Though Northwestern players exited the locker room and stepped onto the court for warmups between halves, for the second straight game, it was practically a formality.
The Wildcats (2-0) built an 18-point halftime lead on the strength of a defense that allowed 35 percent shooting in the first half and an efficient offense that shot 14-of-29 from the field. NU struggled at the beginning of the second half but held off Texas A&M-Corpus Christi for a 66-48 win.
“I think they were perfect games for us,” said coach Bill Carmody of the team’s first two games. “I thought this team was better than (Central) Arkansas, but I think our defense was pretty good and sort of took them out of it a little bit.”
The win was propelled by a 22-4 run early in the first half that once again started with the defense.
Displaying urgency and intensity, NU forced 11 turnovers in the first half and finished on the other end with easy baskets. The Cats scored 17 of their 39 first half points off those forced turnovers, while the Islanders only managed three points off NU’s miscues.
“We forced a bunch of turnovers,” Carmody said. “I think that press helped; it sort of threw them off a little bit.”
When the Islanders (1-2) began to counter with a run of their own and cut the lead to 12 late in the first half, freshman forward John Shurna took control. Shurna had five points, two blocks and a steal in the last 1:10 of the half to push the lead back to 18.
Despite the team’s halftime lead, NU came out a different squad in the second half.
“I think we got a little bit too content,” junior forward Kevin Coble said. “We were up almost 20 at the end of the first half, and came out a little flat. I don’t think we kept that intensity up.”
When the lead shrank to 10 with seven minutes remaining in the second half, Carmody went back to the press. For another night it was crucial to the team’s success.
“Every team’s going to make their run,” Shurna said. “It’s just a matter of how big the run is going to be, so guys have to step and play defense. Craig stepped up, he told coach that we should probably press and from there I think we took control again.”
But the press wasn’t the only thing Carmody implemented.
He looked to his bench and sent Shurna back into the game. The freshman’s energetic play helped bring the Cats back to a comfortable lead, as Shurna finished with 17 points on 6-of-7 shooting and nine rebounds – five of them on the offensive glass.
“The offense was flowing tonight,” he said. “My teammates did a great job of setting me up and putting me in good positions to score, so all the credit to them.”
Coble deserves some of that credit, as he led NU with 18 points. Senior guard Craig Moore, who broke the Cats’ all-time 3-point field goal record on his only make from beyond the arc, contributed 14 points in the winning effort.
Just as they did in the first game, the Cats utilized their bench to drive them to victory. Though the bench lacked the gaudy scoring numbers it accumulated against Central Arkansas, it provided enough solid play to allow Carmody to switch the press on and off at will.
With the win, NU moved to 2-0 on the season for the first time since 2005, and Carmody had the opportunity to play all of the freshmen and most of his bench.
“It’s good for the confidence of the young guys,” Moore said. “It’s the first games in their college careers, (it’s important) to get some wins and learn how to do that quickly.”
