Cats’ Corner: Your source for NU athletics

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.

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By Matt Forman

With a minute and a half remaining in Northwestern’s non-conference game against UC Riverside on Monday, fans started filing out of Welsh-Ryan Arena to a calm 13-point victory.

Those fans should have stayed an extra few seconds to see the most exciting play of the game.

As the Highlanders moved down the court for a quick hitting 3-point shot, freshman forward John Shurna came out of nowhere and blocked Sean Cunningham’s long-range attempt.

Shurna caught his own block, drove the length of the floor and layed a perfect finger roll into the basket while getting fouled. The 6-foot-8 freshman connected on the free throw, providing the Wildcats’ final point of the game, en route to the 59-43 win.

Shurna provided the games’ highlight-reel play, but it was his contribution on the backboard that made the biggest difference.

“We haven’t traditionally been a good rebounding team, so I was just proud to see that they didn’t get too many extra shots on us,” coach Bill Carmody said. “That has plagued us the last couple of years.”
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It really seems like Northwestern has been coasting for a while. UC Riverside has cut the lead to 51-40 with 3:20 to play and look like they have one last run in them.

The Wildcats have fought off every run in the half so far, but they have taken the foot off the pedal considerably since holding a 48-30 lead six minutes ago. The lead has not gotten past 18 in the half and the Islanders have hung around.

It is probably too little too late for UC Riverside to complete the comeback, but it doesn’t make the Northwestern side feel any better.

Keep it here after the game for a complete recap.

UC Riverside came out of the locker room with a little spunk. The Highlanders closed the Wildcat lead to 13. But Northwestern quickly squashed the short comeback.

Junior guard Craig Moore got a steal at midcourt and found sophomore forward Mike Capocci on the other side. The pass was too much for the defender as he tripped and Capocci threw down a thunderous layup on top of him for a 17-point lead.

The Cats extended the lead to 18 at 45-27 with 11:52 left.

NU has found some more success by working the ball inside-out. Both teams have gotten to the line a little more as the teams have tried attacking the basket a little more.

The Cats’ defense just simply looks to be too much. The pressure in the backcour is starting to wear on UC Riverside and they are struggling to find holes in the halfcourt.

That does not even begin to mention the huge rebounding advantage NU has enjoyed in this half. It seems nearly every other miss on offense falls into the hands of a Cats player. They have a 10-rebound edge and have seven offensive boards.

If this keeps up, the Highlanders will not be able to battle back.

It was a good half of basketball, if you enjoy building houses. The teams combined to shoot 17 for 50, or 34 percent, as neither could gain any offensive consistency. That is what happens when you have a guy like UC Riverside’s Jesse LoBue trying to bank every shot he takes.

Northwestern built a comfortable lead with an 11-0 run that began with about 10 minutes left. The Wildcats have secured a XX-XX lead thanks to a swarming press defense that has forced some turnovers.

But overall, no one can be happy with the effort NU had in the first half. It is clear by the 18-point margin that the team can (and probably will) easily defeat this team. But the play on the court has shown there is still plenty of work to do.

The Cats shot decently going 11 for 25 from the field. But most of that came at the end of the game.

When was NU successful? The team built its lead when it started driving to the basket and forcing some action. The team struggled when it settled for quick 3-pointers and did not work through the offense. The Cats are three for 12 from beyond the arc.

I would expect this to be corrected in the second half and for NU to learn from its previous mistakes — blowing first half leads against Butler and Brown in the last two games — and finish UC Riverside early tonight.

Junior guard Craig Moore leads the team with 10 points and sophomore guard Michael Thompson has eight.

In Northwestern’s first game since the Thanksgiving break, the team is coming off a little sluggish. The effects of the tryptophan must not have worn off quite yet.

The Wildcats certainly seem capable of pulling away and winning this one easily through the first nine minutes of the first half, but they have not done it yet. NU is shooting 38.5 percent from the floor and holds an 11-10 lead.

Granted, the Highlanders are not doing much better. UC Riverside has made as many field goals as NU, but taken one less shot.

The Cats are rushing a little bit through their offense and need to remain patient. They have looked to get the ball in the post to freshman Kyle Rowley and junior Kevin Coble a little bit and have found some success. NU has struggle dwhen the team settles for quick 3-pointers.

Overall, the Cats need to slow the ball down on offense and pick up the intensity a little bit on defense. UC Riverside is cutting well in the gaps of NU’s 2-3 zone, but other than that do not look like they will be able to keep up in this one.

Northwestern returns to action tonight against UC Riverside of the Big West after losing its first game of the season at Butler on Wednesday.

The Wildcats (3-1) led by as many as 12 points in the first half, but could not hold on to the lead late as they closed the gap on the Bulldogs to one point with about 30 seconds left. Sophomore guard Michael Thompson led the way with 12 points and junior guard Craig Moore and sophomore forward Ivan Peljusic added 11.

UC Riverside (4-1) is on a four-game winning streak and has its best record since becoming a Division I school in 2000. The Highlanders defeated Colgate 54-44 in their last outing. UC Riverside allowed only 40 percent shooting and just 4-for-16 shooting in the first half.

Guard Javon Borum was named the Big West’s Player of the Week after he averaged 16.5 points and 3.0 assists in two games last week.

Keys to the Game

1. Defense - in NU’s loss to Butler, the team struggled mightily on the defensive end. Big men Kyle Rowley and John Shurna got into early foul trouble forcing bench players to step up. The Bulldogs shot only 40 percent in the game, but stayed competitive by shooting 24 free throws. The Cats took only six.

2. Get Kevin Coble involved - Coble had his first game under double digits and has struggled to get involved the past two games. After scoring an average of 16.5 points per game in NU’s first two games, he has scored only 6.5 points per game, including Wednesday’s three-point effort. Coble needs to be involved in the offense for this team to find success later in the season.

3. Rebound - always the Cats’ biggest concern. They need to control the boards and use their size to get an advantage on the glass. If the Highlanders can get extra possessions, they can stay competitive longer and have a shot at pulling off the road upset.