Posts Tagged ‘Second Half’
Final: Cats survive poor second half
Northwestern’s lethargy on offense finally came back to bite them. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi has closed a 22-point deficit to 10 points with about seven minutes to play.
The Wildcats managed to keep the Islanders from getting any closer and held on to win 66-48.
NU fell into the trap of taking quick shots and staying on the perimeter. The Islanders took advantage of turnovers too when the Cats drive inside. It honestly feels like NU and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi started playing pick-up basketball with players trying to get their own shots rather than work through the system.
The defense struggled to get stops as the offense has completely flatlined. After a timeout with about seven minutes left, energy-provider John Shurna was sent back into the game.
Shurna seems to be the only one who can create offense as the game gets uglier and uglier. But the Cats began to pull away again, taking a 16 point lead with 2:15 left. The Islanders just could not muster enough scoring to completely erase the deficit.
NU dismantles Central Arkansas
Northwestern had the one hiccup at the beginning of the second half, but it was otherwise an unmomentous second half. The Wildcats have allowed only 20 points in the second half (with about four minutes to play) as they have opened up a 24 -point lead.
Kevin Coble will finished the last seven minutes of the game on the bench with 15 points and eight rebounds. Michael Thompson was a key to NU’s second half run and added 10 points and four assists. The team responded to the Bears run and went for the kill in coasting to the win.
Check back here for a complete recap of today’s game.
Second Half Thoughts: Central Arkansas getting testy
As expected in any game that is a blowout after the first half, the team that is trailinb made a bit of a run. Central Arkansas came out aggressively and applied a full-court press of their own and cut the lead from 18 to 13, leading to a quick timeout.
Coach Bill Carmody’s timeout seemed to calm the team down as the Wildcats have expanded the lead back to around 20 points. The offense is really getting into sync with Michael Thompson starting to assert himself and drive to the basket. It is opening up lots of cutting lanes for NU.
The rout is on, as they say, and the defense does not appear to be letting up on Central Arkansas. The team’s offense is a little more efficient now that it is protecting the ball a little. But the shooting percentage is still hovering around 30 percent.
