After Northwestern narrowly defeated Central Connecticut State on Saturday despite John Shurna’s 3-for-14 shooting performance, coach Bill Carmody said the senior forward would “figure it out.”
The next day, Shurna dropped 32 points and tied a school record with nine three-pointers, helping the Wildcats complete their weekend sweep at Welsh-Ryan Arena with an 87-72 victory over Eastern Illinois.
“I can’t con him into saying, ‘you’re all right, kid’ or anything like that because he’d know I was just trying to fool him,” Carmody said. “So he came back tonight on his own and it was good to see.”
Senior Luka Mirkovic, who has battled inconsistency in the early season, put his best foot forward throughout the weekend. The center averaged 14 points, nine rebounds and a staggering seven assists in the two contests. Carmody praised his play following the Eastern Illinois win.
“We were able to throw the ball down to Luka all night, which was good,” he said. “When you can throw it down there and work behind the defense, that’s very important.”
Central Connecticut State seized a 29-21 advantage with 3:47 remaining in the first half of Saturday’s matchup. Blue Devils guard Kyle Vinales scored 15 of his game-high 27 points in the opening frame, and his two three-pointers matched NU’s first-half total.
The Cats closed the half with nine consecutive points. Still searching for a spark, Carmody turned to junior guard Reggie Hearn in the final stanza.
“He played only four or five minutes (in the first half) but there seemed to be a little zest there,” Carmody said. “I mentioned it to him and he had a good second half.”
Hearn added to his breakout season with a career-high 17 points, 15 of which came in the second half, and made all four of his three-point attempts. His success from downtown compensated for the struggles of Shurna and junior guard Drew Crawford, who combined to make 2-of-14 from behind the arc.
“He’s a little bit of a ‘Cool Joe’ kind of guy, so I had to get him moving a little bit,” Carmody said. “But right from the get-go this year he was in, and even last year in practice he was in, but I didn’t like him enough then.”
Crawford said that Hearn’s hot hand fit perfectly into the team’s philosophy.
“One of the things that is required on our team is knocking down big shots when you have the opportunity,” Crawford added. “Reggie was really getting those opportunities tonight. We did a great job as a team of finding him because he was hot.”
JerShon Cobb, who has played a significant role off the bench after returning from a concussion, knocked down a triple to give the Cats a 56-49 lead with 6:31 remaining. The sophomore guard finished with nine points.
The Blue Devils managed to hang with the Cats in the waning minutes, as Vinales and forward Ken Horton hit several clutch shots. Crawford, who scored 14 points on 6-of-13 shooting, finally sealed the outcome with a runner in the lane.
“We weren’t ever quite satisfied with the game,” Crawford said. “They were playing us tough the whole game and they had a lot of three-point shooters. We knew we had to stay composed.”
While generating early offense proved difficult for NU on Saturday, the Cats floundered on defense in the first half against Eastern Illinois. The Panthers used a balanced attack to shoot 50 percent from the floor in the opening stanza, and trailed just 41-36 at the intermission, despite yielding six three-pointers to Shurna.
“They played harder than us (in the first half),” Carmody said. “They were prepared, they were beating us to loose balls, they executed extremely well and they just seemed quicker.”
After he was held without a first-half field goal, Crawford elevated his game, working from the inside out to find open teammates. He posted 14 points, seven rebounds, six assists, three blocks and three steals.
The Cats made 17 of their 28 field-goal attempts in the second half, capitalizing on their inside game. They showed little reliance on perimeter shooting, as only five of their attempts were from three-point range.
Freshman point guard Dave Sobolewski continued to impress his elder teammates with his ability to lead the complex, sometimes frustrating, Princeton offense. He converted five of his six shots in an efficient 12-point performance.
“I liked Dave since day one because he always seems so poised,” Mirkovic said. “He’s a hard worker, a smart player and is very mature.”
NU pulled away with a 9-0 run early in the second half to extend its lead to 57-44. Guard Jeremy Granger anchored the Panthers with 22 points and six assists, but Eastern Illinois failed to keep Shurna under control.
“I couldn’t make anything (Saturday),” Shurna said. “I have a lot of great teammates and everyone was picking me up. They have a lot of confidence in me so I give a lot of credit to them.”
NU will visit Omaha, Neb., on Thursday to close its non-conference schedule against No. 25 Creighton. The Bluejays (8-1) boast one of college basketball’s surprise stars in Doug McDermott. The sophomore forward ranks second in the nation with 24.1 points per game on 61 percent shooting, including a 55 percent clip from three-point range.
