Brenda Bazan photo
Freshman Dave Sobolewski led the Wildcats, scoring 23 points in the victory.

By Larry Peterson
Staff writer
EVANSTON — After missing their first three shots and falling behind 7-0, the Northwestern Wildcats caught fire and trounced the Iowa Hawkeyes, 83-64, Thursday, Feb. 9 at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
Two offensive runs sealed the win for the Wildcats. A 19-4 run when they heated up in the first half led to an early double-digit lead and a 38-29 halftime advantage.
Iowa’s woes were self-inflicted early in the second half when they committed six fouls in the first three minutes of the second stanza. Northwestern went to the charity stripe 20 times hitting 15, while the Hawkeyes made seven of nine from the line.
A 9-0 streak in the middle of the second half extended the ‘Cats lead to 21 points to put the game out of reach. Northwestern, 15-8 overall and 5-6 in the Big Ten, saw all of the five starters score in double digits.
All five starters made three, three-pointers, with the exception of junior Drew Crawford, who nailed one from beyond the arc, scored 11 points, pulled down a team-high five rebounds and handed out four assists.
Freshman Dave Sobolewski led the Wildcats with 23 points, was three for three from beyond the arc, had seven assists and four steals. Senior John Shurna tossed in 17 points, grabbed four boards, had four steals and one assist.
Juniors Reggie Hearn and Alex Marcotullio each added 13 and 11 points respectively and Marcotullio had six assists.
“It was a nice team victory,” coach Bill Carmody said. “The scoring was balanced and a lot of guys did good things out there. I felt they had a lot of energy and played well together,”
The Hawkeyes, led by 6-foot-8 freshman Aaron White, cut the Northwestern lead to one point with seven minutes left in the first half, but a flurry of treys by the ‘Cats extended the lead to eight at the intermission.
The Wildcats shot nearly 60 percent from the field and hit 52 percent of its three-point attempts. Iowa shot well from the field, with 60 percent in the first half and 51 percent for the game, but couldn’t match the ’Cats three-point production. Northwestern was outrebounded 29-21.
Even though the Hawkeyes didn’t shoot poorly, Carmody attributed the victory to the 1-3-1 defense. Eighteen turnovers also contributed to their downfall.
“They missed some shots they ordinarily make and I think the 1-3-1 was effective and confused them. We need to get to .500 in the conference to get in the NCAA Tournament,” Carmody said.
The ‘Cats didn’t help their cause when they dropped an 87-77 decision at Purdue on Sunday, Feb.12.
Iowa head coach Fran McCaffery was not happy with the Hawkeyes effort. When he was asked, “Aside from the final score, what disappointed you most?” His reply was, “Pretty much everything. There wasn’t anything good about tonight.
“We practiced on the 1-3-1 for three days and thought we had it down pretty good, but it’s different in game conditions. We were not executing defensively tonight,” McCaffery said.
Northwestern traveled to Indiana for a 5:30 p.m. tip-off Wednesday, Feb. 15 against the Hoosiers. With three of six remaining conference games on the road, the Wildcats hopes for an NCAA bid look rather dim.

Brenda Bazan photo
St. John’s freshman Amir Garrett attempts a layup while being defended by two DePaul players.

