No. 11 Butler too much for short-handed Cats

Bill Carmody doesn't want sympathy cards, soothing words or simple thoughts that Northwestern shouldn't take Wednesday night's game too personally.

In the wake of No. 11 Butler's 67-54 whipping of the short-handed Wildcats before 4,368 at Welsh-Ryan Arena, Carmody has other items on his wish list.

Necessities such as productive centers. Competent zone defenses. Players who take care of the ball.

Northwestern (1-1), beginning its season-long trek without injured seniors Kevin Coble and Jeff Ryan, didn't get any of those items as Butler (2-0) never trailed on the scoreboard and won every other statistical category, too.

"They're good players," said Carmody, referring to his 11 healthy guys. "They should be disappointed. Because we put a few different guys in there and it didn't seem like they were - I mean, they're ready, but they have to produce. There's a bottom line to this.

"They're scholarship guys. This isn't just on the players. It's on the coaches, too. But we've got to get them playing well. Every press conference, we can't be talking about (the loss of Coble and Ryan)."

That having been said, Northwestern struggled to get open shots against Butler's man-to-man without Coble.

Junior point guard Juice Thompson went 3 of 3 on 3-pointers in the first nine minutes, but the Bulldogs began denying him the ball and he didn't get another shot until the 15:54 mark of the second half.

During that 16-minute stretch, the Wildcats scored just 15 points. Center Luke Mirkovic (2 points) couldn't take advantage of 1-on-1 opportunities in the post, John Shurna misfired inside and out, and NU committed several of its uncharacteristically high 16 turnovers.

Nonetheless, the Wildcats trailed just 32-26 early in the second half. Shortly thereafter, Butler drilled four 3-pointers in a five-possession stretch against NU's fabled 1-3-1 trap to break open the game.

"Butler just did a great job of moving the ball around," Thompson said. "They had us running around all over the place and we just didn't get to the right spot at the right time."

Carmody was more direct.

"(The zone) didn't seem as lively," he said. "We were letting the passes go from the wing to the corner, just chest passes and they were snapping the ball. And we were out of position. That usually doesn't happen too often."

Sophomores Shelvin Mack (15 points, 8 assists) and Gordon Hayward (14 points, 10 rebounds) did much of the playmaking and producing for Butler.

The Bulldogs led 57-38 with 5:49 to go when Carmody decided to roll with Thompson, Shurna, junior Mike Capocci, sophomore Davide Curletti and freshman Alex Marcotullio the rest of the way.

They scrambled and fought and got NU as close as 11 with 3:36 to go, but that was it.

Thompson finished with 16 points in 40 minutes. Shurna added 14 points and 9 rebounds, though Carmody said much of it came after the game was lost.

Marcotullio, a lefty bomber from suburban Detroit, drilled 2 long 3-pointers as part of his 8-point effort in 15 minutes.

"I think the bright spot was Marcotullio," Carmody said.