Posts Tagged ‘Kyle Rowley’
Men’s Hoops: NU learns to play with 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.
Second Half Thoughts: See-Saw second half
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.
Men’s Hoops Live Blog vs. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi: Keys to the game
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.
Column: New season, new defense, new result?
After years of losing and one of the worst seasons in team history last year, it seems like it is going to be quite a task.
After all, all five starters and all but one of the key players returned from last year’s team. That fact may not be the best omen for this year’s team – even with the addition of five freshmen who figure to contribute heavily to this year’s team.
But with another year, comes another year’s worth of experience, I guess. Because something has changed with this team.
Men’s Hoops: Rebounding a work in progress
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.”
