Men’s Hoops: Shurna, Cats surge past Highlanders
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.”
UC Riverside (4-2) came into the game averaging 11 more rebounds per contest than its opponents. Despite that fact, NU (4-1) dominated on the glass, winning the rebounding margin 37-29. Four different Cats
totaled more than five rebounds in the contest and five other players were in the mix.
But the best rebounding effort came on the offensive glass, where Shurna and fellow freshman forward Luka Mirkovic added two offensive boards apiece.
“Luka has a knack for that,” Carmody said. “We’ve sort of given him the green light. It’s great if you have an offensive rebounder, because it’s like stealing points.”
Ironically, it was not Mirkovic or Kyle Rowley, both 7-foot freshmen, who led NU in rebounding.
“Pretty good for Northwestern who doesn’t crash the boards at all,” senior guard Craig Moore said of the team’s rebounding effort. “It’s different. Coach Carmody really has been like ‘keep crashing, keep
crashing.’”
Taking advantage of its offensive rebounds, NU went on a 10-0 run midway through the first half to mount a 32-14 halftime advantage. The Highlanders were held to 6-of-24 shooting in the first half, including
no makes from long distance.
With Carmody’s full-court press in order, NU forced 15 turnovers and had six steals.
“I think the press, it’s not much of a press, but Craig (Moore) and Michael (Thompson) were causing some problems when we pressed, and it made a big difference,” Carmody said. “The press really helped us.”
The press helped four players score in double figures. Junior forward Kevin Coble led the Cats with 14 points and added five rebounds.
The only thing NU needs to work on heading into its toughest contest thus far: taking care of the ball. The Cats committed 16 turnovers. Still, Carmody has confidence that the team will be able to fix the problem.
“I think we can remedy them, because I think we had four screening turnovers,” Carmody said. “I think it’s things we’re going to take care of.”
NU faces Florida State (7-0) in the Big Ten-ACC Challenge on Wednesday night at Welsh-Ryan Arena. Coverage will be provided by ESPN2 with tipoff set for 8:30p.m.
matthewforman2007@u.northwestern.edu
