T.J. Parker finally got his wish.
Following Northwestern’s 74-57 loss to Minnesota on Jan. 25, the freshman point guard said he’d like to see his roommate, Mohamed Hachad, get more playing time. With Hachad on the floor, Parker said, the Wildcats could run the court and press more on defense.
“Man, that’d be fun,” Parker said.
From the first basket of the Wildcats’ 74-61 victory over the Hoosiers — a Hachad-to-Parker backdoor layup — Parker and everyone else on the Cats must’ve had a damn good time.
In his first start at Welsh-Ryan Arena, Hachad set career highs in five statistical categories with 33 minutes, 12 points, six rebounds, four assists and six steals.
With Hachad adding a third element of quickness alongside Parker and junior Jitim Young, the Cats defended the Hoosiers down the length of the floor from Indiana’s possession.
“I love having Mo, T.J. and I on the court at the same time,” Young said. “Mohamed not only provides a spark offensively but defensively, too.”
The freshman pressured the ball in NU’s full-court defense, which led to nine Indiana turnovers in the first half.
“Mohamed’s great,” Parker said. “We call him Spiderman because he gets his hands on everything.”
And even when Indiana crossed half court, the Cats kept its offense looking disjointed.
The energy generated by Hachad and the press spilled over to the Cats’ half-court sets. Perimeter defenders recovered faster from helping in the post, and the zone consistently responded to Indiana’s attempts to swing the ball along the perimeter.
“We kept battling,” Hachad said, “and by playing hard we controlled the defensive end.”
Hachad played two minutes in NU’s first meeting with the Hoosiers when the Cats gave up 13 treys. But Wednesday, with Hachad on the floor, NU’s defense held Indiana to 3 of 20 shooting from beyond the arc.
“He’s been very active for a while, so we had to throw him in (the line-up),” NU coach Bill Carmody said. “Not just because Winston was struggling, but our defense was so bad. (Hachad) gives you that defense.”
Hachad saw little playing time early in the season because of problems with coughing up the ball and picking up NU’s offense. But in his three starts, he has left his turnover issues behind and, on Wednesday, finally picked up the flow of the offense.
Three of Hachad’s four assists were on patented Princeton-style backdoor layups. The Casablanca-native, who’s been nicknamed the “Moroccan Michael Jordan,” also found his own niche on offense going 6-for-12 from the field.
Hachad received praise from his teammates and coaches for his play, but Carmody — who impressed upon his team the need to play a full 40 minutes — might have been more struck by his freshman’s attitude.
When asked when he knew the Cats had the game in hand, Hachad answered:
“At the end of the second half, I guess.”
