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.

By Larry Peterson
Staff writer
After several negotiating sessions had failed to reach a settlement in the NBA lockout and the entire 2011-12 season appearing to be in jeopardy, Commissioner David Stern hastily called for another meeting Wednesday, Nov. 23 in Manhattan.
Around 3 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 26 an announcement came out of a news conference in New York that a tentative agreement to end the lockout had finally been reached after 149 days.
There are many details to be worked out and all of the particulars have not been released, but the plan is to begin training camps and free agency Dec. 9, with the first three games scheduled for Christmas Day: 11 a.m., Celtics at Knicks; 1:30 p.m., Heat at Mavericks; 4 p.m., Bulls at Lakers.
Once ratified, a 66-game, 2011-12 season would be saved and the league could build on the momentum of last year’s successful season.
To summarize the debacle: (1) It appears that the owners didn’t want to walk into a court room and threaten their finances that were not as bad the NBA claimed, and (2) The players didn’t want to go to court and risk missing an entire season of salary … and finally both sides came to their senses.
More than 75 players have signed contracts to play in other countries, and most, but not all, have the option to return to the NBA at the end of the lockout.
Denver Nuggets free agent Kenyon Martin, J.R. Smith and Wilson Chandler each signed a one-year contract with the Xinjiang Flying Tigers of the Chinese Basketball Association. Martin’s salary will make him the highest paid player in that league at $500,000 a month. However, these players will not be able to return to the NBA until the Chinese season ends in March.
Tony Parker of the San Antonio Spurs opted to play for ASVEL Basket, the French team in which he is part owner, for the minimum salary of $2,000 a month during the lockout. Deron Williams of the New Jersey Nets was the first to make the jump July 16, when he signed to play with Besiktas Milangaz in Turkey.
An NBA player in Europe could earn as little as $50,000-$75,000 a month, while the average NBA salary was $5.8 million with the minimum approximately $500,000.
Some players found the insurance costs too high and did not join the exodus. The French, Russian and Argentine federations were able to insure their NBA players, and several other federations were expected to be able to do so.
During the 149 day lockout there were several negotiating sessions and a federal mediator was brought in to help settle the issues. Both sides made some concessions, but it still appeared that a settlement was a long way off.
Stern issued an ultimatum to the players union: Accept the league’s latest proposal by 4 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 9, or it will be replaced by a reset of harsher proposals. That would drive the two sides farther apart.
The Wednesday deadline came and went and no settlement was reached. After another 11-hour session, the two sides were unable to produce an agreement, but the NBA presented a proposal to the players, that if approved could possibly result in a 72-game season that would begin on Dec. 15.
When Derek Fisher, president, and Billy Hunter, executive director of the Players Association presented the proposal to the players, it was unanimously rejected. The players voted to dissolve the union in order to file anti-trust suits against the NBA owners.
Stern called for another meeting Wednesday, Nov. 23 in another effort to reach a settlement and salvage some of the 2011-12 season when a handshake agreement was finally reached.

Brenda Bazan photo
Michigan State wide receiver B.J. Cunningham catches a pass while being tackled by Northwestern defensive back Daniel Jones in last Saturday’s Michigan State win.

