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.

By Adam Fusfeld

For the second straight game, a major-conference opponent entered Welsh-Ryan Arena with high hopes, only to leave with their heads hanging in defeat.

Northwestern (6-1) started Saturday’s game with a 7-0 run, and did not look back on its way to a 63-36 victory over local rival DePaul. A Craig Moore 3-pointer sandwiched between two Kevin Coble jumpers ignited this early lead. On the other end, the Blue Demons (4-2) turned the ball over twice, and converted on only one of their first 12 attempts from the floor to facilitate the Wildcats’ early advantage.

“We came out really aggressively and we stopped what they wanted to do,” junior forward Kevin Coble said. “We stuck with our stuff, we ran through so much in such a short period of time that we made them play 25-30 seconds of defense. As the possession goes on, it’s hard to guard it for that long. Teams don’t usually like to play that much defense.”

The offense was not the only thing slowing DePaul’s usually frenetic pace to a crawl. Entering the game DePaul had been averaging 71.0 points per contest. But coming off a west coast trip, and missing the Big East’s leading rebounder Mac Koshwal hurt even more.

In the first half they were held to 15 points on 21 percent shooting.

“I didn’t think our problems were defensively,” DePaul coach Jerry Wainwright said. “I thought obviously our problems were offensively. You put such strain on your defense when you don’t score.”

Meanwhile the Cats didn’t face any problems offensively. The team shot 46.4 percent from the field including 40 percent from beyond the arc. Coble led NU with 25 points, and senior guard Craig Moore chipped in 14.

After the game, Coble won the Waldo Fisher-Frank McGrath Award as the game’s most valuable player. Coble, who also won it in 2006, became the first player from either team to win the award twice since the Cats’ Bill McKinney did it in 1975 and 1976.

“Him and Craig are our main scorers,” sophomore guard Michael Thompson said. “And Kevin was really hot today. So every time I came down the court he was my first option –- as he is in practice. Even on our out-of-bounds plays, sometimes the play is not for him, but I look for him because I know he’s going to make that basket.”

Lost among Coble and Moore’s scoring outputs, was Thompson’s good game. Though the point guard finished with just seven points, he finished with eight assists against only one turnover, and “orchestrated everything flawlessly” according to coach Bill Carmody.

Defensively, the Cats were able to stop the Blue Demons’ leading scorer, forward Dar Tucker. Though the sophomore finished with 17 points, he shot just 6-of-20 thanks in part to NU’s defensive gameplanning.

“He’s a very, very good player,” Carmody said. “They were trying to isolate him on the low post there, and I thought we defended him fairly well and doubled him when we could. You can see what he did starting the second half, it wasn’t like we were far away from the guy, but he pulled twice on the wing for threes. But when he got to the basket, I thought our defense was actually pretty good.”

The Cats can take the momentum from this game into the finals week break. The blowout win over DePaul was another sign that this year’s team is different from one’s years past.

“I think they (the Cats) are a little bit different this year, I think they are a little more aggressive,” Wainwright said. “My hat’s off to Bill (Carmody), I think that he has enough guys now where they’re subbing and they’re playing a little faster.”

adamfusfeld2007@u.northwestern.edu

The defense has kept up its intensity early in the second half. DePaul has found some more holes and is starting to score a little, but Northwestern has answered offensively too. It is no longer just Kevin Coble scoring — although he is still producing, scoring seven already in the half — as the Wildcats hold a 45-27 lead with 11:59 to play.

The Blue Demons’ Dar Tucker is not letting his team fall away completely. He came out hot early, making a few 3-pointers. The sophomore now has 12 points, inching closer to his 20-point average. But the Cats have had an answer.

Craig Moore and John Shurna have started to take and hit more shots as the ball is moving around nicely and picking apart the DePaul defense. NU is still struggling when Coble is not in the game, but the team is still relying heavily on its defense to hold the lead.

The Blue Demons have been unable to mount any serious run so far as they continue to struggle from the field, still shooting below 30 percent. The defense has found a nice groove after an impressive performance against Florida State on Wednesday and into today’s game. It does not even feel like DePaul is getting any good looks at the basket and the team has had few offensive rebounds and second chance opportunities.

