When Northwestern coach Bill Carmody thought back to last April, he recalled visions of a backcourt combination of senior guards Mohamed Hachad and T.J. Parker.
With Parker playing professionally in France and Hachad on the bench healing from an appendectomy, Carmody turned to a pair of freshmen, Craig Moore and Sterling Williams, in the Big Ten opener Wednesday against Purdue.
Moore and Williams combined for 11 points, nine rebounds, seven assists and five steals in their first taste of conference play, as the Wildcats (8-4, 1-0) defeated the Boilermakers 66-53.
“The backcourt of Sterling Williams and Craig Moore has been playing very well as of late,” Carmody said. “They are hard workers in practice, and it has really become contagious. I look around the country and see that freshmen are doing OK, so why not them?”
NU struggled in the opening minutes, falling behind 7-2. But the Cats settled in on the offensive end as junior swingman Tim Doyle and senior forward Vedran Vukusic outscored Purdue 11-3 over a three-minute span in the first half to give NU a 13-10 advantage.
Doyle and Vukusic combined to score 48 points on just 24 shots, as Doyle netted a career-high 20 points.
After the Cats took the lead, Purdue guard Chris Hartley responded with a 3-pointer from the top of the key to tie the game. Doyle misfired on the Cats’ next possession, giving Purdue (6-6, 0-1) a chance to retake the lead and the momentum.
The Cats’ freshmen guards had different ideas.
Williams forced a turnover, and on the following possession, Moore hit a 3-pointer to give NU a three-point lead – a lead the Cats held until the final buzzer.
“With Mohamed out, we’re missing a great player on offense and defense, and he does a great job getting guys fired up,” Williams said. “So we’re just trying to do our job to help the team. For me, if I can bother a guy on defense and get our team pumped up, I try to do that.”
Carmody said Hachad tends to play a “little crazy” on defense, while Williams sometimes doesn’t play crazy enough. But Williams said he took a more aggressive approach to Wednesday’s game.
From the front of NU’s trapping 1-3-1 zone, Williams had success picking up two steals and giving the Purdue guards trouble at the point. The Boilermakers committed 19 turnovers in the game.
Purdue coach Matt Painter said the loss of freshman guard Nate Minnoy to an injury three minutes into the game hurt the Boilermakers.
“A lot of people talk about the Princeton-style offense, but defensively you must have people that can handle, pass and shoot,” Painter said. “We don’t have 13 guys like that. Nate doesn’t move that well but he can pass the ball. From a cerebral standpoint, (the loss of Minnoy) really hurt us.”
Minnoy picked up three assists on Purdue’s first three baskets, as the Boilermakers grabbed the early lead.
After the injury, the Cats went on its first half run to take the lead, but Painter said losing Minnoy was not the sole reason for the loss.
“The story was more about Northwestern,” Painter said. “Vukusic and Doyle played great. Give them credit.”
Doyle and Vukusic were the first NU pair to score at least 20 points in a game since Dec. 27, 2003, when Jitim Young and Vukusic both eclipsed the 20-point mark against Rutgers.
With Wednesday’s victory to open the Big Ten season, NU increased its win streak to four games. The Cats head to Minnesota Saturday for their first road test of the conference season.
“We’re confident going into a Big Ten road game,” Williams said. “We have a nice little win streak going. Hopefully we can get a win.”
Reach Scott Duncan at [email protected].