By Larry Peterson
Staff writer
ROSEMONT — The DePaul Blue Demons built a 12-point lead in the first half and a nine-point lead in the second half against the visiting St. John’s Red Storm at the Allstate arena in Rosemont, Wednesday, Feb. 1.
But DePaul, 11-10 overall and 2-7 in the big East, faded in the final minutes in both halves and St. John’s, 10-12 overall and 4-6 in the Big East, walked off with an 87-81 victory over the Blue Demons.
DePaul head coach Oliver Purnell said, “I liked our approach and energy in the first half until the final four minutes. We started well, but they hurt us with the full court press late in the half.
“We played better defense in the second half and then got lazy and threw lob passes and missed free throws late that could have tied it. We just can’t maintain consistency for the whole game.”
The teams played on even terms for the first seven minutes. Cleveland Melvin, Brandon Young and Moses Morgan led a 15-5 DePaul run and the Demons were up 31-19 with four minutes left in the first half.
St. John’s came out with a full court pressure defense and dealt DePaul a shut out, while Red Storm guard D’Angelo Harrison led the visitors on an 11-0 run and trailed 31-30 at the intermission.
The Blue Demons came on strong in the second half and led by nine, 40-31 in the first two minutes. The teams traded baskets and DePaul maintained an eight-point, 59-51 lead with 12 minutes left in the game. St. John’s turned up the defense, Harrison carried the offense, and the Red Storm tied the score at 59 midway through the second frame.
St. John’s continued the pressure, outrebounding DePaul 15-9, and began to pull away. The score was tied at 64 with 7½ minutes remaining and the Red Storm took the lead and never trailed from that point on.
The Blue Demons came within three points with one minute left, but four missed free throws thwarted the comeback. Four successful tosses from the charity stripe by Harrison in the final 30 seconds sealed the victory for St. John’s.
Harrison finished with a game-high 29 points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals. God’sgift Achiuwa (yes, that is his name) collected 15 markers for the Storm. Phil Greene added 14 points, four boards, six assists and three steals.
Cleveland Melvin set the pace for DePaul with 22 points and 11 rebounds. Moses Morgan contributed 19 points and four boards. Brandon Young had 13 points, four rebounds and a game-high 11 assists.
Purnell said, “I liked our approach in the first half. I liked the pace of the game, but we didn’t handle their pressure very well. Our defense was pretty good, except on Harrison. We lost him a few times and he hurt us.”
Mike Dunlap, interim coach filling in for Steve Lavin who is recovering from prostate cancer surgery, was pleased with the final result and complimented the Blue Demons on their improvement.
“DePaul is a young club, but coach Purnell is doing a good job with them. We are even younger and we have told our players we have complete confidence in them and we are going to stick with them. We had five freshmen on the floor at times,” Dunlap said.

Brenda Bazan photo
Purdue forward Robbie Hummel scores with 8.1 seconds left to put the Boilermakers up for good.

By Larry Peterson
Staff writer
EVANSTON — The Northwestern Wildcats men’s basketball team lost another heartbreaker at home. The Purdue Boilermakers invaded Welsh-Ryan Arena in Evanston and eked out a devastating 58-56 victory Saturday, Jan. 28.
Northwestern, 12-8 overall, 2-6 in the Big Ten, has lost seven of its last nine games and are 0-3 in games lost by two points or less during that disappointing stretch.
Neither team could get its offense in gear last Saturday and both team’s big guns had a cold first half. Robbie Hummel was limited to one of four from the field for two points and John Shurna tallied five points.
Shurna finished with 15 points, seven boards, four assists, three blocked shots and one turnover. Hummel who finished with 11 points was outscored by Shurna, but he hit the game-winner in the final seconds for the win.
Forward Drew Crawford took up the slack for Northwestern with 11 first half points and ended up with a game-high 23 points, eight rebounds, and two assists, but was guilty of four turnovers. Guards Terrone Johnson and Rynne Smith each tossed in six points for Purdue, 15-7 overall and 5-4 in the Big Ten.
The score was tied at 13 midway through the first half, but an 8-1 run in the next three minutes gave the Boilers a seven point edge. Purdue reserve Anthony Johnson nailed a triple at the buzzer to give the visitors a 26-22 advantage at the intermission.
The Boilermakers took a nine-point lead with a 6-2 run to open the second half. Northwestern responded with 12-2 run and led 40-36 at the 12-minute mark. The teams traded buckets for the next 10 minutes and the score was tied at 56 with 45 seconds remaining in the game.
Hummel hit a short jumper with 8.1 seconds left. After an immediate timeout, the ‘Cats freshman guard Dave Sobolewski raced up the floor looking for Crawford for the final shot. The Purdue defense foiled the plan by doubling up on Crawford. Sobolewski found Shurna open well behind the three-point arc and a desperation fling by Shurna fell well short as the final buzzer sounded.
Purdue head coach Matt Painter, in a timeout in the final minute, planned a screen to set up Hummel and his strategy worked to perfection.
“When you have a guy like Rob you want the ball in his hands at crunch time to make the decision or the shot.
“We were outrebounded 37-23 and that ususally results in a loss, but we took care of the ball and limited turnovers,” Painter said.
The Purdue staff, realizing Crawford had the hot hand, out-guessed the ‘Cats and the double-team on Crawford produced the narrow victory.
Northwestern coach Bill Carmody said, “We didn’t get what we intended to get. But that play didn’t cost us the game. We had 16 turnovers and they had five. That was the difference in the game.”
The Wildcats, 2-6 in the Big Ten, were one game ahead of last place Penn State. They will play Nebraska at home Thursday, Feb. 2 before traveling to Illinois Sunday, Feb. 5.

