Northwestern win hardly makes Carmody happy

Three weeks ago, Texas-Pan American lost by 62 points at No. 2 Texas.

That same undersized UTPA team showed up at Northwestern - a nationally ranked team not so long ago - and led for nearly all of the first 28 minutes Thursday night.

The Wildcats wound up winning a 53-44 non-conference nail-biter in front of perhaps 1,000 at Welsh-Ryan Arena, but that was just the beginning of the painful digestive process in Evanston.

Afterward, NU coach Bill Carmody said Pan American deserved to win. Then he took more bites out of his guys and forbade them to open their mouths to the media.

That's something Carmody never does. Then again, he never expected to see "no zest, no life" from his squad that just took a 21-point beating at home from Michigan State.

"I don't care who you're playing," Carmody said. "If you just get beat the way you got beat by Michigan State and you're going to have any chance in this conference, you've got to go out there and you've got to play hard as (heck) and we didn't."

Northwestern (11-3), which averages 11 turnovers per game, committed a season-high 19 against the Broncs (1-16). NU also shot a season-low 32 percent from the field.

"We were just bigger than those guys," Carmody said. "That was the only thing. We probably blocked a dozen shots out there because they got the ball inside and they went up strong. Everything else, they beat us at."

Sophomore forward John Shurna scored 16 of Northwestern's 21 first-half points. He finished with 21 points and 13 rebounds for his first double-double. Luka Mirkovic (11 points, 11 rebounds) added his second career double-double.

"If Shurna wasn't out there tonight, I don't think we would've scored," Carmody said.

Junior point guard Michael Thompson, who hasn't practiced since he injured his hip late in NU's overtime loss on Dec. 30 at Illinois, tried to avoid competing as if it were the national title game.

But after going scoreless in the first 28 minutes, Thompson started throwing his body all over to ignite the Cats.

He scored his first points on a pair of free throws with 11:53 to go. Then he landed hard out of bounds in order to save a ball to Mirkovic, who was fouled and converted two free throws to give NU its first second-half lead with 11:07 left.

With the game still in doubt, Thompson hit the deck again to seize a loose ball.

"He's a tough nut," Carmody said.