Cats’ Corner: Your source for NU basketball

By Matt Forman

For the last seven practices, coach Bill Carmody preached one thing: defense.

After losing its exhibition season opener 69-62 to Robert Morris (Ill.) College, Carmody knew his team could not allow a team to shoot nearly 50 percent from the floor.

It paid off.

Northwestern (1-0) played suffocating defense against Central Arkansas (0-1) on Sunday, allowing only 25 percent of the Bears shots to fall en route to an 81-39 win Sunday at Welsh-Ryan Arena.

“Every day in practice, that’s our focus. Defense,” junior forward Jeff Ryan said. “All the coaches say it and all the players have to believe, defense is going to win us games.”

After Central Arkansas scored the first two points of the game, NU went on a 22-3 run to build a comfortable lead. As the Wildcats’ defense pressured, their offense came around.

“Your defense helps your offense so much,” Carmody said. “When you defend you can score and press and get more possessions. Things just seemed to be in sync.”

NU forced 23 turnovers and allowed just 11 field goals. The drastic turnaround defensively was a result of defenders keeping their body in front of their man.

“Crazy, right,” Carmody said with a chuckle. “Something simple as that makes a difference, it’s like making shots.”

Four Cats scored in double digits. Junior forward Kevin Coble led the Cats with 15 points and eight rebounds, while freshman Kyle Rowley, sophomore Michael Thompson and Ryan added 10 points apiece.

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Northwestern had the one hiccup at the beginning of the second half, but it was otherwise an unmomentous second half. The Wildcats have allowed only 20 points in the second half (with about four minutes to play) as they have opened up a 24 -point lead.

Kevin Coble will finished the last seven minutes of the game on the bench with 15 points and eight rebounds. Michael Thompson was a key to NU’s second half run and added 10 points and four assists. The team responded to the Bears run and went for the kill in coasting to the win.

Check back here for a complete recap of today’s game.

As expected in any game that is a blowout after the first half, the team that is trailinb made a bit of a run. Central Arkansas came out aggressively and applied a full-court press of their own and cut the lead from 18 to 13, leading to a quick timeout.

Coach Bill Carmody’s timeout seemed to calm the team down as the Wildcats have expanded the lead back to around 20 points. The offense is really getting into sync with Michael Thompson starting to assert himself and drive to the basket. It is opening up lots of cutting lanes for NU.

The rout is on, as they say, and the defense does not appear to be letting up on Central Arkansas. The team’s offense is a little more efficient now that it is protecting the ball a little. But the shooting percentage is still hovering around 30 percent.

Northwestern burst out of the gates after a slow start. The Bears scored the first two points of the game and then did not score for nearly ten minutes. The Wildcats, meanwhile went on a 15-0 run to take a comfortable lead.

Central Arkansas never seemed to keep NU in front of them. The Bears were quickly over the limit and the Cats took advantage from the free throw line. It has not been one player doing the damage. The Princeton is pecking away at the Central Arkansas defense and the team simply cannot defend it.

What has been most impressive is the defense. Central Arkansas has been unable to control the ball on offense. Central Arkansas has committed numerous turnovers and it has hurt them immensely offensively. The Bears are shooting only 22.2 percent from the field (four field goals made).

NU is shooting 50 percent on the other hand, led by Kevin Coble with 10 points.

It has been a very odd game for the Cats. They are shooting some quick shots in the Prinecton and making them. The pace has been sped up just a little, but NU is keeping the game at their pace as Central Arkansas has been unable to control the ball on offense.

The 1-3-1 has not been used today and instead the Cats are applying some full-court pressure and man-to-man defense. It is working wonders as the Bears are trailing by 18 at the half. If this keeps up this game, NU will win running away.

The game started off very sloppy, but Northwestern is starting to come around offensively and defensively.

The Princeton offense is not working at maximum capacity yet, but Central Arkansas is having plenty of problems covering it so far. The Bears have committed eight team fouls in about nine minutes of play. The Cats are on a 10-0 run to take a 10-2 lead with 11:48 left.

Kevin Coble looks like he is going to be more aggressive out of the Princeton and he has had some decent post looks. Kyle Rowley got the start and showed off his range, making a free throw line jumper. And Craig Moore hit his first three of the game — an auspicious sign.

More interestingly, the defense is playing much more aggressive. NU is not playing its traditional 1-3-1 zone and has even shown some man looks and full court pressure. It has worked as Central Arkansas has been stuck at two points for quite some time and have turned the ball over more than a comfortable amount.

If the Cats keep up this defense, the offense should come around and help them pull away.

No word if Scottie Pippen is in the building to hee his school take on Northwestern. But what is certain is that today is a very big game for the Wildcats.

NU has dropped its last two home openers — including a loss to Cornell two years ago — and a win would do a lot to increase the team’s confidence and make them believe something special might be brewing this season. Plus, it is always good to start off 1-0.

Here are some keys to today’s game and keep it right here for live updates from Welsh-Ryan Arena.

1. Take advantage of opponents’ mistakes: against Robert Morris (Ill.) College, NU grabbed 17 offensive rebounds. A pretty gaudy number. But the team only converted 13 second chance points. That stat alone kept the Eagles in the game when the Cats were struggling to shoot the ball. The Cats need to take advantage of turnovers and second chance opportunities to win today’s game.

2. Control the pace of the game: NU’s pace is often what gets the team in trouble against weaker opponents (it also helps them against better opponents). Against the Eagles, the Cats let them dictate the pace of play and were clearly not playing the way they need to be playing to be successful. NU needs to run when the chances are there, but otherwise keep the game at a comfortable pace for the team.

3. Relax: the first game can cause a bit of nerves. The freshmen showed it in their first game in the exhibition last week. If everyone takes a deep breath and plays the way they know they are capable, this should be a win.

Prediction: the Cats will be able to dictate the tempo and freshman John Shurna and junior Kevin Coble will shine in a relatively easy win for the Cats. NU 68, Central Arkansas 55