Brenda Bazan photo
Huskie freshman Abdel Nader led all scorers with a career-high 28 points in Northern Illinois’ loss to Ball State.

By Larry Peterson
Staff writer
DEKALB — The Northern Illinois Huskies men’s basketball team played 16 minutes of solid, competitive basketball against the Ball State Cardinals in the first half Saturday, Jan. 21 at the Convocation Center in DeKalb.
When the season isn’t going well, the ball just doesn’t seem to bounce your way. That was the case in the final four minutes for NIU.
With the score tied at 26 and four minutes remaining in the first half, Ball State went on a 9-2 run and the momentum carried over into the second half which enabled the visitors to come away with a 75-65 victory over the hapless Huskies.
Neither team led by more than three early in the game until a five-point burst by Abdel Nader gave NIU a 21-16 lead with eight minutes to play before the intermission.
Northern Illinois had the ball with 30 seconds remaining and held for the final shot of the first frame. On a missed jump shot by Nader with five seconds left, the Cardinals senior guard Randy Davis grabbed the rebound on the run. He crossed the center line with two dribbles and drained a long three-pointer at the buzzer.
The Huskies trailed 34-28 and with a made bucket, the halftime score would have read 34-30. With the fortunate bounce for Ball State and the buzzer-beater, the result was a five-point turn-around, a 37-28 halftime advantage and a momentum swing.
To open the second half, Northern Illinois scored on a fast break bucket off a Cardinal miss. Ball State, riding the first half momentum, went on a 5-0 run in the next two minutes to take a 42-30 edge and stretched the lead to 15 points, 50-35, with 12 minutes remaining in the game.
The Huskies regrouped and at the midway point of the second half trailed by 10, 50-40. A 5-0 NIU run cut the Ball State lead to five with eight minutes remaining in the game. But NIU was unable to match the Ball State firepower down the stretch. Nader led the second half charge with 13-straight points, but the Cardinals matched Nader shot-for-shot.
A put-back by Huskie junior guard Tony Nixon cut the Cardinal lead to 65-58 with 2:15 left to play, but that was as close as Northern Illinois would come as they were unable to get defensive stops in the closing minutes.
Both teams were 8 for 19 from three-point range. Ball State made two more free throws than the Huskies and four more deuces.
Nader led all scorers with a career and game-high 28 points, had four blocked shots and one assist. Aksel Bolin, 6-foot-7 sophomore forward, was second high with eight points and pulled down a team-high eight rebounds.
The Cardinals had balanced scoring with four players in double figures, led by 6-foot-9 forward Jarrod Jones with 17 points and eight boards.
An upbeat Mark Montgomery, head coach of the Huskies, said, “We were resilient all night. They had us down by 15 and we cut it down to five. Abdel Nader had a big night, Aksel [Bolin] got us going in the first half. You have to give Ball State credit. They stepped up and made some tough shots.”
Ball State head coach Billy Taylor, a former West Aurora star and graduate, complimented his team and coach Montgomery.
“We fought hard, tightened up our defense and the four-minute run provided momentum, which we carried through the second half. Mark Montgomery is doing a good job. We went through a rebuilding period and it is tough,” Taylor said.
Northern Illinois will play Kent State in the MAC East, Wednesday, Jan. 25.

Pat Barcas photo
Northwestern forward Davide Curletti, who had only started one previous game in his four-year career, had a career game with 17 points to help the Wildcats upset Michigan State.

