a mild Lisfranc fracture at practice on Wednesday. He saw a specialist on Friday morning and will see another one on Monday to determine the course of action. Coble is out at least four to six weeks, and could undergo surgery. Coble said he is open to the idea of redshirting the year if it would benefit his health and the team’s success in the long run.