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Men's Basketball: McIntosh, freshmen lead Wildcats to victory

By Mike Marut

In their season opener against McKendree University, Northwestern showed off its new freshmen and high-octane offense in a 102-52 victory.

Freshmen Bryant McIntosh, Vic Law, Johnnie Vassar, Gavin Skelly and Scottie Lindsey put the pedal to the metal in the game. The Freshmen Five have taken well to the coach Chris Collins high speed offense combining for 50 points for NU. Not only could they score, they were able to move the ball well and make plays. Especially in the first half, the Cats proved they could pass only giving up three turnovers while notching 18 assists.

McIntosh led the freshmen in scoring with 15 points as well as led the team in assists with 11. Overall, the freshman pointguard came out as a strong candidate for leader of the NU squad.

“My role is kind of to run the team,” McIntosh said. “A pointguard’s job is to get us in the offense, and create for myself or others. If I have an opportunity to score, then that’s what I have to do for my team. If I see an opportunity for a teammate, I’ve got to create and get them the ball.

Also getting the job done on the floor was Law. After throwing down the first dunk of the season, he went on to score eight more points, a team-high three steals and four rebounds. Law has seen himself as a utility player in Collins’s offense, and on Friday, he played that role perfectly. He was able to create space, find open teammates to rotate the rock, and make plays when that was his only option.

Not only did Collins recognize the leadership of the freshmen and development of his team, but so did senior Jershon Cobb. Cobb saw the immediate impact of the newcomers was able to capitalize on that impact. Because of the freshmen filling playmaker roles, Cobb can “go back to (his) natural position at the two” guard which opens up scoring opportunities and playmaking opportunities more so than last season.

“It helps me be more of a scorer,” Cobb said. “There’s really no need for me to play point(guard) a lot. We’ve got (McIntosh), (Dave Sobolewski) and Johnny (Vassar).

As much as fans were impressed with the ‘Cats’ play Friday night, Collins was even more impressed and excited about the freshmen. They stepped up immediately, in Collins’ opinion, and will lead the team to great heights. Last season, NU had to rely on its defense to get the team through tough scoreless stretches, in Collins’s eyes the team will no longer need to rely so heavily on their defense.

“This is a team with different guys who can score the basketball,” Collins said. “We have a lot of shooters, a good inside presence, and we’re going to be one of these teams where, on a different day, you’re going to have a different leading scorer. … When you can shoot and score, it allows your defense a little bit more margin for error and that’s what we didn’t have last year. We had droughts, seven, eight minutes in games we couldn’t score. It put so much pressure on our defense to save the day.”

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Northwestern vs McKendree Exhibition Fast Break

By Mike Marut

In the first half, Northwestern ran the floor with extreme aggressiveness. In the second half, although still aggressive, the Wildcats seemed to turn the intensity dial to the left and slowed down the pace of their game. The freshmen still showed off their athleticism with Scottie Lindsey attempting a dunk and all still hustling down the floor. Coach Collins rotated his team in fives, giving everybody a breather and consistently keeping fresh legs on the floor.

Free throw shooting really did not improve in the second half, as the team finished with under 50%, only 10 for 21 overall. Downtown Dimes (3-pointers) kept at a high percentage though with 10-14 overall, but that does not excuse the poor FTM/FTA. In the middle of the half, passing seemed to get a bit sloppy with many dishes going off the hands of Cats and out-of-bounds. NU dominated the transition game, with most scores coming on fast breaks and from paint points.

To end the night with some style, Gavin Skelly had a strong putback slam emphasizing the ‘Cats’ dominance over the Bearcats.

Final Score: 102-52 Wildcats over Bearcats

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Northwestern vs McKendree Halftime Rapid Reaction

By Mike Marut

NU Era Round 2 is officially underway with half of coach Chris Collins’s squad being freshmen. The Wildcats started out strong, winning the tip and scoring 15 unanswered points and forcing McKendree to take rushed shots and make hurried plays. If NU didn’t have enough momentum, a charge taken within the first four and a half minutes added to it. The ‘Cats’ defense seemed spot on to start the game and Collins made sure to keep the team breathing making substitutions early and often.

Uncle Mo’ ran alongside NU tonight especially after Vic Law threw down the first dunk of the season. Alex Olah led the offense as the only double digit scorer while five players recorded more than one rebound. The first half was a blowout by the ‘Cats, having multiple And-1’s, charges, scorers (10 players put up points) and going 6 for 9 from beyond the arc. With a hand in every passing lane and bodies on the floor for loose balls, it’s clear the 2014-2015 team will be a force to be reckoned with.