By Larry Peterson
Staff writer
EVANSTON — Upsets seemed to be in order last week in men’s college basketball, especially in the Big Ten.
Michigan went to Wisconsin, where the visitors rarely win, and stole a controversial 63-60 overtime victory Sunday, Jan. 8. Illinois entertained No. 5 Ohio State Tuesday, Jan. 10 and downed the Buckeyes, 79-74.
Thursday, Jan. 12 saw Wisconsin defeat Purdue, 67-62, in a venue where they can’t remember the last time they won, and on the same day Minnesota (13-5) defeated No. 7 ranked Indiana (15-2), 77-74.
Two big shockers occurred Saturday, Jan. 14 when No. 3 ranked North Carolina was trounced 90-57 by Florida State and Northwestern handed the No. 6 ranked Michigan State Spartans an 81-74 defeat in Evanston
The Spartans got off to a fast start against Northwestern and built a 25-16 lead over the Wildcats in the first nine minutes of the game. The ‘Cats, with a surprise starter, Davide Curletti, who tossed in 13 points and grabbed four rebounds, whittled the visitors lead to 33-30 with three minutes left in the first half.
Curletti had started only one other game in his four years at Northwestern. He finished with 17 points, six rebounds and four steals. Northwestern forward John Shurna was high scorer with 22 points and Drew Crawford, who was a questionable starter because of the flu, added 20 points. He had IVs before the game and said, “I knew I was going to be able to play.”
With a 5-3 run, Northwestern owned a 39-37 halftime edge, and never relinquished the lead the rest of the game.
The teams traded baskets for the first six minutes of the second half. Shurna and Crawford, who had been quiet in the first half, fired up in the second frame and joined Curletti in the scoring spree, extending the lead to 60-50 midway through the second half.
Michigan State, led by sophomore guard Keith Appling, made a run and cut the Wildcats lead to five points with 5:30 left. After a timeout, Shurna, Crawford and Reggie Hearn took charge with a 10-5 run and coasted to the upset victory over the Spartans, previously unbeaten in the Big Ten.
Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo said he had two concerns coming into the game: “One, we didn’t have good practices this week and two, Northwestern lost by one point to Illinois and lost by two in overtime to Michigan. They played 39 minutes in both games and could have, and probably should have, won both.
“If you ask me, Curletti was the difference in the game.
“Draymond Green played a phenomenal game for us. I just couldn’t figure out a way to have him bring the ball down and throw it to himself.”
Bill Carmody, Northwestern head coach, was pleased with the win.
“I’m happy for our guys and proud of the way they played. We didn’t start out great, but they [Michigan State] had several turnovers and we turned them into points. We rebounded well and executed offensively. We’ve played a lot of man defense and I decided to switch to 1-3-1 and it seemed to work,” Carmody said.
Northwestern will play its next two games on the road, Jan. 18 at Wisconsin and Jan. 22 at Minnesota.

Pat Barcas photo
The crowd storms the court after DePaul upset Pittsburgh Jan. 5 at Allstate Arena in Rosemont.

By Larry Peterson
Staff writer
ROSEMONT — The DePaul Blue Demons scored an 84-81 victory over the University of Pittsbugh Panthers, Thursday, Jan. 5 at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont. It was no doubt the Blue Demons biggest win of the season.
Pitt, a preseason 9th ranked team, fell out of the nation’s top 25 after three straight losses to Wagner, Notre Dame and Cincinnati.
DePaul, 10-4 overall and 1-1 in the Big East, jumped out to a quick 6-0 lead, but the grind-it-out Pittsburgh defense caused several turnovers that led to easy Panther buckets. Pittsburgh, 11-5 and 0-3 in the Big East, led by as much as 10 and held a 38-31 halftime advantage.
The tenacious Blue Demons began to chip away and took their first lead since early in the game at 59-58 with 8:47 remainin. From that point on it was a back and forth battle that saw the lead change hands six times.
The score was last tied at 77 on a free throw by Cleveland Melvin with two minutes remaining in the game. With Pitt up by two, Panther guard Isaiah Epps missed two free throws with seven seconds remaining that could have iced the game.
DePaul’s Donnavan Kirk grabbed the rebound and passed to Brandon Young who drove the length of the court and with the lane wide open; put up a layup and was fouled. Young completed a three-point play with 1.3 seconds left.
Young intercepted the Panthers court-long inbounds pass and was immediately fouled. He calmly sunk two more free throws to seal the victory and the Blue Demon fans spilled out onto the court.
“I loved it. I loved every moment of it. I hope we get more like that,” Young said.
DePaul sophomore forward Cleveland Melvin said, “That was the best feeling of my life. It was a great experience. I loved it.”
Neither Young nor Melvin had experienced a rushed court in their two seasons at DePaul.
Young led all scorers with 26 points and Melvin, who had an ‘off night,’ tossed in 20 points and pulled down a team-high six boards.
The win broke the Blue Demons’ 15-game home losing streak in Big East play and the first over Pittsburgh as a member of the big East. It was the fourth straight loss for the Panthers, the longest losing streak in head coach Jamie Dixon’s nine seasons.
Dixon was a gracious loser. He said, “This was a disappointing loss, but a great effort. DePaul has experienced players and they are getting better. Oliver Purnell has done a great job.”
DePaul head coach Purnell was obviously pleased with the win.
“I thought it was a tale of two halves for us. We kind of just hung in there in the first half. We were close enough to where we could just see them. The second half I thought we were really, really good,” Purnell said.
DePaul continued Big East play with an 87-71 loss at Villanova, Jan. 8. They will play at Seton Hall, Jan. 10 and at Louisville, Jan. 14 before returning home to take on Georgetown, Jan. 17.

