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.

“Any time your up against a team like Florida State where, especially when it is a first time measuring stick to see where we’re at, you’ve got to bring everything that you’ve got and try to prove to yourself that you can beat the best,” Moore said.

NU is now off to its best start since 2001, when the team went 7-1 and finished the year 16-13. It was the only season the Cats have finished with an overall winning record under coach Bill Carmody. This team with its mix of youth and veteran leaders can certainly match that team’s success.

Florida State was clearly the toughest test NU has faced so far this season. The Seminoles had athletic big men who could rotate and block shots. They had guards who could get to the basket and score.

The only thing they didn’t have was experience. And the Cats exploited that youthfulness to its fullest extent.

It was clear early on that freshmen John Shurna, Kyle Rowley and Luka Mirkovic were not ready for the atmosphere and athleticism that came from Florida State. The three combined for 12 points — eight from Shurna, the most polished of the three — on 4-of-13 shooting.

“That’s not a veteran team. They have five freshmen, we’re playing five freshmen. We should win that game,” Carmody said. “On our home court, we have some veteran guys. I tell the upper class guys: ‘Look, it’s up to you guys. The freshmen will come. There will be spikes where they will be pretty good. But it’s up to you guys.’”

Out they came. And in went the energy of Ivan Peljusic, Jeremy Nash and Jeff Ryan. Peljusic himself was a wrecking crew with eight straight points in that second-half run that gave NU the lead. But their experience did not fluster the Seminoles alone.

Carmody had the strategy to take Florida State out of their game and executed it perfectly. His pressure defense forced 22 turnovers and only allowed seven makes in the second half on 26.9 percent shooting.

“Sometimes as a coach, you have to evaluate not as much as what you didn’t do, but what the other team has done and give them the credit,” Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton said. “I thought their defensive scheme was a lot more effective against us.”

This game was when all the things that went wrong last year went right. And it was done on a national stage against a quality opponent.

It is a huge confidence boost for a team (frankly) used to losing. With the crowd in a frenzy not usually seen until Big Ten season in January, the Cats pulled through with a come-from-behind victory with the poise of a team used to winning.

Don’t expect the effects from this game to fade.

prossmanreich@u.northwestern.edu

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.

It all started with the energizing play of the team’s elder statesman –- senior guard Craig Moore.

With less than 17 minutes remaining in the second half and Florida State (7-1) ahead 42-38, forward Jordan Demersy drove baseline and released a floating jump shot. En route to the basket, Demersy ran into Moore,
who drew a charge. On the ensuing possession, Moore hit a 3-point shot from the right wing behind a screen set up by John Shurna.

After Florida State’s in-bounds pass, Moore applied pressure near half court and drew an offensive foul on Toney Douglas as he fell into the scorer’s table.

As the official signaled the foul call, Moore stood up, pounded his chest and released a primal scream, letting his emotions show and bringing 3,500 fans at Welsh-Ryan Arena to their feet.

“When things are going good, you feel like that’s a big play in the game, maybe a turning point in the game,” Moore said of his celebration. “You just want to get the most momentum out of every play. I don’t know if it did that, but I’d do it again if I had to.”

Two possessions later, junior forward Kevin Coble (15 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists) stripped Luke Loucks of the ball as he cut through the lane, and threw a full-court pass to sophomore Ivan Peljusic. The 6-foot-8 forward accepted the pass, took two steps and emphatically dunked the ball.

“I didn’t even know who passed me the ball,” Peljusic said. “I was just trying to get as high as I could and dunk that.”

Moore, who finished with 20 points and five rebounds, ignited the Cats with his all-around play on a 20-2 second half charge that built their lead to 12 points.

NU went into halftime trailing by three points largely because of their inability to connect on free throws. The Cats went 7-of-14 from the charity stripe in the first half and shot only 33 percent from the
floor.

But it was the defense and rebounding that kept NU in the game in the first half. Florida State shot one of eight from long distance and lost the rebounding battle by five in the opening period.

After the disappointing first half, Carmody gave what Peljusic described as a “monologue.”

“He said just about every curse word you can think of,” Moore said of Carmody’s halftime tirade.

Carmody said his halftime speech was about the human element of the game, not about fundamentals or technique. Whatever Carmody said, it worked. NU’s biggest lead of the second half stretched to 16 points, but the team was not able to cruise to an easy victory.

Florida State managed to cut NU’s lead to seven with 7:18 remaining in the contest, but the Cats responded once again.

Peljusic stole an attempted pass into the post, one of the Cats’ 22 forced turnovers, and pushed the ball down the court. Sophomore guard Michael Thompson perfectly placed a one-handed bounce pass to junior
Jeff Ryan, who cut backdoor and easily converted on the layup.

After the teams traded points over their next several possessions, NU found itself ahead by 12 with just more than two minutes to play. The Cats ran the shot clock down within 10 seconds, and Coble drove baseline. As the junior reached the basket, he made a nifty move and put a reverse layup in for two points.

The Seminoles took quick 3-point shots in a frantic effort to lessen the lead and continued to foul the Cats on their final possessions, but to no avail. With the clock winding down in the final seconds, Thompson
dribbled the ball to half court to a standing ovation.

