All together now: Mi-chael-Jen-kins.
To say the least, Northwestern fans were a bit surprised to see senior walk-on Michael Jenkins in the starting lineup instead of junior point guard T.J. Parker, who has never missed a game in his NU career.
But Parker woke up feeling sick Wednesday morning, forcing Carmody to find a replacement. About 15 minutes before tip-off, he chose Jenkins.
NU’s offense didn’t miss a beat in a 73-52 romp of Indiana.
“He’s got a very high basketball IQ and can run a team, and he did that tonight,” Carmody said.
The catchy Jenkins chant began as little more than a smattering from the student section at the beginning of the game. By the second half, it had turned into a raucous refrain that cascaded from the rafters of Welsh-Ryan Arena as the Wildcats began to pull away.
“I appreciate all the fanfare and everything like that, because I love the fans and they seem to like me a lot, too,” Jenkins said. “But I’m just here to win.”
Carmody said earlier this week that he had faith in his senior walk-on, who has soared up the depth chart this year and has seen his role increase from mop-up duties to first guard off the bench. But the ultimate display of Carmody’s confidence in Jenkins can be found in Wednesday’s box score: 36 minutes played.
Before this year, Jenkins had totaled just 58 minutes in two season with the Cats.
Indiana coach Mike Davis said his team was thrown off by Parker’s absence, but he also said he was not surprised Jenkins turned in a solid performance.
“I’m not surprised by anyone coach (Carmody) puts on the floor,” Davis said.
The scrappy 5-foot-9 guard didn’t wait long to assert himself. On NU’s second possession, Jenkins dumped the ball down low to Mike Thompson, who scored the Cats’ first basket of the evening.
By the end of the night, Jenkins had a career-high eight points and a team-leading seven rebounds, but it was the timeliness of his buckets that really impacted the game.
Five minutes into the second half, Indiana’s promising freshman D.J. White slammed home a dunk that brought Indiana’s faithful to their feet. The Hoosiers trailed by only five, 34-29, and seemingly had the momentum.
But Jenkins calmly brought the ball up the floor. The senior then received a pass in the far corner and coolly drained a 3-pointer as the arena erupted.
Despite starting for the first time since high school, running the point like a veteran and being announced as the defensive player of the game, Jenkins shrugged when asked about his individual performance.
“It didn’t matter how many points I scored or anything like that,” Jenkins said. “I was just trying to get our team a win, to protect the home court.”
Reach Anthony Tao at [email protected].