Pat Barcas photo
Sophomore center Fab Melo dunks the baseketball during Syracuse’s win over the Blue Demons last Sunday.

By Larry Peterson
Staff writer
ROSEMONT — The Syracuse Orange left no doubt as to why they are rated the No. 1 men’s college basketball team in the nation with their dominant 87-68 win over the DePaul Blue Demons at the Allstate Arena, Sunday, Jan. 1.
DePaul got off to a quick start with a tight full court press creating a couple of turnovers and took an early 7-2 lead in the first two minutes of the game. Jim Boeheim, the wily head coach of Syracuse, 15-0, called a time out, made a few adjustments, and they were off and running.
At the four-minute mark, the score was tied at nine, and midway through the first half the Orange led 22-15. Syracuse built a 45-26 halftime edge.
Unlike the power teams of the Atlantic Coast Conference that continue to pour it on when they have an opponent down, the Orange let up in the second half and played every player on the bench. They don’t go into a stall or slow down, they just ease up the intensity.
Boeheim said, “It’s human nature for a team to let up when they have a big first half lead. We pretty much just traded baskets in the second half.”
This is by design, not by accident. To add to the Syracuse supremacy, they are 10 deep and don’t lose any punch with the second five that come into the game.
Kris Joseph, a 6-foot-7 senior forward led the Orange with 22 points and seven rebounds. The rest of the Syracuse scoring was well distributed with 16 points by sophomore C.J. Fair; sophomore guard Dion Waiters, 13; 6-foot-10 center Fab Melo, 12; and junior guard Brandon Triche, 10.
“We don’t have a Michael Jordan or a Derrick Rose. We have a lot of guys who can score and any night it can be anyone of them who steps up. No guy can do it alone,” Boeheim said.
Oliver Purnell, who was brought in to bring the DePaul basketball program back to respectability, has a good reputation and has done a good job. The Blue Demons, 9-4, have improved, but were no match for the visitors.
“We faced a superior basketball team tonight. They make you play under duress. They are the best defensive team we have faced and it changed our game. Are they No. 1? Yes, I believe they are.
“They shot over 50 percent in both halves because they shot so many layups. We didn’t do the things we’ve worked on because of ther defense and you don’t get a second chance against a team that good. We’ll look at films and try to correct mistakes,” Purnell said.
Boeheim agreed with Purnell and also complimented him.
“We did a good job against the full court press and when you beat the press you get a lot of layups. We did an excellent job on defense in the first half and we will get better. We haven’t played the best teams yet and there a lot of good teams in this league.
“Oliver Purnell has done a good job with this team and they will only get better. Cleveland Melvin is a very good player, an excellent player,” Boeheim said.
Melvin led all scorers with 23 points and pulled down a game-high eight boards. Brandon Young, DePaul sophomore guard, usually a consistent scorer, was shut out by the Orange D.
DePaul will play Big East Conference foes the rest of the regular season, hosting Pittsburgh at 6 p.m. Jan. 5 before going on the road for three games. They will face Villanova Jan.8, Seton Hall Jan. 10, and Louisville Jan. 10.

