Carmody's strategy pays off for Northwestern

Bill Carmody might coach at a prestigious university, but he has a knack for dispensing basketball strategy in its simplest form.

For example, Carmody offered this CliffsNotes treatise on the 1-3-1 zone trap at halftime of Northwestern's 73-58 Big Ten tournament win over Indiana on Thursday:

"You have to bother guys," Carmody told his players. "That's the purpose of this."

Prior to learning this concept, Northwestern's defenders were "statues" as Indiana shot 44 percent and committed just 6 turnovers to build a 30-27 lead.

After being armed with Carmody's knowledge, the Wildcats forced 13 second-half turnovers and turned many of them into baskets that fueled their comeback.

Indiana went 9 minutes, 27 seconds between baskets as NU transformed a 45-39 deficit into a 63-52 lead.

Meanwhile, Jeremy Nash and his teammates delivered on the NU senior guard's guarantee that Indiana freshman Jordan Hulls wouldn't get open shots.

When Indiana beat Northwestern on Saturday, Hulls drilled 8 of 12 3-pointers for a career-high 24 points. On Thursday, Hulls finished 1 of 3 from 3-point range and committed 4 turnovers in 34 minutes.

"We just found the shooter," Nash said. "We worked on it in practice, playing more to Hulls' side. Johnny (Shurna) closed out hard on him. Drew (Crawford) closed out hard on him. We had to make other guys beat us."

Lickliter's fate: As Iowa warmed up for Thursday's Big Ten tournament opener, a rumor swept through Conseco Fieldhouse that Hawkeyes coach Todd Lickliter was on his way out.

The story lines varied - some presumed Iowa AD Gary Barta would fire him while others suggested Lickliter would step aside due to health issues - but none of them materialized.

Yet.

Barta issued a neutral statement after Iowa's 59-52 loss that, among other things, he'll "evaluate 2010 and make preparations for next season."

Lickliter, who owns a 38-58 record in three years at Iowa, proclaimed himself to be healthy.

"We do have a foundation," he said. "I don't know what's going to happen. People have to make those decisions. But we've invested, players have gotten better, and this team is better than the first two teams that won more games."

Freshman point guard Cully Payne, who produced a career-high 25 points Thursday, backed Lickliter.

"We've got a great, true foundation and we're excited for Coach, so we're kind of by his side the whole way," said the 2009 Schaumburg High School graduate. "I can speak for us freshman class and the whole team that Coach is our guy."

Lickliter signed a solid four-player class in November that included Mundelein guard Ben Brust.