Northwestern raced through its first three games largely unchallenged: The Wildcats beat Toledo, SIU-Edwardsville and IPFW by an average of 20 points. Coach Joe McKeown’s crew has dominated in almost every statistical category except one – turnovers. NU has coughed up the ball 58 times in its first three games for an average of 19 turnovers a game. Combine that with the 55 turnovers the Cats have forced and they rank 10th in the conference with a minus-one turnover margin.
“We’re just sloppy and coaches hate that,” McKeown said. “It gives me something to work on.”
With one freshman starting and another two coming off the bench, some of NU’s miscues are due to the younger players’ constant adjustments to playing at a higher level.
Another trigger for the turnovers may be the different defensive schemes NU is facing. The Cats have gone up against several unique schemes in their first three contests, and McKeown expects the team to improve.
“When we get into the Big Ten, people will guard you one-on-one,” McKeown said. “The passing lanes will be different and it will be a little more defined where the ball is going.”
NU will have to be more careful with the ball if it wants to continue its unbeaten streak Tuesday against No. 17 DePaul (4-0). DePaul ranks second in the Big East in scoring offense, besting opponents by a combined score of 336-255. The Blue Demons have also posted a plus-3.3 turnover ratio.
“You don’t want to give them easy opportunities to get fastbreaks and layups,” junior center Amy Jaeschke said. “So we really need to take care of the ball on Tuesday.”
DePaul is coming off their seventh consecutive NCAA tournament appearance, following a season in which it finished fourth in the Big East with a 23-10 record.
In looking at DePaul’s program, McKeown sees something familiar.
“(DePaul) is what we were at George Washington in that they’re consistent every year,” McKeown said. “When they have a bad year they’re still in the NCAA tournament and win 19 or 20 games. I admire that.”
Last year the Cats led the Blue Demons at halftime, but DePaul dominated NU in the second half and came away with a 60-51 victory.
“Last year we went there and played really well,” McKeown said. “Then we had a real bad spurt in the second half. They went on a run and we never recaptured the lead. It was a really good game for about 30 minutes.”
For McKeown, the NU-DePaul games are meaningful because of the local connections. This year Jaeschke will be going up against a former teammate in DePaul guard Deirdre Naughton. The two played together at New Trier High School in Winnetka, Ill.
“They’re fun games to play in,” McKeown said. “If you’re a kid from here or you go to school here you should get excited about this.”[email protected]