“It was surreal,” Coble said of the atmosphere.

The victory was certainly one that Carmody will remember. It was his 200th career win on the day before his 57th birthday.

The Cats’ win came against the best team they have faced all season. It doesn’t get any easier when NU faces DePaul (4-1) on Saturday. Still, the 14-point victory proved something to fans and players alike.

“It was a first time measuring stick, see where we’re at,” Moore said. “You’ve got to bring everything you’ve got. And just try to prove to yourself that you can play with the best.”

matthewforman2007@u.northwestern.edu

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.

Keep it here for a more complete wrap-up.

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.

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.

NU (4-1) clamped down on Central Arkansas in an 81-39 opening game win, but faced some struggles in closing out Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Brown in its next two games.

The Cats defeated the Islanders by a 66-48 score, but let an 18-point lead dwindle to 10 points before scoring 11 of the final 14. NU grabbed a 22-point halftime lead against Brown, but led by only six at one point the second half before pulling away for a 73-64 win.

The Cats held a 12-point first half lead against Butler last week. But the Bulldogs erased the deficit – and a nine-point halftime margin – and snuck out a victory.

Learning how to hold on to a lead is something NU is learning on the fly.

“It’s something we try to improve on every game,” said freshman center Kyle Rowley who scored 10 points against UC Riverside. “So far the games we have played, teams have started to make runs. I think the biggest thing for us to do right now, looking forward especially to Florida State, is to stop that run, be able to play a 40-minute game and keep that intensity up all game long.”

The Cats took an 18-point lead to the half Monday and gave up little ground to the Highlanders before putting the game out of reach. UC Riverside scored five quick points at the beginning of the half to close the lead to 13 and did it again about midway through the second half with a 10-3 run.

The Highlanders trimmed the lead down to 11 with about four minutes to play after Aaron Scott made a fast break layup (he missed a chance to cut the lead to 10 after sophomore guard Michael Thompson fouled him on the shot).

But each time NU responded and extended the lead back out, preventing UC Riverside from closing the gap any further and threatening a pretty safe NU lead.

“Teams are going to make runs – whether it be in the first half, second half. Basketball is a game of runs,” senior guard Craig Moore said. “It’s about minimizing those runs. If they make a run, we have to keep scoring and not let them get an 8-0 run. It’s all about winning the battle of runs basically.”

prossmanreich@u.northwestern.edu

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.

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.”

To read more, click here.

Northwestern has started the year undefeated thanks to its renewed commitment on the defensive end. Coach Bill Carmody has emphasized defensive drills in practice. After each win, the team assessed its defensive performance before even mentioning its renowned Princeton offense.

Though the Wildcats (2-0) have shot at a blistering 51 percent rate this season, the offense is still not where it needs to be.

“We’re probably at about 70 (percent),” senior guard Craig Moore said. “We’ve got so much to work on. I mean it’s great when we can win games and not play our best. I shot one for seven. We had a lot of miscues. We were turning the ball over in the first half, but we kept stretching the lead. And that’s nice when you have the talent, with the big men, to win games when it’s not your best night.”

To read more, click here.

By Adam Fusfeld

Though Northwestern players exited the locker room and stepped onto the court for warmups between halves, for the second straight game, it was practically a formality.

The Wildcats (2-0) built an 18-point halftime lead on the strength of a defense that allowed 35 percent shooting in the first half and an efficient offense that shot 14-of-29 from the field. NU struggled at the beginning of the second half but held off Texas A&M-Corpus Christi for a 66-48 win.

“I think they were perfect games for us,” said coach Bill Carmody of the team’s first two games. “I thought this team was better than (Central) Arkansas, but I think our defense was pretty good and sort of took them out of it a little bit.”

To read more, click here.

Craig Moore hit only one three in Wednesday’s game. How did 3-point shooting affect the offense against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi? The Daily’s Matt Forman examines the 3-point shot from Wednesday’s game. Click here to read more.

A NU player set a record Wednesday night. But it is not just his name that goes into the record book. The Daily’s Philip Rossman-Reich mentions the forgotten names on the road to a school record. Click here to read more.

Northwestern got off to a slow start, but the team has the Princeton offense working well. Craig Moore and Kevin Coble hit threes to pull the team into the lead. Some good passing from the perimeter to free back door cuts to the hoop have helped the Wildcats open up a 17-9 lead.

Texas A&M-Corpus Christi got off to an early lead as it seemed NU would struggle again to make easy, close up shots. On the Cats’ first possession, Coble got to the rim on a pretty pass by Moore, but his layup was (unbelievably) short. Kyle Rowley also had a nice chance up close, but found himself too deep to make the layup.

It seems like NU is still unwilling to use their height around the basket. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi center Demond Watt got past Rowley easily and dunked it. It might be good for the Cats to start throwing some through the hoop with authority.

It is not a hard thing to do. Dunks can change momentum in games and they bring the crowd into the game. NU struggled to finish around the rim in previous outings. This might be the solution.

On a happier note, Craig Moore hit his second attempt from behind the arc and passed Vedran Vukusic as the school’s all-time leading 3-point shooter with 213 makes.