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Craig Moore's clutch three forced overtime with 0.9 seconds left and Northwestern outlasted Purdue, 78-76.

"I've never done that in my life--maybe in a driveway--maybe," Moore told the Chicago Tribune. "Usually I miss 'em in the driveway."

Coach Bill Carmody called the play for the freshman in a timeout and it may be the beginning of three more years of clutch plays for Moore.

"You can't think about it, you just have to put it up," Moore said. "When he told me, I thought, `I'd better come through.' When I put it up, I knew it was good. It felt good."

Vedran Vukusic finished with 29, including eight in overtime and Mohammed Hachad added four three-pointers and 20 points.

Carmody continued his latest strategy of playing a small lineup. Center Vince Scott logged only 15 minutes and Bernard Côté did not play.

NU (10-8, 3-4 Big Ten) shot 54 percent from the field, but allowed Purdue to shoot even better at 56 percent. The small lineup led to a 30-13 rebounding edge for Purdue.

Northwestern snapped a four-game losing streak with the victory and next faces Indiana in Bloomington on Wednesday night.

Posted by Greg Shea at 05:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I Tivo'd Saturday's high school basketball matchup between Duke-bound Jon Scheyer of Glenbrook North and Northwestern recruit Jeff Ryan of Glenbrook South.

Scheyer is the real deal and led North to a 57-46 victory over South.

Jeff Ryan also showed a few flashes of why Northwestern is excited by him. He has excellent size at 6-6 and a great handle on the ball with either hand.

Ryan defended Scheyer most of the game until he got in foul trouble. He did a respectable job considering how hard it is to guard Scheyer. Ryan showed decent quickness, but, more importantly, the kind of effort on defense that has been lacking at Northwestern.

Ryan also knocked down a three and a couple other outside shots. He has good range. Like a lot of high-schoolers, he needs to add some weight and muscle. However, he looks like he can step in pretty quickly and be a contributer at Northwestern.

Posted by Greg Shea at 01:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

The beatings keep on going for Northwestern, a team that looked helpless (hopeless?) in a 58-47 loss to Illinois on Saturday at Welsh-Ryan Arena.

After Wednesday's loss, coach Bill Carmody warned that the Cats (9-8, 2-4 Big Ten) may "go small" -- and go small they did. Backup point guard Michael Jenkins logged 24 minutes, five short of Bernard Cote and Vince Scott combined.

If it was a message Carmody hoped to send to his struggling front-court players, consider it unheard. Cote and Scott finished with four points.

The beauty of the move is that we were treated to 24 minutes of Jenkins and his two points. Do we have anyone else? Please?

Vedran Vukusic continued his shooting slump -- it was bound to happen at some point -- with a 1-for-14 day.

"I was surprised they weren't falling," Vukusic told the Associated Press. "The guys on the team kept saying, 'Shoot, shoot, shoot."'

The Cats managed only four field goals in the first half and shot 35 percent on the day. They were 3-for-20 from three-point range (15 percent).

On the plus side, Mohammed Hachad had 14 points and freshmen Sterling Williams hit double figures for the first time in his career with 10.

The next game is Wednesday at Purdue, a game that Northwestern must win.

Related Links:
Illini survive sloppy second by Herb Gould, Chicago Sun-Times

Another step in the right direction by Skip Myslenski, Chicago Tribune

Good ... and some bad for Illini, by Lindsey Willhite, Daily Herald

Posted by Greg Shea at 12:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

So, that's what next year looks like.

Michigan's 68-51 victory over NU had to be the worst loss of the season. Vedran Vukusic hit a shooting slump -- and the Cats had no one else who could score. Michigan did exactly as it pleased on offense, shooting 65 percent from the field. Michigan went on a 25-5 run late in the first half to early in the second half. Bernard Côté and Vince Scott were held to two points total.

"We're getting absolutely nothing out of the center spot," Carmody said of Côté and Scott. "Maybe we have to go small."

Maybe?

Of the few bright spots of the Cats' third consecutive loss was Mohammed Hachad, who finished with 17 points. Despite only having two points, Sterling Williams looked more confident on the floor. Vukusic forced some shots and only hit 6-of-17 shots on the night, but he still hit three three-pointers and finished with 15 points.

