Northwestern shows it has plenty in reserve
Jeremy Nash's Senior Night experience didn't work out quite as well as planned.
Not only did the Chicago native weep during the pregame ceremony - which he promised not to do - he picked up his fourth foul with 14:31 to go in NU's 72-49 non-conference victory Wednesday night against Chicago State.
Nash protested the call as he headed to the bench, but his mid-game pain turned out to be freshman Alex Marcotullio's gain.
The left-handed shooter, who has struggled with his accuracy for two months, took Nash's place and promptly hit three 3-pointers.
After the rookie's third swish in less than three minutes, Nash and assistant coach Ivan Vujic sat on the bench chuckling at how NU benefited from Nash's foul issues.
Marcotullio finished with a career-high five 3-pointers, and John Shurna added a game-high 16 points as the Wildcats (19-11) set a single-season school record for wins.
While that's a nice notch for the history books, NU's ability to get its reserves some significant experience mattered more going forward.
Junior forward Mike Capocci added a season-high 8 points and 4 rebounds in 14 minutes. Davide Curletti contributed 4 points and a career-high 6 rebounds in 18 minutes.
Then there was Marcotullio. Prior to hitting 5 of 7 on 3-pointers in 18 minutes Wednesday, his ledger showed 7-of-32 shooting on 3s in NU's last 16 games.
"He wasn't playing with confidence, so it was really good to see him playing tonight," said Northwestern coach Bill Carmody. "Not only making shots, but he got his hands and feet on a lot of balls at the top of the zone."
"I've just been working, waiting my turn," Marcotullio said. "Fortunately I hit some shots tonight. Hopefully this continues throughout the rest of the season."
Northwestern didn't look like it took Chicago State (8-22) seriously at the start.
Carmody yanked Shurna out of the game less than four minutes in after he threw back-to-back alley oops that didn't connect with Drew Crawford.
The Wildcats tried two more alley-oops as the game wore on - neither of which succeeded. NU led 27-25 late in the first half before a 10-0 run put the hosts in the clear.
Similar to the way the Wildcats struggled before thriving Wednesday, Nash needed some time to feel better about his final regular-season home game at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
That moment came with 3:35 left in the first half, when Shurna's save of an errant Cougars pass turned into Nash's fastbreak slam.
Nash finished with 7 points, 3 assists and 4 steals. He left with 3:13 to go to a standing ovation from the 3,757 in the house.
He walked off the floor wearing a big smile - in direct contrast to his countenance as he walked on the floor before the game to receive a framed jersey with NASH 23 on the back.
"As soon as I got out there, the tears just couldn't stop coming," Nash said.