One aspect NU still needs work on: free throws (5/12 in the first half).

Halftime Score: 57 Northwestern 24 McKendree

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SportsNight (11/6/14)

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvwfhvnnV7c&w=420&h=315]

 

Ethan Cohen and Megan O’Brien take you to Iowa where Northwestern football took on the Hawkeyes and to the Big Ten Tournament where women’s soccer was faced with a tough opening draw. Noah Fromson previews women’s basketball and Michael Stern is here to give you a Stern Talk. It’s all on SportsNight, Right Now.

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MSOC: Two Calistri goals help the 'Cats clinch third seed in Big Ten tournament

Coming into Wednesday’s match with Wisconsin (3-10-3, 0-6-1 B1G), the future of the Wildcats men’s soccer team (8-5-3, 3-1-3 B1G) was very much in flux. One thing was certain, however. They were going to the Big Ten tournament. With all nine Big ten teams in action, it was a scoreboard-watcher’s dream.

For the number one spot, the Wildcats needed a win. But they also needed some help from Rutgers, as they needed a Maryland loss as well.

At the 10′ mark, junior forward Joey Calistri notched the first Wildcats goal, off of an assist from sophomore midfielder Jeffrey Hopson. For Calistri it was his fifth goal of the season — and his first goal in exactly a month. It also was his first home goal since the Lakeside Classic on August 31.

Then they didn’t get any assistance from the Scarlet Knights, as they were defeated 3-1.

The Wildcats still had a chance for the number two seed in the tournament. But it was not in their control — they needed Michigan to notch a victory over Ohio State.

Five minutes into the second half, Calistri struck again. He knocked in a close-range goal with assists from freshman midfielder Sam Forsgren and senior midfielder Eric Weberman.

Northwestern got some more bad luck. Ohio State defeated Michigan by a score of 2-1.

But thanks to senior goalkeeper Tyler Miller being his usual strong self, saving six Badgers shot attempts en route to another blank slate, the Wildcats won by a score of 2-0, clinching the third seed in the Big Ten tournament.

The victory set the Wildcats up for a first-round matchup with the sixth-seeded Indiana Hoosiers (11-3-4, 3-3-2 B1G) on Sunday at 12 p.m. The Hoosiers, who are ranked second in the nation, will pose a strong threat to the Wildcats’ postseason hopes.

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Monday Football Press Conference (11/3/2014)

By Preston R. Michelson

Coming off of a rough loss at Iowa, Pat Fitzgerald took to the dais on Monday to give updates on the team.

— On academics, Fitz says: “We’re best in the Big Ten by ten percentage points, so we’re doing something positive.”

— Fitz: “I don’t know if we won more than three or four one-on-one battles.” He also went on to say that there are 11 one-on-one battles over the course of the game. There were 138 plays on both sides of the ball. Not sure how they only lost by 41, if that’s the case.

— “It’s over, you move on, you flush the bad experience, and you move on.”

— Fitz on what he looks at when he evaluates his staff: “You look at the complete body of work. You look at how they develop young men.”

— On Fitz being too loyal: “I’ve never met those people. Sorry.” He really trusts people who give everything they have.

— “I see guys struggle and I get friggin’ excited about it.”

— “On a day like Saturday, you have to quickly learn from it and then forget.”

— Fitz does not anticipate Collin Ellis will play this Saturday.

— On the loss to Iowa, Fitz made a face as if he had just eaten a sour lemon that was covered in battery acid.

— “Sometimes you have to embrace the suck. … You have to use your frustration as motivation.”

Deonte Gibson, Brandon Vitabile and Tony Jones took questions after Fitz.

— DG: “My mentality is that the game is over. … We have to get back to work tomorrow.”

— TJ: “I just want to win. I’ll do whatever it take to leave this program a winner.”

— TJ on how to improve the passing game: “We just have to make plays.”

— BV on stopping Iowa momentum: “We didn’t do a very good job … If we run it the way we were coached to do, we’ll be successful.”

— DG on Fitz postgame: “He’s honest. He didn’t sugarcoat anything. … We believe that we’re gonna turn it around because of him.”

— DG on pass rush that struggled on Saturday: “Basically upfront, we weren’t aggressive enough in our attack.”