In Monday’s practice, Northwestern players and coaches were treated to a shooting exhibition from an unexpected source. Freshman forward John Shurna, not Craig Moore or Kevin Coble, converted nine consecutive attempts from beyond the arc in scrimmage.
“I stopped practice right there,” coach Bill Carmody said. “I said: ‘That’s it. I don’t want you to use them up, kid.'”
On Wednesday, it was clear that the freshman still had some big shots left in him. With the Wildcats (13-7) leading by six after a close first half, Shurna nailed four consecutive three-pointers in the first three minutes of the second frame to put NU up by 14 points. The Cats never looked back on their way to a 75-63 victory.
“I think he’s the one that got them going,” Chicago State coach Benjy Taylor said of Shurna. “It wasn’t something that we were expecting.”
The freshman’s offensive outburst was especially surprising considering his recent struggles. Though he started the season strong, Shurna had not reached double figures in scoring since the calendar hit 2009. When he entered the locker room after the first half with a pedestrian four points on six attempts, Shurna’s success appeared, in fact, to be limited to practice.
“The couple of jumpers he took he was hesitating,” said Carmody of Shurna’s first half play. “We just told him: ‘If you’re open, shoot the ball.'”
Chicago State (12-12) kept the game close to that point by forcing eight NU turnovers and shooting 50 percent from the field. The Cougars play a 2-3 zone, a defensive scheme the Cats rarely see and kept them off-balance in the first half. But Moore, NU’s conventional marksman, hung tough and knocked down four three-pointers in the first half to keep the team in the game despite its sloppy play. The senior guard finished with a team-leading 19 points.
Despite the high shooting percentage, the Cats managed to fluster Chicago State’s high-octane offense. Guard David Holston, who ranks third in the nation with 26.3 points per game, finished with 22 points but struggled against NU’s 1-3-1 defense. The senior shot just 2-for-10 from downtown.
“They contested us well,” Taylor said. “We really had to take another step back to get our shots off and that’s unusual. Dave is a deep three- point shooter anyway, but he had to take another step back because they are long and they move very well.”
Coming out of the locker room, Holston moved from the top of the Chicago State offense to the baseline in an attempt to get him away from NU’s defensive specialist, junior guard Jeremy Nash, who plays at the top of the zone. Without Holston’s presence, the Cougars were tortured by Nash, who collected six of his seven steals in the second frame.
Despite less involvement from its star, the visiting team had only two other players contribute to its 63-point total.
Meanwhile, eight different Cats scored, and 12 saw playing time in the victory. Coble chipped in 15 points along with six assists and six rebounds, and sophomore guard Michael Thompson tallied nine points and five assists.
With the win, NU is undefeated in seven all-time games against the Cougars, all of which were played in the last 10 seasons.
“They are a much better team than they were last year,” Taylor said. “They have a lot more size and a lot more guys that can hurt you offensively.”
