In two days we’ll really know what we have, or don’t have with Northwestern college basketball. Yes, they’re undefeated right now, and they won the Charleston Classic. But they still haven’t played anyone. The road win at Georgia Tech was nice, but the Yellow Jackets are down this year. Much like the rest of the ACC.
But it won’t be long until the moment of truth (undefeated #7 Baylor) arrives- Sunday 3PM at Evanston’s Welsh-Ryan Arena.
When most of Chicago is focused on another Bears team, the NFL version of course, the Wildcats will have their hands full with the Bears of Baylor.
Especially their two sure-fire NBA draft choices: Quincy Miller, a freshman wing who is likely a top ten pick, and Perry Jones III, who is similar to Miller in that he’s, long, athletic and thin. Q is a better shooter; Perry the better rebounder/shot blocker.
“It’s a big team, a good team, well coached, but we’ve played some big teams Tulsa- started two guys that were 6-11, 7-0,” said NU Coach Bill Carmody.
“We’ve played some pretty good sized teams this year, and I think we’ll be ready to go. It’s great that we have a big game at home, they’re playing well, we’re playing well, it should be a nice afternoon.”
Friday night they slaughtered Mississippi Valley State 92-67, in a game that wasn’t even that close. It was 53-13 with 2:42 left in the first half. The Visiting Delta Devils, falling to 1-7 on the season, are beyond terrible. At the start of the season they lost back to back games at Notre Dame and DePaul.
Although their encounter with the Blue Demons in Lincoln Park was much closer than tonight (I wonder why MVSU didn’t schedule this one in with the rest of their Chicago trip? Would have saved gas/money/time/the environment)
Northwestern entered the game with the nation’s third-highest-scoring duo (John Shurna and Drew Crawford) who combine average 40 ppg. Shurna had nine, on the strength of 3-4 from behind the arc at halftime. Crawford had 14 at intermission, going 5-6 from the field, 4-5 from distance. Both rested in the second half, along with fellow starters Dave Sobolewski and Luka Mirkovic.
The only starter who played in half number two was Reggie Hearn, who had 15 points and 3 treys. The Wildcats set a school record with 20 three-pointers in this game. Nick Fruendt led the team in scoring with 21.
The ‘Cats figure to be rested and ready for the showdown Sunday.
Paul M. Banks is CEO of The Sports Bank.net, an official Google News site generating millions of unique visitors. He’s also a regular contributor to Chicago Now, Walter Football.com, Yardbarker, and Fox Sports
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