With half of its Big Ten schedule in the books, Northwestern played its final non-conference game of the season Wednesday against an offensive style it is not used to facing.
Chicago State prefers to play a fast-paced game revolving around a few big scorers, unlike teams in the grind-it-out Big Ten that generally wind down the shot clock and spread the ball around. The Cougars averaged 82.9 points per game before Wednesday and put up triple digits in two of their previous three games.
The top three scorers for Chicago State were on against NU, combining for 63 points. But the Cats managed to shut out every other Cougar in 75-63 win at Welsh-Ryan Arena. It was Chicago State’s second-lowest offensive output of the season, as the team connected on just 2-of-15 tries from the perimeter.
“They’re a high-scoring team with some very good offensive players,” NU coach Bill Carmody said. “We were fortunate that they were missing some of their 3-point shots.”
Carmody was frustrated by the Cats’ offensive problems in the first half. The Cats committed eight turnovers against the Cougars’ 2-3 zone in the first 20 minutes alone.
Carmody said the team anticipated going up against the zone, but ordinarily it sees a lot of man-to-man.
NU had an early 10-point lead trimmed down to one before going into the locker room with a 37-31 edge. The Cats took 31 first-half shots, four fewer than they attempted in all of last Sunday’s game against Wisconsin, and appeared flustered by the quick tempo.
“For a little while there, it kind of got out of control just running back and forth,” said freshman forward John Shurna, who scored 18 points in 20 minutes of action. “They beat us in transition, I forget how many times in the first half. They’d get a bucket, then they’d be halfway down (the floor) already, and we’d be by the basket.”
It was Shurna who got NU going at the beginning of the second half to put the game out of reach. He sank four shots from beyond the arc in the first three minutes, giving the Cats a 14-point edge. The margin stayed in double digits the rest of the way.
Chicago State coach Benjy Taylor said one of his keys to the game was getting into a “foot race” with NU, hoping to score before the Cats could set up their defense. But in the second half, the Cats – especially Shurna – started to use the faster pace to their advantage.
“(Shurna) hit some big shots.” Taylor said. “They beat the press one time and threw it ahead to him early in the possession, and they usually don’t take those threes. He didn’t even think about it and knocked it down right in front of their bench.”
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