Northwestern hit 10-of-18 three-pointers in the second half to build a 44-point lead and eventually down Chicago State 77-35. For the game, the Cats were 15-36 beyond the arc and 29-56 (51.8 percent) overall. Tre Demps led the way with 23 points and 9 rebounds in 34 minutes. The Cats played the last 6:25 without either Demps or Bryant McIntosh on the floor, giving freshman Jordan Ash (8 points) a chance to run the offense.
Chicago State coach Tracy Dildy, whose team is in its first year of Division I basketball, apologized for his team's performance. "We're much better than the team that just lost by 40 points. We made up our schedule to prepare for the Western Athletic Conference and to raise money.
"Northwestern is a great ball club. They will be dangerous in the Big Ten and this is an NCAA tournament team. They have a heck of a coach, great leadership, an inside game and shooters. It is a privilege to bring our team here in this atmosphere. I'm a fan of this team. This is one of the 68 I have in the tournament. We've played Iowa State, Illinois, Northern Illinois, DePaul and Valparaiso, and Northwestern is better than most of them.''
Northwestern head coach Chris Collins was happy with the victory, especially coming off finals for his players. "It was a challenge, but I thought we played great defense tonight. We emphasized defense on the three-point line and keeping them off the free throw line. We limited their dribble penetration.
"We were a little brain dead offensively in the first half, settling for too many quick threes. We regrouped at halftime. Twenty-four assists on 29 baskets shows we had good ball movement. We have a lot of good shooters on this team, as long as they are taking the right threes.''
Re: The right threes.
"Any time you have ball movement and the guys wind up with their feet set under them. Tre is the only one who can take the shot off the dribble.''
Re: Jordan Ash
"He's playing behind two pretty good players (McIntosh and Demps), so getting 10-11 minutes tonight was good for him.''
Re: Joey van Zegeren.
"He's have a stress problem in his (right) foot, but our medical team caught it early. We're hoping to get him back for a few minutes in the first game after Christmas (Loyola, Md. Dec. 27). Gavin Skelly will have to play more of the five as Alex Olah's backup until then.''
Re: Nathan Taphorn (11 points, 5 rebounds, 20 minutes).
"tap was really good tonight. He hit some big shots and grabbed some key rebounds, but most of all, he gave us some energy.''
Re: Lack of entry passes to Olah in the post.
"We drill that every day and show them the film where they could have made the pass. Our guys seem to be a little gun shy now to throw the ball down there, but we'll just keep running drills and have them watch the film. Alex just has to jeep demanding the ball.''
Chicago State coach Tracy Dildy, whose team is in its first year of Division I basketball, apologized for his team's performance. "We're much better than the team that just lost by 40 points. We made up our schedule to prepare for the Western Athletic Conference and to raise money.
"Northwestern is a great ball club. They will be dangerous in the Big Ten and this is an NCAA tournament team. They have a heck of a coach, great leadership, an inside game and shooters. It is a privilege to bring our team here in this atmosphere. I'm a fan of this team. This is one of the 68 I have in the tournament. We've played Iowa State, Illinois, Northern Illinois, DePaul and Valparaiso, and Northwestern is better than most of them.''
Northwestern head coach Chris Collins was happy with the victory, especially coming off finals for his players. "It was a challenge, but I thought we played great defense tonight. We emphasized defense on the three-point line and keeping them off the free throw line. We limited their dribble penetration.
"We were a little brain dead offensively in the first half, settling for too many quick threes. We regrouped at halftime. Twenty-four assists on 29 baskets shows we had good ball movement. We have a lot of good shooters on this team, as long as they are taking the right threes.''
Re: The right threes.
"Any time you have ball movement and the guys wind up with their feet set under them. Tre is the only one who can take the shot off the dribble.''
Re: Jordan Ash
"He's playing behind two pretty good players (McIntosh and Demps), so getting 10-11 minutes tonight was good for him.''
Re: Joey van Zegeren.
"He's have a stress problem in his (right) foot, but our medical team caught it early. We're hoping to get him back for a few minutes in the first game after Christmas (Loyola, Md. Dec. 27). Gavin Skelly will have to play more of the five as Alex Olah's backup until then.''
Re: Nathan Taphorn (11 points, 5 rebounds, 20 minutes).
"tap was really good tonight. He hit some big shots and grabbed some key rebounds, but most of all, he gave us some energy.''
Re: Lack of entry passes to Olah in the post.
"We drill that every day and show them the film where they could have made the pass. Our guys seem to be a little gun shy now to throw the ball down there, but we'll just keep running drills and have them watch the film. Alex just has to jeep demanding the ball.''
