Shurna's sprain a pain for NU as they prepare for Illini

If you're a Northwestern fan, or a college basketball fan in general, you've already asked yourself the question:

When John Shurna suffered a high left ankle sprain on Dec. 23 that continues to affect the Wildcats' early Big Ten adventures, why was he still in the game against Mount St. Mary's with 10:35 to go and NU ahead by 33 points?

Here's the short answer: The Wildcats had just nine of their 11 scholarship players healthy that afternoon — and one of the nine (Jeff Ryan) has missed the two games since.

Here's the long answer: While Northwestern has narrowed the gap with Illinois in several areas, depth remains the primary thing that separates the in-state rivals as they embark upon Thursday's battle in Champaign (8 p.m., ESPN2).

Even with Shurna at less than 100 percent, the Wildcats generally are going with a seven-man rotation.

For the year, Bill Carmody's subs have played 25.5 percent of the team's minutes and accounted for 16 percent of NU's points.

Sixth man Alex Marcotullio (4.5 ppg) has yet to find last year's shooting touch as the sophomore is hitting just 30 percent of his 3s.

“I'm just trying to mesh with my teammates,” Marcotullio said. “Make them the best players that they can be. I'm not really looking for my shot. I'm just trying to be one of those glue guys that keep everybody together.”

Meanwhile, Bruce Weber has given his reserves 31 percent of Illinois' minutes and they've produced 28 percent of the team's points.

The Illini will have four seniors and sophomore D.J. Richardson in the starting lineup tonight, but Weber gets to call on the state's last two Mr. Basketball honorees (Jereme Richmond and Brandon Paul) off the bench.

Richmond finally moved into Illinois' starting lineup for the Missouri and Iowa games, but he stepped out last week with a strained Achilles' tendon.

“If Jereme gets back and plays well, then really we have six starters,” Weber said. “Then it may come down to matchups. I would love if Brandon got going on a roll here, too, and we have seven starters. That would make it a lot easier on everybody.”

To look at it from a different angle: If Shurna (21.3 ppg) wore orange and blue, he might be able to take on a lesser workload to expedite the healing process.

Instead, he has battled through 73 minutes in Northwestern's first two Big Ten games and made just 5 of 19 shots.

Considering Shurna made 61 percent of his shots prior to the ankle injury (and 62 percent of his 3-pointers), the ankle has handicapped NU's chances.

“He was playing as well as anybody,” Weber said. “Not just in the league, but in the country before the injury.”

Shurna, who enjoyed Wednesday his most extensive practice participation since suffering the injury, again declared he won't use the ankle as an excuse.

In fact, he thinks his problem highlights the team's depth. He lauded the other starters and the bench for their current play.

“I feel like if I can help out and make contributions as well,” Shurna said, “then I think we'll be in a good position (Thursday) night.”

Northwestern (9-3, 0-2) at Illinois (12-3, 2-0)

<b>When:</b> 8 p.m. at Assembly Hall

<b>TV: </b>ESPN2

<b>Net:</b> ESPN3.com

<b>Radio:</b> WGN 720-AM, WIND 560-AM

<b>The skinny: </b>While it's clear that Demetri McCamey makes the 20th-ranked Illini go and Michael “Juice” Thompson is the heart of the Wildcats, last year's games came down to the production (or lack thereof) in the frontcourt. When Illinois won 89-83 in OT at home, Mike Tisdale and Mike Davis teamed up for 51 points and 28 rebounds. When Northwestern won 73-68 at Welsh-Ryan Arena, Tisdale and Davis teamed for 14 points and 8 rebounds. If you're looking for X-factors, check out NU's Drew Crawford (14.6 ppg) and ILL's Bill Cole (5.7 ppg). Both are coming alive from 3-point range and both could have a matchup edge on offense. The Illini have won 19 of the last 21 games in this series, including the last 11 played anywhere but Evanston.