By Larry Peterson
Staff writer
EVANSTON — The Northwestern Wildcats were handed a 31-17 defeat by the Michigan State Spartans in their final game of the regular season Saturday, Nov. 26 at Ryan Field in Evanston.
The Wildcats, 6-6, would have improved their postseason bowl standing with an upset victory over the 10-2 Spartans, but the Big Ten Legends Division champions would have no part of that.
Northwestern trailed 3-0 after a 25-yard Michigan State field goal in the first quarter. The ‘Cats tied the score at three with a 34-yard field goal by Jeff Budzien at 14:03 in the second period.
The Spartans tacked on two more touchdowns in the second quarter. The first came after cornerback Jervain Matthews picked off a pass by Michigan State quarterback Kirk Cousins. Wildcat running back Treyvon Green coughed up the football at the Michigan State 3-yard line. The Spartans went ahead 10-3 on a 97-yard drive capped by a 7-yard touchdown run.
The second touchdown in the first half came on a 57-yard sprint to pay dirt on a punt return which resulted in a 17-3 Michigan State lead at the intermission.
The Wildcats closed to 17-10 on a 69-yard scoring drive to open the second half. Quarterback Dan Persa found wideout Jeremy Ebert in the end zone on a 2-yard pass for the score. Michigan State responded with a 67-yard touchdown drive and a 24-10 edge after three periods.
Northwestern moved the ball 65-yards and Persa connected with Demetrius Fields in the end zone to bring the ’Cats within seven, 24-17, on the their first possession of the fourth quarter. The Spartans ground out a 9-play, 93-yard scoring drive in the last five minutes of the game to secure the victory.
Persa had a good game, completing 23 of 32 pass attempts and no interceptions. Spartans signal caller Cousins was 14 of 20 for 214 yards and one interception. Michigan State outgained Northwestern 166 yards to 117 yards rushing.
Michigan State head coach Mark Dantonio used the chance to move one game ahead of rival Michigan as the motivation to go all out against the Wildcats.
“We worked to stand alone at the top. This is a program statement to go 10-2 and undisputed champions,” Dantonio said.
Northwestern, 6-6 overall and 3-5 in the Big Ten, will get into a bowl game. Head coach Pat Fitzgerald said, “It drives me up the wall losing six times. I can’t stand being on the losing end when we should have won some of those games.
“I’m bitterly disappointed that our guys didn’t walk off the field as winners today. I take the responsibility as a coach and we will work our tails off to get it fixed. We will find out next Sunday who we play and we will be well prepared,” Fitzgerald added.

Brenda Bazan photo
Northwestern wideout Kain Colter dives for the endzone after catching a 7-yard pass from quarterback Dan Persa in last Saturday’s win against Minnesota.

By Larry Peterson
Staff writer
EVANSTON — With a 28-13 win over the Minnesota Golden Gophers Saturday, Nov. 19 at Ryan Field in Evanston, the Northwestern Wildcats won their fourth straight game and are bowl eligible for a school record fifth straight season.
Northwestern got off to a quick start with a six-play, one-and-a-half minute drive for a 7-0 lead on its first possession. Minnesota responded two minutes later with a seven-play, 66-yard scoring drive.
The rest of the first period belonged to the Wildcats. Their defense shut out the Gophers and quarterback Dan Persa connected with wide receiver Demetrius Fields on a 28-yard touchdown pass. Running back Treyvon Green followed with a 2-yard touchdown run to give Northwestern a 21-7 first quarter lead.
Minnesota defensive safety Kim Royston intercepted a Persa pass early in the second quarter. Gopher quarterback MarQueis Gray engineered a 14-play, 58-yard drive that stalled at the ’Cats 11-yard line. Minnesota place-kicker Jordan Weinstein booted a 28-yard field goal for the only score of the second quarter and the Wildcats led 21-10 at the intermission.
A Golden Gopher 55-yard drive to start the second half ended when the Wildcats recovered a fumble by Minnesota running back Duane Bennett at the 25-yard line. Northwestern went three-and-out and punter Brandon Williams boomed a 77-yard punt to the Minnesota 4-yard line.
The Wildcats defense stepped up and the Gophers were forced to punt. A Northwestern drive came to an abrupt halt when Green fumbled and Minnesota recovered. Gray moved the Gophers to the ’Cats 5-yard line.
Wildcat safety Brian Peters, playing with a cast on his left arm, made a one-handed interception in the end zone to end the Minnesota threat at the end of the scoreless third quarter.
Northwestern head coach Pat Fitzgerald said, “That interception was a ‘hilarious pick’ from our one-handed man, and probably a game saver, but not a surprise. Peters has made sensational plays all season long.”
Persa and back-up quarterback Kain Colter combined for a 15-play, 80-yard drive, capped by a 1-yard touchdown plunge by running back Jacob Schmidt at 11:02 of the fourth quarter and a 28-10 Wildcat lead.
Gray led a 48-yard Gopher march, which ended with a 48-yard Weinstein field goal and the final score of the game with 7:28 left on the clock.
The ’Cats grounded out a 13-play, 71 yard drive where Minnesota took over on their 11-yard line with 1:10 left in the game.
Gray in a desperation drive moved the ball to the Northwestern 47-yard line on nine plays, but an incomplete pass on fourth and 10 turned the ball over to the Wildcats with two seconds remaining in the game.
Tailback Jacob Schmidt, who led Northwestern in rushing with 69 yards, said, “Six wins doesn’t guarantee anything. If we can get to seven we’re guaranteed to go somewhere, hopefully somewhere warm.”
The Wildcats opponent next week is No. 15 ranked Michigan State who have clinched the Big Ten’s Legends Divsion and could enter the game with little motivation.
Fitzgerald said, “It’s great to get win No. 6 and be bowl eligible, but Michigan State is an outstanding football team and we have to clean up a lot of things if we expect to beat them.”
The Wildcats will try to complete a turnaround from a 2-5 start.

