Reggie Hearn’s Big Game Helps Northwestern Escape from Central Connecticut

Central Connecticut gave Northwestern a great challenge and while some fans will be frustrated Northwestern didn’t beat this mid-major opponent by more points, Central Connecticut State has some very good players. Kyle Vinales scored 27 for the Blue Devils and Kyle Horton scored 15 points and grabbed 11 rebounds as the Devils tried to upset the Wildcats. I really believe that while Central Connecticut State and Stony Brook aren’t big name mid-major teams these are decent wins for Northwestern because both have a shot to make the NCAA Tournament. Getting wins over NCAA teams, even mid/low-major NCAA teams, isn’t a bad thing. Does Northwestern have to play better if they want to make the NCAA Tournament? For sure, but at least winning games builds a winning attitude.

Probably the biggest concern for Northwestern is that John Shurna has struggled with his shot in two of the last three games NU has played. Shurna scored 12 points and grabbed 8 rebounds which looks on the face of it like an okay game, but the fact was he struggled on offense. He made only 3-of-14 shots and only hit one three pointer. I will say that I thought he played hard on defense and while Central Connecticut State did have some players put up decent numbers, I think Northwestern defended them better than some of their previous opponents. The bottom line, though, is that for Northwestern to really be a strong team John Shurna needs to score and needs to be effective from three point range. Whatever he has to do to get himself focused it is critical he do so soon.

A major positive for Northwestern today was the play of Reggie Hearn. Hearn scored a career high 17 points, made all four of his three point attempts, and just overall was fantastic as far as his effort on the court. Plus, he took a nice pass from Luka Mirkovic and made an and-1 layup which sealed the game for NU. At the start of the season nobody probably envisioned Reggie Hearn as the go to clutch player for Northwestern, but he excelled in that role today.

Drew Crawford also made a clutch shot late and made several other tough shots in the lane during the game. Crawford didn’t shoot great from three point range today, but I liked the fact he didn’t seem to let that get him down and made an effort to make things happen by driving the ball at the basket. He’s developed a nice assortment of shots and I think he’ll be a key player in Big Ten play because he’s better than most of NU’s guys at getting his own shot.

Another Wildcat player who can get his own shot is JerShon Cobb. Still recovering from injury, Cobb played 16 minutes and scored 9 points. He made two nice pull-up jump shots and hit a three. The biggest key to Cobb becoming a great player is that he develops a consistent three point shot. If that happens, he might become NU’s best player.

Northwestern plays tomorrow against Eastern Illinois who enters the game at 6-3. The Panthers just lost to fellow instate rival Western Illinois to snap a three game win streak. EIU has some talent including Jeremy Granger who scored 18 in the loss to WIU. NU needs to refocus quickly and hopefully give a full 40 minute effort tomorrow.

Game 11: Central Connecticut State @ Northwestern Wildcats

The Matchup: Central Connecticut State (3-5) @ Northwestern (9-1)

Location: Welsh-Ryan Arena (Evanston, IL)

TV: www.bigtennetwork.com for $2.99(7:00 PM Tuesday December 22nd)
Radio: WIND 560 AM

Fun Fact: With their tallest player standing 6-6 and only playing 14.4 minutes per game the Central Connecticut State Blue Devils are the smallest team NU will face.

About the Game
When taking a first glance at Central Connecticut State’s stats it appears the Blue Devils could potentially a bit more of a challenge to NU than the Wildcats previous non-major opponents. However, the Blue Devils have virtually no size and their schedule has yet to feature a major-conference foe. In the past even those facts might not have stopped CCSU from scaring NU fans, but this year Northwestern has taken care of business against all the teams they should beat. In fact, other than one close call against Tennessee State the ‘Cats have used most of their matchups with non-major conference teams to get some playing time for non starters. I’d expect something similar against CCSU.

The place where I think NU should try to attack the Blue Devils is in the post. As noted above, the tallest player on the CCSU roster is 6-6 freshman forward Joe Efese who plays only 14.4 minutes per game. The tallest player who gets regular playing is 6-5 junior David Simmons. Simmons does average 8.5 rebounds per game, but his 16 rebound performance against Albany probably won’t be repeated against John Shurna and the Wildcat front court. Aside from using Shurna, it would be good for the Wildcats to try and attack the post with Luka Mirkovic and Kyle Rowley. NU won’t be able to rely on three point shooting every night and it would be good to have an option other than Shurna who can score in the post. Certainly Simmons isn’t JaJuan Johnson, but it would be good for Rowley to work on his moves.

6-0 junior guard Shemik Thompson is the leading scorer for the Blue Devils at 14 ppg, but he isn’t much of a three point shooter, making only 27.3% of his threes. He does have 17 steals to lead a team which is very aggressive on defense. The best shooter on Blue Devil roster is Robby Ptacek who scores 12.5 ppg and makes 44.4% of his threes. The other shooter on the Blue Devil roster is 5-10 guard Vince Rosario who through only making 28.6% of his threes has already taken 42 three point shots.


Prediction:
I think NU will use this game to work on getting the ball in the post and to continue to improve the matchup zone. That might slow down the scoring a bit and allow CCSU to get some easier baskets than they should, but NU will in the end record a double digit win. Northwestern, 80 CCSU, 65