After senior forward John Shurna torched Louisiana State for most of the game, the Tigers never expected the preseason All-American would pass the ball with Northwestern clinging to a late one-point lead.
Shurna did just that, finding Dave Sobolewski on the right wing for an open three-point attempt. The freshman point guard drained the clutch shot to seal an 88-82 comeback win in the opening round of the Charleston Classic.
“Dave has a lot of confidence,” Shurna said. “He runs the team well and that gives us confidence in him.”
While Sobolewski had the key shot, Shurna was the story Thursday afternoon. He erupted for a career-high 37 points, which equaled the highest individual scoring total in Head coach Bill Carmody’s 12 years at NU.
Shurna converted 10 of his 21 field-goal attempts and 13 of his 14 free-throw tries.
“I had the hot hand and guys were finding me in good positions,” Shurna said, “so all the credit to them.”
But it was Shurna’s unselfish play that snared an important early-season victory.
“I don’t know how (Shurna) does it,” sophomore guard JerShon Cobb said. “They were pressuring him but he just found a way.”
After a slow start, junior forward Drew Crawford pitched in with 17 second-half points and eight rebounds for the Wildcats (2-0). Sobolewski added 10 points and a game-high six assists for an NU team that needed every basket after falling behind 33-19 late in the first half.
Louisiana State (1-2) got off to a determined start following its Tuesday loss to Coastal Carolina (3-0). The Tigers exerted their defensive prowess throughout the first half, holding NU scoreless for five minutes and 27 seconds during a 9-0 run midway through the period.
Freshman guard Anthony Hickey frustrated the Cats with his quick hands and athleticism, tallying 11 points and three steals to help the Tigers gain a 41-32 halftime lead. Louisiana State made 57 percent of its first-half field goal attempts, while NU shot an anemic 31 percent in the opening frame.
“They’re a good, physical SEC team,” Shurna said, “In the locker room, Coach said that they were beating us to hustle plays.”
After Carmody watched NU get outhustled in the first half, he switched to a 1-3-1 zone defense. The decision immediately paid off.
The Cats forced two turnovers in the first minute of the second half, which were bookended by triples from Shurna and Crawford, cutting the Tigers’ lead to three.
Junior guard Reggie Hearn nailed a three-pointer with just less than 13 minutes left in the game to give the Cats a 56-53 advantage, their first since they took a 14-13 edge with 13:13 remaining in the first half. Their lead eventually grew to nine but Louisiana State refused to let them pull away.
Freshman Johnny O’Bryant III paced the Tigers with 21 points in an efficient 22 minutes. His two free throws cut NU’s lead to 81-79 with a minute and 17 seconds remaining..
Cobb responded by hitting a critical mid-range jumper, before sophomore Ralston Turner connected from downtown to bring the Tigers within a single point.
Their momentum was short lived, as Sobolewski came up big under pressure to clinch the victory.
NU prevailed despite O’Bryant’s dominance in the post. Senior forward Luka Mirkovic failed to score and corralled just one rebound in 28 minutes on the floor. The Cats compensated on the perimeter, making 12 of their 31 three-point attempts. They were helped by 20 Louisiana State turnovers, 12 of which came in the second half.
Cobb showed poise in his first game back from offseason hip surgery. Despite erratic shooting in the first half, Cobb finished with eight points and appeared more comfortable as the game progressed.
“In the first half, I had a lot of adrenaline going so I missed long,” he said. “Once I got calmed down, I knocked down my shots.”
It was a tale of two halves for Cobb and the Cats, which hope to avoid digging a similar hole against Tulsa in their second-round matchup Friday. The last time NU took on Tulsa was in the first round of the 2009 National Invitation Tournament, a game in which the Cats lost 68-59. The Golden Hurricane (3-0) stormed to a 65-49 win over Western Kentucky (1-2) earlier in the day.