Brenda Bazan photo
Northwestern junior Drew Crawford played limited minutes while testing a slightly sprained ankle. He scored 11 points while grabbing six rebounds in the ‘Cats win Nov. 13 at Welsh-Ryan arena.

By Larry Peterson
Staff writer
EVANSTON — The Northwestern Wildcats men’s basketball team opened the 2011-12 season with a dominant 60-36 victory over the Texas-Pan American Broncs Sunday, Nov. 13 at Welsh-Ryan Arena in Evanston.
Luka Mirkovic and John Shurna were the only two members of last season’s regulars in the Northwestern starting lineup. Some of the other returning regulars were nursing minor injuries.
With five members of last year’s squad on the bench, Wildcat head coach Bill Carmody had an opportunity to look at freshmen newcomers 6-foot-1 guard Dave Sobolewski from Benet Academy and 6-foot-2 guard Tre Demps from San Antonio, Texas. Reggie Hearn, a six foot-four inch junior from Fort Wayne, Ind. was the fifth starter.
The Wildcats trailed by one point early in the game, but built an eight point at the midway point of the first half. Mirkovic lead the offense with 10 points in the first half.
Shurna played his usual strong game and led all scorers with 15 points, two assists, two steals, and pulled down five rebounds. Mirkovic finished with 12 points and five boards. Northwestern led 31-19 at halftime.
Hearn contributed five points, five rebounds, four assists and three steals. Sobolewski added six points, five boards, and three assists. Demps made one free throw, grabbed one board and had three assists.
Carmody juggled his lineup several times throughout the game. Drew Crawford came in late in the first half and tossed in 11 points and grabbed a team-high six rebounds. Crawford, testing a slightly sprained ankle played 23 minutes and said his ankle was “ready to go.”
Veterans from last years squad, 6-foot-9 senior forward Davide Curletti and 6-3 junior guard saw limited action in the second half. Marco Tullio scored five points, had three assists and hauled in two boards.
Nick Fruendt, 6-foot-5 senior guard/forward from Batavia, made two free throws, one steal and one assist in the final three minutes of the game. Fruendt led all scorers with 17 points in the Wildcats 99-48 exhibition win over Robert Morris last Monday.
Guards Brandon Provost and Jared Maree shared scoring honors for Texas Pan-Am with 12 points a piece.
Carmody got a good look at his 12 man roster and is preparing for the nine team Charleston Classic to be held Nov. 17, 18, 20 in Charleston, S.C.
The field will include LSU, Georgia Tech, St. Joseph’s, Seton Hall, Tulsa, Virginia Commonwealth, Western Kentucky and Northwestern.
Carmody felt Sunday’s game was a little ragged early but saw improvement in the second half.
“I was happy to get this game over. This team gave us a game that turned into a nail biter last year.
“I started the freshmen because some of the regulars had missed practice due to injuries. We played better in the second half and got the shots we wanted. I like our guards and this gave them a chance to play. When everyone is back and healthy we will be a better team,” Carmody said.