Saturday, November 17, 2012

Northwestern Continues Busy Stretch vs FDU

Fairleigh Dickinson comes to Evanston Sunday to play the Wildcats. The Wildcats have been very busy over the last week and they'll stay busy until they get a few days rest after Tuesday night's Delaware State tilt. The play of Reggie Hearn and Jared Swopshire paced NU to their 81-68 win over MVSU on Thursday night, but without a doubt the guy the 'Cats need to show his leadership skills is Drew Crawford. It was great NU won without Crawford being a factor on Thursday, but Crawford's inconsistent play has been an issue during his career and the fact he has to be the leader now means that inconsistency needs to end. I'm hoping we see Crawford reassert himself in this contest.

NU needs to play better defense in this game than they did vs MVSU. FDU is led by two senior guards in Lonnie Robinson and Melquan Bolding. They both need to be contained and not allowed to explode like Davon Usher Thursday night. I think the key will be communication on switches in man to man defense. I also want to see NU control the glass and get Alex Olah involved inside since FDU doesn't have a player over 6-7.

Prediction: I was a little disappointed in NU's last game, but I think the 'Cats did learn something from the close win. Plus, I think the fact FDU allowed over 100 points last time out indicates NU should score and if Drew Crawford comes back playing well I like NU. Northwestern, 90 FDU, 74

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