For 12 minutes of Northwestern’s 71-45 rout of Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Friday night, senior point guard Michael Thompson was not on the floor.
For the average NCAA point guard, this statistic would not be particularly noteworthy.
But for Thompson, the primary engine in NU’s complex, back-cut dependent offense, it is something of an anomaly. Thompson was on the court 93.2 percent of the time during the Wildcats’ 2009-10 campaign, slotting him fifth in the nation for play time and helping the offense to finish an impressive 33rd in efficiency.
Friday’s home opener marked one of the longest cumulative breathers he has gotten during a game over his four years – and that’s a good thing, for both Thompson and NU.
“It was good to get everyone in the game and give our guys some rest because they’ve been going pretty good,” coach Bill Carmody said after Friday night’s win.
Depth is a luxury Carmody has not been afforded much of over the past 10 years. But with NU returning four starters and 12 letter winners from last season’s team – the most winning squad in program history – this could be the year the Cats (3-0) finally have the endurance to end their 71-year NCAA Tournament drought.
Last season, Carmody drew criticism for over-playing his go-to guys, most notably Thompson, who averaged 37.7 minutes a game last season.
NU faltered late in the season and could not crack the NCAA Tournament bubble, nor could it muster a win in the National Invitation Tournament, losing 76-64 on the road in the opening round at Rhode Island.
“Last year I would say that depth was definitely an issue,” Thompson said at the beginning of the season. “But now we have that, and it will be nice to get some more guys on the court and get some rest so that we can perform later on in those Big Ten games. It’s nice to have that this year – we should be able to use everyone.”
NU needed that depth on Friday night coming off back-to-back opening road games for the first time since the 1974-75 season. Last Wednesday’s 77-71 win at Texas-Pan American was particularly, and somewhat unexpectedly, grueling, as NU never managed to establish a comfortable enough margin to give its starters a real break.
The Cats were much more definitive at Welsh-Ryan Arena on Friday night, seizing the early 9-2 lead and refusing to relinquish it to the Golden Lions (0-3) for the rest of the game.
“These guys didn’t make shots like Pan Am did,” Carmody said. “Pan Am basically played four guards, and it was a tough matchup for us. They spread the court, and it was hard.”
NU made it look easy for much of Friday night’s game.
Sophomore guard Drew Crawford and junior forward John Shurna scored a team-high 17 points apiece, and Thompson pitched in 11 before Carmody looked to his bench.
Sophomore guard Alex Marcotullio contributed seven points, and senior forward Ivan Peljusic put up five of his own after coming off the bench. With Thompson taking a rare break at the end of the game, freshman guard JerShon Cobb ran the offense, doling out three assists and pitching in on defense to force four turnovers on the night.
Cobb also pitched in eight rebounds in what marked his best performance so far this season.
“He got some rebounds; he was on the floor for some loose balls,” Carmody said. “He’s still got a lot to learn, but I think he’s a gamer.”
