Cats hang on to beat Purdue
A 14-point halftime lead, a 20-point second-half lead only to barely hang on for a 67-61 victory over Purdue? Yep, that's Northwestern basketball.
The Cats entered the game on a down note as a near-suicidal coach Bill Carmody (you really had to hear him) announced on the pregame show that center Mike Thompson had injured his ankle and would miss the game. Carmody did have the good news that Ivan Tolic was finally able to practice this week as he recovered from a knee injury, but added that he broke his hand in practice and would be lost for the year.
Northwestern played nearly flawless basketball in the first half and the early second half to cruise to a huge lead, but Purdue clawed back to cut the lead to single digits in the closing minutes. NU held on and made their free throws down the stretch to ice the game. NU shot 85% from the line on the game.
Vedran Vukusic led all scorers with 21 points, while T.J. Parker added 18. The offense appeared to click more without Thompson. The Cats seemed more confident without having to think about switching to an offense where they have to occasionally dump the ball down low to Thompson.
Mohammed Hachad played only 22 minutes off the bench, scoring five points. Welcome to the doghouse.
The game was won in the turnover department as NU forced 23 turnovers and committed only 10. NU increased the tempo on defense. Picking up with full-court pressure appears to do wonders for the intensity of the Cats in general. The full-court press should be a mainstay of the defensive strategy.
Notes:
The strangest moment of the game occurred at halftime when the Northwestern marketing department ran its usual halftime entertainment games, including a contest where a student has to dribble the length of the court and make a layup in five seconds to win a prize. An NU student dribbled, tripped and fell and was injured. The student had to be taken off on a stretcher. Only at NU...
In other news, Carmody had little new to say at Thursday's Cat Chat at Wolfgang Puck's in Evanston. The only noteworthy items of interest were Carmody's admission that Kentucky transfer Bernard Coté is the team's best shooter, something that gives a little hope for the Princeton offense next year.
He also noted that Vince Scott's minutes would increase in the season's final month and that he would work Brandon Lee back into the rotation due to his defense. Carmody said that Michael Jenkins had earned playing time when Lee was out with suspension. The coach also praised Ivan Tolic as the team's best center in a half-court setting, but his constant injuries have derailed his career.