Heeeere's Johnny!!

And the legend of one of the ‘Cats most prolific offensive weapons ever grows…

The Senior leader, hero, and the player with the most-improved acne condition went nuclear Thursday afternoon, scoring 37 points and single-handedly carrying the ‘Cats through a dreadful first half en route to an important 88-82 victory over the Tiger Bloods of LSU. Going 4/9 from three and, more importantly, 13/14 from the free throw line, Shurna took the team on his shoulders and managed more points than the next 3 top scoring NU players combined. With Juice no longer available late in a close game, it appears Shurna has embraced his new role as “The Man,” willing to take the key shots down the stretch, and make plays himself when the time calls.

But despite the victory over an athletic - if inexperienced - LSU team, Shurna’s Herculean output may be a sign that all is not well in Cat-land. As NU’s competition improves, it’s a pretty safe bet that teams will focus their energy on containing Shurna and making the rest of the team beat them. In that case, I’m not sure where the points are going to come from. Crawford continues to be very streaky, and Marco and Sobo’s reliance on outside shots always increases risk for an off night. A more full post on the scoring concerns will come later in the non-con schedule, but contributions from the rest of the team are certainly something to keep an eye on.

Anyway, back to Thursday!

Besides Sure Thing Shurna, there were some other great performances, at least in the second half. Crawford scored all 17 of his points in the second frame, mixing it up between 3’s and mid-range jumpers, as well as going 5/6 from the line. While he’s shown some of the aggression we’re hoping for around the hoop, he’ll need to work on finishing. Fortunately, I think this should resolve itself as the season drags on.

Freshman and future star Sobolewski added 10 points, including the virtual game winner – a ballsy baseline 3 with under a minute left in the game to give the Cats a 4 point lead. Cajones, he has ‘em. The rest of his line was respectable as well: 4 rebounds, a steal and a block, 6 assists and only 2 turnovers, while running the offense for much of the game. In the longer run, we’ll want to see him get more than 5 shot attempts per game, but he was impressive in this outing.

And then there was Reggie Hearn. Or, Reggie Mother-Fucking Hearn (RMFH) as he’ll be known as henceforth. The former walk-on had another great game, and I’m calling it right now: there will be REG-GIE chants in Welsh-Ryan before the season’s end. He’s the next Michael Jenkins (clap, clap, clap-clap-clap). 6 points with a couple rebounds, an assist and a steal may not seem that impressive, but the kid brought some serious energy, and his six points came at a crucial point in keeping the game close in the second half. RMFH has earned his scholarship, and should continue to see 15 minutes a game moving forward.

Marco and Cobb added 14 points off the bench, which is a positive sign. As they continue to come back from injury, those contributions should increase. Strangely, Demps did not see the floor at all in yesterday’s game. And that’s pretty much all…no one else to talk about…not anything I’m forgetting…

Dammit. The centers.

We’ll talk about them as one, as their ineptitude yesterday was indistinguishable from each other. Here’s the line: 40 minutes, 4 points, 3 rebounds, 0 (ZERO) assists, 1 block, 2 turnovers and 5 personal fouls. Oh. My. God. Defensively, Cats fans have all but abandoned hope that our Disaster Duo will contribute much, especially against better competition, but this offensive output is below even our restrained expectations. If NU is to have any hope of cracking the glass ceiling this year, we’re going to need 10+ points and rebounds a game from our big men. What is going on?!? If I’m Carmody, I tell Luka he needs to dunk once a game or he’s doing laps. Something, anything to force him to be more aggressive.

Today the Cats will play Tulsa and their 7 foot center. Northwestern fans will of course remember Tulsa from our loss to them in the 2010 NIT, and this year they are again expected to be a solid NCAA bubble team. I don’t like the match-up, but if we can get enough production from Crawford, Sobo and Marco to overcome Mirk and Curletti, we’ve got a chance. Til then, Go Cats!