By Larry Peterson
Staff writer
With the 161-day National Basketball Association lock out settled, the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) approved by the majority of players and owners, the Basketball Related Income (BRI) accepted by both sides, a partial 2011-12 season has been salvaged.
Commissioner David Stern and player representative Billy Hunter were the two main forces in the negotiations to accomplish the agreement.
It appears that the owners came out the winners in the settlement. Many of the players would stop receiving paychecks in November 2011 and therefore were not in a position to continue negotiations.
Under the old CBA the players received 57 percent of the BRI. The new agreement resulted in a 50-50 split or possibly even a little more in favor of the owners over the new agreement, which covers a 10-year span.
A financial advisor who deals exclusively with professional athletes revealed a startling figure. He said that 78 percent of all professional athletes are bankrupt five years after they retire. This is due to incompetent, unscrupulous advisors, friends and relatives. The NBA players needed to get back on the court, resume play, and collect paychecks.
Die-hard basketball fans were not concerned about the players or the owners. Most felt that both sides are making too much money and they just wanted to watch basketball games.
Winners and losers aside, the 2011-12 66-game season tipped off with five Christmas Day games.
The day opened at 11 a.m. with the New York Knicks defeating the Boston Celtics, 106-104 at Madison Square Garden.
The much-anticipated finals rematch saw the Miami Heat a 105-94 winner over the defending champion Dallas Mavericks.
The Chicago Bulls, led by the reining NBA MVP, Derrick Rose, fought back for a phenomenal come-from-behind 88-87 victory. The Bulls led by seven points at halftime, but fell behind by as many as 11 points with just under four minutes left in the game. Luol Deng and Rose led the late surge and Rose hit a short jumper in the lane with 4.1 seconds remaining for the game-winner.
Lakers super-star, Kobe Bryant drove to the basket and his short jumper was blocked by Joakim Noah at the final buzzer. Bryant led all scorers with 28 points. Rose led the Bulls with 22 points and Deng contributed 21.
At 7 p.m., the host Oklahoma City Thunder rolled over the Orlando Magic, 97-89. In the nightcap, the Los Angeles Clippers downed the visiting Golden State Warriors, 105-86.
The Bulls didn’t fare as well against Golden State Dec. 26, losing 99-91. The Bulls came out flat against the Warriors and fell behind by as many as 19 points in the first half. They staged another furious come-back in the fourth quarter, but came up short. Deng led with 22 points and Rose and C.J. Watson tossed in 13 points apiece.
The rigors of four games in 10 days, back-to-back games, intense practices and travel to California took its toll. The Bulls won two pre-season games with a 95-86 win over the Pacers in Indianapolis Dec. 16 and a 93-85 victory over the Pacers at the United Center Dec. 20.
Rose, who received a five-year contract extension worth $94.8 million is the catalyst for the Bulls and will have basically the same supporting cast as last year’s 62-win team.
Additions are rookie guard Jimmy Butler and valuable veteran guard Richard Hamilton. They lost Kurt Thomas and Keith Bogans from last year’s squad.
After two days off, the Bulls will play back-to-back games with a 7 p.m. game at the Sacramento Kings on Dec. 29 and a 7:30 p.m. contest against the Los Angeles Clippers Dec. 30. The Bulls home opener will be at 7 p.m. Jan. 1 at the United Center facing the Memphis Grizzlies.
This will be a grueling season with several back-to-back games and every team will be required to play at least one back-to-back-to back series.
The All-Star game will take place Feb. 26 and the regular season will end April 26. The playoffs are set to start April 28, 2012.

Brenda Bazan photo
Northwestern forward Jon Shurna rebounded from a poor outing and led the Wildcats with 32 points.

