Archive for the ‘Craig Moore’ tag
Craig Moore falls in 3-point contest semifinals
Craig Moore reached the semifinals of the 21st Annual State Farm 3-Point Shootout on Thursday at the Palace in Auburn Hills, outside of Detroit, before bowing out of the contest.
Moore scored 19 and hit two of the 2-point Money Balls in the first round. The point total was good enough for fourth place and a spot in the semifinal round.
The senior tried to jump the start of his second-round and seemed to be trying to catch up the rest of the way, finishing with more than 10 seconds left in his round. His score of 13 points, including three money ball makes, was last out of the four competitors in the semifinal round.
Miami’s Jack McClinton defeated Oakland’s Erik Kangas in the finals to win the contest.
Men’s Hoops: Clean bill of health, NU tops Minnesota
By Matt Forman
It looked like it would be déjà vu.
Just two nights earlier, Northwestern held a 10-point advantage over Purdue with 6:51 to play, while Minnesota trailed by the same margin to Wisconsin with 4:43 remaining.
The Wildcats imploded. The Golden Gophers rallied.
“We played a tough game against Purdue, which was a heartbreaker for our whole team,” senior Craig Moore said. “You start thinking, ‘What do we have to do to get one?’”
With 6:45 remaining on Sunday, the Cats found themselves in an eerily familiar situation - up 10 - against the Gophers. This time, there was no implosion. NU (9-6, 1-4 Big Ten) never let the game get closer than a nine-point advantage from that point on, topping No. 17 Minnesota 74-65.
NU snapped a 17-game losing streak against ranked opponents and won their second Big Ten game in the last 30 tries.
“There’s nothing sweeter than coming back after a game like that,” Moore said.
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Men’s Hoops: Cats race past Mustangs
Craig Moore and Kevin Coble sat on the bench for much of the first half in foul trouble. The two star players both picked up their second fouls by the 12 minute mark of the first half. Northwestern’s other players had to preserve a 17-9 lead.
Thanks to some strong defense, they did and gave the senior guard and the junior forward the chance to take over in the second half.
The Wildcats quickly extended a six-point halftime lead to 11 and extended the lead to as much as 20 in a 66-55 win Tuesday at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
NU (8-2) never let SMU get closer than that six-point halftime deficit in the second half, ending a successful nonconference schedule. The Mustangs (3-6) closed to within nine late in the game, but never threatened the Cats’ second half lead.
Moore finished with 14 points and sophomore guard Michael Thompson also scored 14 points in 37 minutes. Coble added nine points, freshman forward John Shurna had 13 and freshman center Kyle Rowley chipped in nine points.
Thompson’s play in the first half helped NU maintain its lead, but a strong effort from the team’s bench — especially defensively — kept SMU from taking a halftime lead. Junior guard Jeremy Nash filled in for Coble defensively, hounding the Mustangs’ guards at the top of the Cats’ zone.
NU continued its strong defensive play holding SMU to 43.5 percent and scoring 22 points off 23 turnovers. The Cats struggled with turnovers themselves with 18.
NU will travel to Penn State for the team’s Big Ten opener next Wednesday.
Men’s Hoops Column: Playoffs come in December for NU
This game mattered. Don’t let the calendar, or the circumstances or the players tell you differently.
Northwestern’s 73-59 win over Florida State was a statement. It was a call out to the rest of the Big Ten: Throw your best at us, the Wildcats will not roll over.
Forget last year’s disappointing 8-22 effort. That was erased like the four-point margin the Seminoles held early in the second quarter when Craig Moore unleashed his fury and energy on the Welsh-Ryan Arena floor.
It was Moore who took a charge, hit a three and then drew another offensive foul on consecutive possessions with 16:33 left that sparked a 20-2 run that gave the Cats a 56-44 lead with 11:16 left. His primal scream echoed through the rafters of the arena as the crowd grew louder, heightening the excitement and intensity of the nationally televised game.
Men’s Hoops: ‘Moore’ than NU could hope for
By Matt Forman
After Northwestern’s 16-point victory over UC Riverside on Monday, coach Bill Carmody wished for his team to be tied or trailing at halftime in a game to see how it responded.
On Wednesday, Carmody got exactly what he was hoping for. NU went into halftime down three points to an undefeated Florida State.
“I was pretty disappointed heading into halftime,” Carmody said. “I was not pleased at all.”
In the second half, Carmody got more than he ever could have hoped for.
The Wildcats (5-1) responded with arguably the best 20 minutes of basketball during Carmody’s eight seasons in Evanston and topped the Seminoles 73-59.
Final: Shout it out — Cats chomp Seminoles
Northwestern used an outpouring of emotion in the middle of the second half to spark a 20-2 run to transform a 42-36 deficit into a 53-44 lead. Florida State could not handle the pressure applied by the team’s defense as the Wildcats earned the victory 73-59 Wednesday night at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
Senior guard Craig Moore sparked the run with a series of three hustle plays. He first drew an offensive foul on defense. Then he hit a 3-pointer to pull NU (5-2) (5-1) within one. As Florida State attempted to bring the ball up the court, Moore drew a second charge, pounding his chest and issuing a scream to punctuate the series.
