Michael Thompson drove inside the lane and hit a fall-away jumper for his first career points, pulling Northwestern within 11 points of No. 20 Stanford with 13:48 to go in the game. The Wildcats rallied to tie the score at 44 behind the freshman guard’s play.
At times Thompson and fellow freshmen Mike Capocci and Nikola Baran ran the Princeton Offense like seasoned pros, not freshmen making their first start.
But it was Thompson who was on the floor in the second half leading NU’s attempt to win.
“I think in the first half, he was running the team a little bit,” coach Bill Carmody said. “He was content to do that. In the second half, he came alive. We just wanted to put the ball in his hands and let him make plays.”
Thompson finished with 16 points, all in the second half, on 6-of-14 shooting and four assists. He committed zero turnovers.
The freshman guard brought energy to the team and contributed everywhere in the team’s failed comeback effort.
Thompson made assists, slinging an impossible bounce pass from just past half court to a running Jeff Ryan, who streaked to the rim for a layup. He stepped out and hit the 3 and attacked the glass.
Thompson even guarded 7-foot center Robin Lopez at times in the Cats’ zone defense.
The 5-foot-10 point guard did not look like a freshman playing for the first time.
“There were butterflies earlier in the day, ” Thompson said. “But once the game started, there weren’t any butterflies. I’m used to playing against older and bigger guys. It’s who my parents (and) my coaches put me against all my life.”
Thompson said he learned how physical and fast the college game is. He also learned he has more freedom within the offense to push the tempo and create scoring opportunities.
NU pushed the ball more and attacked the basket, outscoring the Cardinal in the paint.
Thompson said his driving allowed NU to get the ball to open shooters – the team shot 46 percent in the final half – or to drop it to post players.
Junior guard Sterling Williams said Thompson’s play in the opener gives the veterans on the team confidence in him.
“He lifted our spirits a little bit, made shots and lifted our team,” Williams said. “I think he played better than he expected the first game. But he knows he can pick it up a little more and try to maintain that high level of play for the entire game. He can only get better and learn from experience.”
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