Wildcats get some mojo back
With one swift thought, sophomore guard Alex Marcotullio summed up Bill Carmody's coaching mantra like no one before.
“He just wants us to make shots and be perfect, you know?” Marcotullio said.
But with Northwestern coming off a perfectly awful showing Thursday night at Illinois, the Wildcats needed more than a mantra to restore their confidence before Sunday's 93-81 victory over Indiana.
They needed a terrific practice.
NU's reserves, for example, torched the starters during a scrimmage on Wednesday to set the tone for the 25-point loss at Illinois.
“After such a poor effort against Illinois, I think most of the guys were obviously upset,” said junior center Luka Mirkovic, who provided a career-high 20 points with a game-high 12 rebounds Sunday.
“I just feel like our attitude ... (Saturday's) practice was unbelievable and we were really, really confident about this game.”
Northwestern (10-4, 1-3) enjoyed its highest point total in a Big Ten game since its 97-93 overtime win over No. 8 Michigan on March 12, 1994.
In addition to Mirkovic's career-high production — when he produced so many layups Indiana resorted to a zone briefly in the second half — John Shurna looked closer to the guy who was one of the nation's top 10 scorers prior to suffering a high ankle sprain on Dec. 23.
Shurna produced a game-high 24 points and 5 assists in 33 minutes as he hit four of five from 3-point range. He also drove often enough to the hoop to make 8 of 10 free throws.
“He's an excellent player,” said otherwise-peeved Indiana coach Tom Crean. “He's the leading 3-point shooter in the country for a reason. You can't give him any space. He's going to be a pro for a long time.”
Shortly after Indiana switched to zone to combat Mirkovic inside, the Wildcats drilled four 3-pointers in a 2-minute, 35-second stretch to break open the game.
Shurna, JerShon Cobb (11 points), Drew Crawford and Marcotullio hit the 3s during that run — three of which earned assists for Juice Thompson (16 points, 8 assists).
That marked another perfect reversal from the Illinois game. NU focused on shooting 3-pointers that night (a season-high 38) without many looks inside.
“We sort of stressed it tonight,” Carmody said. “Not necessarily because of the (Indiana's lack of) size thing, but because if we're going to be good and do anything, you have to have an inside presence.”
Northwestern built its lead to 68-44 with 11:14 to go before Indiana rallied to cut the margin to 82-74 with 2:06 left. Crawford answered with NU's 10th and final 3-pointer to wrap up the victory.
Leading scorer Christian Watford paced Indiana (9-8, 0-4) with 17 points, but all of them came in the final 16 minutes after IU's deficit was double digits.
“I think this game kind of proved what our team is all about,” Mirkovic said. “A resilience.”