The energy was infectious. As junior forward Kevin Coble would block a shot and find sophomore forward Ivan Peljusic for a dunk a minute later. Peljusic gave the Cats a four point lead when he drew a foul on a two-handed lay up. He made the free throw to further extend the lead.
The Seminoles (7-1) could not recover as they committed more than 10 turnovers in the second half and could not match their 56 percent shooting performance from the first half.
The Cats found their shooting tough after struggling in the first half both from the field and the line and easily put the game away.
Moore scored 20 points and Coble added 15 points, eight rebounds and seven assists in the win.
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2nd Half Thoughts: Craig “Kevin Garnett” Moore
Whatever coach Bill Carmody said at halftime really worked wonders on this team.
Northwestern has come out with a defensive and offensive fire and are playing this game as if it were a must-win, erasing the halftime deficit and taking as large as a nine-point lead. They have a 53-44 lead with 11:51 left.
Want proof of this newfound energy and fire?
Down by four, senior guard Craig Moore drew a charge, nailed a 3-pointer and drew a push-off offensive foul on consecutive possessions. After he drew the second charge, he let out a primal scream and pounded his chest.
Want more proof?
Try sophomore Ivan Peljusic throwing down a two-handed jam and then getting the ball again on the baseline and going up for another dunk, but hitting the basket and earning the foul to give the Cats the lead.
NU is on a 17-2 run and Florida State seems lost. the Seminoles continue to turn the ball over. They have at least five midway through the second half. One of them being a shot clock violation that came after a timeout.
The Cats have the Seminoles on the ropes right now. They will have to keep up their hot shooting — off of an efficient offense — and pressure defense to keep the lead.
Men’s Hoops: NU learns to play with lead
By Philip Rossman-Reich
Northwestern has not been in this position often in recent years. Holding a double-digit lead throughout the second half, coach Bill Carmody was able to empty his bench for the third time in five games with about a minute to play Monday night against UC Riverside.
In three of the Wildcats’ four wins this season, they have held a substantial lead and had to hold on to it in the second half to pull out the victory. The results with these leads have been a bit mixed.
“We’ve had leads at halftime this year, some pretty sizeable leads and lost them,” Carmody said. “That’s what we talked about at halftime. You can’t just try to maintain and coast out and finish the game. You have to a killer instinct there and have an edge and go after guys. We haven’t gotten to that point.”
NU eventually pulled out the win Monday night, but lost the second half 29-27 to UC Riverside. It was not the first time the Cats struggled to hold a large lead after 20 minutes.
Men’s Hoops: Butler bullies NU at the end
Northwestern held a nine-point lead a halftime and looked like it would survive a second half rally on the road at Butler on Wednesday night.
The Wildcats clung tight to their lead, but Matt Howard had other ideas.
With about two minutes to play, Howard stole the ball at the top of the key from a Jeremy Nash pass and took it the length of the court for a layup that gave Butler the lead. It was his offensive rebound and putback from a missed 3-pointer by Gordon Hayward that gave the Bulldogs a three-point lead with less than a minute to play.
Junior guard Craig Moore, who tied a Big Ten single game record with nine 3-pointers Saturday against Brown, could not hit the tying mark in response. Butler hit free throws down the stretch and completed the comeback with a 57-53 win.
The Cats (3-1) took a nine-point lead thanks to a 60-plus percent shooting performance and a defense that was allowing the Bulldogs (4-0) to hit just 36 percent of their shots. Butler stayed in the game by making 12 of its 16 free throw attempts.
Like NU’s game at Brown on Saturday, the second half told a much different story than the first half. Only this time, the team could not hold on to the lead.
The Cats finished the game shooting 47.7 percent. The Bulldogs ended at 40 percent. NU ended up outrebounding Butler 28-22, but gave up nine offensive rebounds.
Sophomore guard Michael Thompson scored 12 points to lead NU. Moore and sophomore forward Ivan Peljusic added 11 points. Junior forward Kevin Coble only scored three points on one-of-four shooting.
Howard led Butler with 17 points and six rebounds. Hayward added 13 points and guard Willie Veasley had 10.
The Bulldogs shot 17 of 24 from the line, while the Cats only got to the line six times — making three of their attempts.
NU will play UC-Riverside on Monday at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
Men’s Hoops: Moore carries Cats to first 3-0 start since ‘93
By Adam Fusfeld
Starting his first game as Northwestern’s all-time 3-point leader, Craig Moore approached another record in Saturday’s 73-64 victory at Brown.
He hit eight shots from downtown in the first half and another one in the second half to tie the conference’s all-time mark for 3-pointers in a game with nine. Moore finished the game with 31 points on 11-of-15 shooting.
“It was the combination of just a really good offense,” Moore said. “I was on the receiving end of a lot of good passes; we ran some set plays for me after I started to get hot. I should shoot like that every other game or more.”
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