Northwestern’s 98-55 trouncing of SIU Edwardsville on Thursday night was never going to be a marquee win for the Wildcats.
The Cougars (5-16), who lost to Iowa by 61 points in November, don’t rival any of the Big Ten powerhouses that the Cats (13-5) have faced in the past three weeks. As NU hunts for its first-ever NCAA Tournament bid, Thursday night marked more of a breather than a battle, especially for leading scorer John Shurna and his injured left ankle: The junior forward was not even dressed to play.
That doesn’t mean it wasn’t instructive.
“We’ve got some guys who are pretty good players come in there and get some time,” coach Bill Carmody said. “I told them when you get out there, don’t look like a scrub; look like you belong there. And they did a nice job.”
Though it took NU a little more than 12 minutes to jump out to a double digits lead, once they did, the Cats hit cruise control. Thanks to a 34-5 run, NU went into halftime with a decisive 55-25 lead and most of NU’s starters headed to the bench for the remainder of the night. Though sophomore guard Drew Crawford led NU with 16 points and junior center Luka Mirkovic put up 15 of his own, none of the first string played more than 20 minutes on the night.
“I just like when the ball is moving around,” Carmody said. “You know sometimes you come into these games with guys worrying about what about my average points per game, and I didn’t see that tonight.”
NU’s bench combined for 40 points on the night, with sophomore guards Reggie Hearn and Alex Marcotullio leading the reserve effort with 10 points apiece.
As the clock wore down, the Cats had a shot to hit 100 points for the first time in 17 years. But after Carmody took a timeout with a little more than a minute and a half left to play, NU held the ball rather than gunning for an easy two.
“Coach just wanted to show respect for the other team,” Mirkovic said. “The margin there was pretty convincing, and we knew we were going to win.”
What remains more uncertain for NU is its looming matchup with Wisconsin on Sunday. The Cats will host the Badgers, who just took down Illinois 76-66 on Saturday, and look to hit the .500 mark in conference play and move closer to notching its first-ever Big Dance bid.
After failing to finish off Michigan State in overtime last Saturday in East Lansing, NU still has yet to stage a conference upset.
“It’s going to be a big game for us,” Crawford said. “Especially being at home, we have to be able to defend our home court.”