Northwestern is once again putting a defensive number on its opponents. DePaul came into the game averaging 71.0 points per game, led by Dar Tucker’s 20.8 points per game. Neither have played well as far as putting points on the scoreboard.

The Blue Demons are shooting only six of 29 from the field and have scored just 15 as the Wildcats lead 31-15 at the half. Tucker has only four points.

Give all the credit to the defense. DePaul has not had good looks at the basket in this game. NU’s 2-3 matchup zone defense is preventing any player from getting an open look at the basket. No one on the Blue Demons has more than four points and no one is shooting better than 33.3 percent in the game. Turnovers are not DePaul’s issue. The team is just not hitting shots. The Cats’ strong defense deserves all the credit.

What might be more surprising is that NU is not leading by more.

The Cats are not doing too great from the field either (although not as bad). They are shooting 44.4 percent. But most of that offense is coming from junior forward Kevin Coble. He has 17 points on 7-of-13 shooting — the rest of the team has made only five shots.

DePaul has not closed the gap to less than 10 points for long in this game since NU took a commanding 7-0 lead early in the game. But the Blue Demons can put pu points and will make adjustments at halftime. While the Cats are playing fantastic on defense, they cannot rely on Coble to provide all of their offense. If the DePaul offensive juggernaut (OK, that might be hyperbole) awakens and starts scoring in bunches, NU will find itself in trouble and losing another halftime lead.

The Blue Demons will make a run of some sort in this game. The Cats have to be ready to respond at the beginning of the second half and put this game away early in the period.

You can usually tell within his first few shots whether junior forward Kevin Coble is going to have a big game. Coble might be in for one of his 30-point performances (think Indiana and Michigan games at home last year) tonight.

Coble hit a floater on the drive for the first points of the game, then sunk a hard hook shot from the post to spark a 7-0 spurt to start the game. Coble has added a couple 3-pointers and has 10 points as Northwestern leads 16-8 with 10:54 left.

You can tell the junior is feeling some confidence because of the shots he has taken. He is not afraid to get open beyond the arc and take some 3-pointers so far. He is two of three from behind the arc, and that one miss may tell you more about his confidence level than anything. The miss was a hurried 3-pointer as he came off a flare screen. Coble is feeling it tonight.

The Wildcats’ defense has been downright oppressive in the early part of this game. DePaul missed 10 of its first 11 shots (some on open looks). The Blue Demons have gotten back into the game offensively because of a clear strategy to get the ball inside to center Matija Poscic. Poscic drew two quick fouls on freshman center Kyle Rowley, bringing the smaller Ivan Peljusic into the game.

Otherwise, NU has been picking apart DePaul’s defense and stifling the team on defense to gain a comfortable lead.

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.

There is no let up on offense early in the second half as the Cats continue to get the ball deep into the post through their offense. The teams are going up and down as the lead hovers around 20. The Wildcats have eased up on the defensive pressure as individuals begin asserting themselves.

The teams are exchanging baskets as NU’s lead hovers around 20 points. Neither team has made any serious run in the early stages of the second half.

John Shurna has continued his strong play and Kevin Coble is starting to assert himself more to maintain a comfortable lead. Shurna has 13 points and 6 rebounds while Coble leads the team with 16 points.

Kyle Rowley has had a couple good looks right around the basket that he has been unable to finish. The freshman center was advised before a timeout to slow down by senior Craig Moore.

Rowley has been rushing offensively, especially around the basket. Rather than collecting himself and rising for a finish, he seems to want to get the ball up on the backboard and rim as quickly as possible. He has gotten in really deep in bad angles to do this. Rowley only has two points so far tonight.

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.

1. Northwestern must rebound tonight to win.

The Wildcats won the rebounding battle in their opener against Central Arkansas on Sunday. Tonight might be a tougher challenge. Despite fielding a small lineup, the Islander are averaging 40.5 rebounds per game in two outings. Chicago native Demond Watt is pulling down 9.5 rebounds per game this season.

For the first time in a while, NU has the bigger team. Center Kyle Rowley needs to be a bigger force on the boards and starting forward John Shurna needs to recover from a zero rebounding performance in Sunday’s game. If Kevin Coble leads the team in rebounding again tonight, the Cats might be in trouble.