But, the lasting images of the game are of Tim Doyle taking a weird runner in the lane that only hit the glass in the first half, Hachad going coast-to-coast and missing a layup and Scott just looking lost on the court.

Next up is Illinois at home on Saturday at 3:30 p.m.. Duke recruit Jon Scheyer of Glenbrook North also plays NU recruit Jeff Ryan of Glenbrook South at 12 noon Saturday on local PBS stations. See? We're already looking toward next year.

Posted by Greg Shea at 08:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

On paper, with the Cats traveling to Ann Arbor Wednesday, the chances of a Big Ten victory look slim.

However, as Kenny Mayne used to say, "These games aren't played on paper, they're played inside your TV set."

Michigan has an 11-3 record, but is only 1-2 in the Big Ten. The lone conference win was a narrow 68-65 victory over Purdue. The Wolverines have lost to all three ranked opponents this year (Illinois, Indiana and UCLA).

Senior guard Daniel Horton is still outstanding at 16 points per game, but the key to the game will likely come down to stopping 6-11 center Courney Sims.

After last week's humbling defensive effort against Wisconsin, NU will need a huge game inside from Vince Scott and Bernard Coté.

Michigan has three guards averaging in double figures, which could bode well for NU. Maybe Michigan won't worry about exploiting the Cats inside.

Needless to say, it's not a gimme conference win for Michigan. But it might be a must-win for the NIT-hungry Cats.

Posted by Greg Shea at 09:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

There are 13 games left in the regular season. At 9-6, the Cats look like a longshot for the postseason, but, hey, why not look at it a little bit?

First, let's consider that the win over DePauw, a Division III school, doesn't really count for postseason eligibility. That's eight wins.

NU should beat Indiana-Purdue at Fort Wayne, the only non-conference game left. In the Big Ten, I think Purdue, Penn State and Minnesota could be winnable games the rest of the way. We'll need to upset Iowa, Indiana or Michigan. At best, it seems that winning six of the remaining 13 would be about the best the Cats could do. That would put Northwestern at 15-13 with 14 wins against D-I opponents.

Northwestern would still likely need to win two in the Big Ten tournament, a 16-13 record against D-1. Again, it's looking like a longshot.

Posted by Greg Shea at 06:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Northwestern (9-6, 2-2) was thoroughly outclassed in Madison, Wisc. today by the Badgers, 68-52.

Vedran Vukusic led NU with 15 and freshman Craig Moore continued to be a viable scoring option on the outside and chipped in 14 points.

Wisconsin held the Cats to 35 percent shooting on the day, not unexpected considering their reputation for defensive play.

Finding alternative scoring options besides Vukusic continues to be a problem for the Cats. Moore has stepped up by hitting some outside shots, but should they really be relying on a freshman for so much scoring help?

Mohammed Hachad, who returned Wednesday from an appendectomy, scored a mere two points in 27 minutes of play. Tim Doyle, who has surprised this year with his play, scored only six points in 29 minutes, but continued with his exasperating moments of runners and hook shots in the lane. He was 3-for-10 on the afternoon. Oh yeah, and missed layups. Did you see the missed gimme on the 2-on-1 break?

And Vince Scott? Horrible. With him on defense, the Cats are playing with four players. He was abused today.

On the bright side, Sterling Williams is starting to look like a player who can create his own shot and score. We'd love to see him take it to the hoop even more. Bernard Cote hit a couple threes and showed a glimpse of being someone who can help, but he only played 12 minutes. Was Scott that much of a better option?

From the looks of it, the Cats have settled on Moore in the starting lineup (thankfully). But maybe Coach Bill Carmody should narrow the playing rotation to about seven guys. Moore, Williams, Vukusic, Cote and Doyle with Hachad and Scott coming off the bench. Michael Jenkins' 11 minutes seem a tad high. He should give Moore a two-minute breather and be done. He's not a threat on offense and that ain't cutting it in the Big Ten right now.

The Cats travel to Ann Arbor for a 7 p.m. CT game Wednesday against Michigan.

Posted by Greg Shea at 05:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)