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

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.

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.

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.

It might start with the added presence of big men Kyle Rowley, John Shurna and Davide Curletti. But it might finish with a new attitude for the team on offense and defense.

On Sunday afternoon, gone was the 1-3-1 zone – at least for day. In was an aggressive full court pressure defense and man to man. Gone was the passive stand-around-the-perimeter Princeton offense. In was the aggressive, attacking and cutting the Princeton offense is meant to have.

These weren’t your freshman year Wildcats anymore. Or at least you hope Sunday’s 81-39 win over Central Arkansas was not a mirage.

Northwestern took the game to Central Arkansas early and often. Both teams struggled to put the ball in the hole early – only six total points were scored in the first five minutes of the game – but it was the aggressive things the Cats did that would set up a 15-0 run that more or less put the Bears away early in the first half.

It was the drives to the hoop that forced Central Arkansas into seven team fouls in the first seven minutes of the game, leading to a parade to the free throw line. It was a newfound level of offensive aggression.

In the first half, it was the post ups for freshman Kyle Rowley and junior Kevin Coble that set the tone as the team attacked the basket with unseen furor.

In the second half when Central Arkansas tried desperately to make a comeback, it was Michael Thompson’s dribble penetration that stemmed the tide and created holes in the defense which enabled clear cuts to the basket and open threes for senior Craig Moore.

The defense put the pressure on and got after the Bears. The Cats forced 23 total turnovers and 16 in the first half. Carmody said the team’s added depth allowed him to use a full court press.

It was an aggressiveness that was missing last season.

NU’s infamous 1-3-1 zone was scrapped for the time being – Carmody said he has not had the time to install it yet and that he used it too much last season. The difference was clear.

“I want to keep working on our press,” Carmody said. “We’re not real fast, but we are pretty long. I think we have the potential to be pretty decent at that, fall back into matchup and even take 10-12 seconds off the clock. That might help the defense.”

The Bears could not create any offense against this new pressing Cats defense, shooting 25 percent in the game and 3 for 15 from beyond the arc. Central Arkansas had no answer for an aggressive NU team.

And the Cats had no reason to stop pressing and playing man-to-man.

When the defense is aggressive and the Princeton is attacking in the way it was Sunday afternoon, this is a pretty good team.

It was clear the attitude and aggression level on this team is changing. And for one game, it was a move in the right direction.

If the team continues to attack its opponents with that much energy and aggression once January starts rolling around, then this season will turn out much different than last.

prossmanreich@u.northwestern.edu

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.