2. The defense must continue to put pressure on the ball and on the perimeter.

With a bigger lineup in tonight’s game, the guards can be aggressive on the perimeter trying to force steals and turnovers. The press will set the tone and force Texas A&M-Corpus Christi into tough situations. The pressure worked in Sunday’s game as the Cats held the Bears to 25 percent shooting and just 39 points. NU needs a repeat of its stifling defensive performance to gain a similar result tonight.

3. Don’t overlook Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.

The Cats have a history of losing to teams from non-major — or even non-mid major conferences — in the past. This is the kind of trap game after a strong opening effort that NU could lose if the team does not play its hardest.

If the Cats focus and play their game and dictate the tempo of the game on offense and defense, this should be an easy win.

Keep it here for updates from Welsh-Ryan Arena throughout tonight’s game.

With the addition of freshmen Kyle Rowley, John Shurna, Davide Curletti and Luka Mirkovic, Northwestern was expecting a big boost to its rebounding numbers. The Wildcats were last in the conference last year in rebounds and rebounding margin — getting outrebounded by a margin of nearly 10 rebounds per game.

This year, that might not be the case. After a 17 offensive rebound performance in an exhibition game against Robert Morris (Ill.) College last week, NU did not have the gaudy rebounding numbers some might have expected against a smaller Central Arkansas team on Sunday.

But the Cats won the rebounding battle for the first time since a loss at Iowa on Feb. 19.

“To outrebound a team for us is good,” junior forward Kevin Coble said. “It’s sign of progress after last season, finishing minus-10. That was a good step for us.”

Coble led NU with eight rebounds. He has led the team in rebounding the past two seasons. Coach Bill Carmody hopes the addition of the big freshmen will take some of the rebounding pressure off of Coble.

That is still a work in progress.

“We shot the ball well, so you aren’t going to get too many offensive rebounds,” Carmody said. “We just continually work at it, boxing out and going after the ball, and we’ll get better. Even Rowley when he went in the last five minutes there, he came in with some renewed vigor. I think our rebounding will get better and better.”

Rowley finished with four boards. Shurna, after collecting 10 boards in a double double effort in the exhibition game, did not have a rebound in his first official college game.

Rebounding is still an emphasis for this team as it moves forward, especially considering its history. Adding the big bodies has helped, but the rebounding war is still a matter of desire. The Cats gave up 13 offensive rebounds to Central Arkansas, despite holding a 29-27 overall rebounding edge.

“Once it’s up there, you got to go get it,” Carmody said. “We had a couple rebounds with some authority. We’re bigger than Central Arkansas. But we have been outrebounded by smaller teams in the past. I think we have been trying to emphasize that.”

WILLIAMS PROVIDES A SPARK

At the beginning of the second half in Sunday’s game, Central Arkansas’ top player finally found a way through NU’s top defense.

Marcus Pillow, who averaged 11.9 points per game, but his two 3-pointers at the beginning of the second half helped the Bears close an 18-point halftime lead to 13 after about three minutes. Carmody needed someone to bring the defense back under control and stop them.

In comes guard Sterling Williams.

Williams struggled as a start last season even though he averaged a career-high 5.3 points per game. He started 28 games, but failed to make any impact on the stat book. But his defensive effort early in the second half settled a young team down and enabled them to pull away and earn a victory.

“I thought Sterling Williams was very good at the top,” Carmody said. “He stopped all the penetration.”

Williams had only two points in his 20 minutes, but he made a clear impact on the defensive end. The Cats held the Bears to 26.9 percent shooting in the second half and 25 percent overall in the game.

AT THE BUZZER

Jeff Ryan provided a spark for NU coming off the bench. He missed his first layup of the game, but proceeded to make an impact on the game with some aggressive plays to the hoop. He finished 2-for-4 from the field, but ended up with 10 points in 17 minutes and went to the line seven times. Ryan, who missed the last eight games of the season with an injury, has not scored more than 10 points in a game since he scored 10 against Howard last season. He scored a career high 20 points Nov. 20, 2007 against Benedictine last year. …

The 42-point winning margin was the biggest margin of victory for NU since a 51-point win over University of Chicago on Nov. 27, 1993. The 39 points was also the fewest points scored by the Bears since a 54-34 loss to Drury on Jan. 30, 1988. The Bears also scored 40 points in a 27-point loss at Kentucky last season.