Updated at 3:34 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 9
Two college basketball teams jumped out to 17-4 leads in their nonconference matchups on Saturday. No. 1 Duke, which stomped Michigan 104-83 on Saturday afternoon, was one. The other was more unexpected.
Northwestern topped Kansas State 79-56 on Saturday evening in Welsh-Ryan Arena, after a flurry of early turnovers by Kansas State had given NU a 22-point halftime lead.
NU was led by Vedran Vukusic and sophomore guard Jitim Young, each of whom scored 17 points. Vukusic, who ranks second in the nation in three-point percentage, thrilled the home crowd of 4,673 by going 4-for-4 from behind the arc.
“Vedran has so much talent it’s unbelievable,” said forward Winston Blake, who scored 12 points and tied for the team rebounding lead with five. “It’s important we bring it along.”
Not only did Vukusic knock down his outside shots, NU coach Bill Carmody pointed out, but he had several effective drives into the lane, including a finger-roll layup near the end of the first half that brought the crowd to its feet. Vukusic had just one turnover in the game. He contributed two steals, four rebounds and just one foul.
“If we want to win the big games against the better teams, then we have to be aggressive,” Vukusic said.
Vukusic had missed most of the Cats’ win over Florida State on Nov. 28 after his shoulder popped out early in that game. But he said he felt fine Saturday, adding that his shoulder has been popping out occasionally for the last four years.
NU improved to 5-1 on the year with its fourth consecutive victory. The Wildcats of Kansas State, who were playing their first road game, fell to 4-3.
Saturday’s game was as near a masterpiece as Carmody has directed in his brief career at NU. Young, who was named Big Ten Co-Player of the Week for the week of Nov. 25-Dec. 1, called it one of the best games the Wildcats (NU) have played since he arrived in Evanston.
“This is really a shock,” Kansas State coach Jim Wooldridge said. “Their shooting was remarkable. We didn’t have enough answers. There was too much to improve on at halftime.”
NU built a lead of 61-25 with 12:48 remaining after Young made 1 of 2 free throws resulting from a technical foul on Wooldridge. The Kansas State coach, in his second campaign for the Wildcats, had charged suddenly onto the court to argue with a referee. He had to be restrained by Kansas State’s assistant coaches and another official.
“I just think there’s a point in time when your players have to step up, and sometimes as a coach you have to do it for them,” he said. “That was my intent.”
NU committed just one turnover in the first half, and its full-court defense pressed Kansas State into 13 giveaways in the first 20 minutes. A full-court press will be one of NU’s weapons throughout the season, Carmody indicated.
Young and senior guard Collier Drayton, who are ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in the conference in steals, led the defensive attack.
In addition, the Cats came into the game ranked last in the Big Ten in free-throw percentage. But NU knocked down its first seven attempts from the line, finishing the game 23-for-29 (79.3 percent).
Larry Reid led Kansas State with 20 points, 12 of which came in the final 11 minutes of the game when Carmody started to empty his bench. Pervis Pasco recorded a double-double for Kansas State, scoring 15 points to go along with his 10 rebounds.
But nearly everything went as planned for the Cats. Young said the team needs to continue to improve, but he was pleased with the effort.
“We frustrated them,” he said. “It says a lot about how we were playing. Right now we’re playing great basketball.”
