Wildcats flash newfound boards prowess plus press
There's not enough space on this page to list all of the ways this year's Northwestern squad differs from those in the recent past.
In order to save trees, it's best to focus on two of the key differences.
Blessed with four freshmen who are 6-feet-8 or taller, the Wildcats now can hold their own on the boards.
And their 2-3 matchup zone defense - not to mention their three-quarter-court zone press - shows signs of being annoying to solve.
That combination was more than enough to earn Northwestern a 66-48 win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Wednesday night before an announced crowd of 3,017 at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
"We guarded," said Northwestern coach Bill Carmody. "And that's what we didn't do last year. Certainly the bigger guys help us."
Junior forward Kevin Coble scored 18 points to lead all scorers, while 6-foot-8 freshman John Shurna added 17 points and a game-high 9 rebounds for NU (2-0).
But here are the numbers that highlight the differences between this year and last:
For the second game in a row, Northwestern won the rebounding edge (32-31) and held its opponent to less than 40 percent shooting (37.2).
Last year, the Wildcats had the nation's worst rebounding margin and never outboarded two opponents in a row.
They also ranked 319th (out of 328 Division I teams) in field-goal percentage defense and never held two consecutive opponents below 40 percent.
Northwestern controlled the game from the outset and led by 22 points early in the second half.
Then the Islanders (1-2) made a run that cut their deficit to 55-45 with 6:57 to go.
That was right about the time senior guard Craig Moore, who earlier set a school record with his 213th career 3-pointer, took over the coaching reins from Carmody.
"I didn't really take over the team," Moore said. "Coach was kind of silent and I was like, 'Coach, whaddya think? Should we go back to the press and see if we can cause them some problems?'
"He looked at me kind of funny like, 'Be quiet, Craig,' but then he was like, 'OK, maybe we'll try something.' I give him all the credit in the world for listening to me for once."
NU's renewed pressure forced 3 turnovers that helped the Wildcats go on an 11-2 run and rebuild a nice margin.