Men’s Hoops: Cats jump over Kangaroos
John Shurna and Northwestern showed no slowing down after a nine-day break for exams last week.
The freshman forward started a career night by scoring a layup on a backdoor cut along the baseline and hitting NU’s first seven points. Shurna went on to score a career-high 20 points. He also added eight rebounds to pace the Wildcats in a 77-62 win over UMKC on Monday at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
UMKC did not make things easy for NU (7-1) throughout the game. The Cats took the early lead, but the Kangaroos (4-8) kept the game tight. They closed the deficit to four before the Cats extended the lead to nine at halftime. NU came out of the locker room and put the game comfortably out of reach. UMKC cut the lead under 10 points a few times, but a strong second half from junior forward Kevin Coble and the continued effort from Shurna closed the door.
Coble finished the game 22 points, eight rebounds and three blocked shots. Sophomore guard Michael Thompson broke out with a season-high 17 points and had six assists as NU shot 48.3 percent (28-of-58) from the floor.
Blocked shots were a key for the Cats especially early in the game as the Kangaroos attacked the basket and came up empty. NU had 10 blocks in holding UMKC to 40.7 percent shooting (24-of-59). The Kangaroos had problems mounting a serious run past the Cats’ defense.
NU next travels to Stanford on Saturday.