By Larry Peterson
Staff writer
EVANSTON — The Northwestern Wildcats concluded a season long five-game homestand with an 87-72 victory over the Eastern Illinois Panthers Sunday, Dec. 18 at Welsh-Ryan Arena in Evanston. This was the first meeting between the Wildcats and the Panthers.
Led by John Shurna’s 18 points, Northwestern built an eight-point lead midway through the first half. The Panthers fought back and trimmed the ’Cats lead to a single point with four minutes on the clock and trailed by three with eight seconds remaining. A JerShon Cobb steal and layup at the buzzer gave the Wildcats a 41-36 halftime advantage.
Cobb’s buzzer-beater and a stern lecture on defense by head coach Bill Carmody provided the momentum for a Wildcats second half surge. Northwestern gradually increased its lead to seven points, 51-44, in the first five minutes of the second half.
The Wildcats didn’t exactly play stellar defense, but managed to outscore EIU 30-25 in the next 10 minutes to build an 81-66 edge over the Panthers.
Shurna, couldn’t find the range the previous night in a hotly contested, 70-64 win over visiting Central Connecticut State. He was on target against Eastern Illinois.
Shurna, who was limited to 12 points against Central Connecticut State on Saturday, said, “I couldn’t hit anything last night, but my teammates picked me up.”
He hit 11 of 16, two-point field goals and was nine of 12 from beyond the arc for a game high 32-points to go along with four boards and five assists against the Panthers.
Luka Mirkovic scored 18 points and had a game-high 10 rebounds and seven assists. Drew Crawford contributed 14 points, seven boards, six assists and three steals. Freshman Dave Sobolewski tossed in 12 points and handed out three assists. Cobb came off the bench and added eight points, two assists and two steals.
Senior Jeremy Granger, an Elgin High School graduate, who has had an outstanding career at EIU, led the Panthers with 22 points, six assists and two steals. It was Granger’s ninth career game with 20 or more points. He had 29 points on two occasions last season at home against Tennessee Tech and Southeast Missouri.
Carmody wasn’t pleased when the ’Cats came out a little flat in the first 20 minutes.
“We didn’t play with the urgency necessary in the first half. Eastern played harder than us. They got after loose balls, executed extremely well and I thought they seemed a little quicker. I think our defense played harder and a little better in the second half and that helped us on the offensive end.
“I thought John (Shurna) would have a better tonight after having a bad night last night. I didn’t talk to him about it. I didn’t have to. He knows what he is doing. I’m pretty comfortable with our offense,” Carmody said.
Northwestern goes on the road for its next two games. First, a nonconference game at Creighton, Dec. 22 and then a tough assignment in their conference opener at Ohio State, Dec. 28.

Brenda Bazan photo
Senior guard Jeremiah Kelly finishes off a dunk against Chicago State in the Blue Demons win Dec. 10.

By Larry Peterson
Staff writer
ROSEMONT — DePaul head coach Oliver Purnell was not happy with the 102-95 victory over Chicago State Cougars on Saturday, Dec. 10 at the Allstate Arena.
“I’m not pleased with our performance at all. We came out with some decent energy, but that faded quickly. The energy we need to put forth in order to win was very inconsistent at best,” Purnell said.
Purnell, who has an outstanding reputation for turning losing programs around, was given a seven-year deal on April 6, 2010 by DePaul University. He replaced interim coach Tracy Webster who took over following the 2010 mid-season firing of Jerry Wainwright, who had four out of five losing seasons with the Blue Demons.
Wainwright’s 2008-09 team was 9-24 on the regular season and 0-18 in the rugged Big East Conference. DePaul was 7-8 in regular seson games and 0-3 in the Big East at the time of Wainwright’s dismissal.
Led by sophomore Cleveland Melvin with a career-high 30 points and eight rebounds, the Blue Demons improved their record to 6-3 against 0-9 Chicago State.
DePaul led 5-0 in the first minute of the game and built the lead to 17 points midway through the first half. The Cougars began to chip away at the deficit and with two minutes left in the first half, a personal foul accompanied by a technical foul on the Demons gave the vistors four free throws.
With one minute left in the first half, the lead was cut to 49-47. A bucket by Melvin at the buzzer gave DePaul a 51-47 advantage at the intermission.
The Cougars closed the deficit to 53-51 early in the second half. The stern lecture by Purnell at the halftime break and another in an early second half timeout got the Demons attention.
DePaul came on strong and built a lead of 14 points in the first 12 minutes and still led by 12 with five minutes remaining.
Chicago State put on the pressure and with 15 seconds left in the game trailed 100-95. With nine ticks left on the clock, Melvin broke away and put down a slam dunk to seal the win.
DePaul Sophomore Brandon Young scored 21 points and had seven assists. Senior Jeremiah Kelly added 19 points and four assists. Freshman Jamee Crockett had 11 points, five rebounds, three assists, two block and two steals.
Sophomore guard Matt Samuels paced Chicago State with 20 points and four other Cougars were in double figures: Lee Fisher, 19; Jeremy Robinson, 17; Aaron Williams, 15; Clarke Rosenberg, 14.
Chicago State head coach Tracy Dildy sounded happier than Purnell after the game.
“We finished finals last week and had time for some really intense practices, and it carried over. We’re starting to gel,” Dildy said.
A stern Purnell was not optimistic.
“I told them we have no shot to win at Northern Illinois next Wednesday if we play like this. To me, it’s a sign of immaturity. We have to grow up. We need to be hungry to get better.”
Purnell reminded his team how they let a 30-point lead slip away against Loyola last Wednesday.