February 9, 1999
Northwestern Wildcats (14-6, 6-4 Big Ten)
at
#14 Wisconsin Badgers (19-5, 7-4 Big Ten)
EVANSTON, Ill. - Northwestern, currently in fourth place in the Big Ten, travels to third-place and 14th-ranked Wisconsin on Wednesday.
NU is coming off a 71-67 win at Penn State on Saturday. Wildcat center Evan Eschmeyer was whistled for two fouls in the game's first three minutes, but the trio of freshman Steve Lepore (three three-pointers), freshman David Newman (five points) and junior Aron Molnar (three points, four rebounds) helped lead the team in the first period.
PSU pushed its 30-27 halftime lead to a 39-31 margin before a 13-2 run gave NU a 44-41 lead, with Newman, Lepore and Molnar scoring 11 of those 13 points. After PSU took a late 60-59 lead, Lepore answered with his fifth three-pointer of the game to give NU a 62-60 lead with 2:38 remaining. Eschmeyer's layup with 2:07 left would give the Wildcats the lead for good. Lepore and Newman connected on a combined 5-of-6 free throws in the final 28 seconds to secure the win. It was the second time in four games (Purdue) that Lepore hit the game-clinching free throw in the waning seconds.
Eschmeyer once again dominated the paint, posting 28 points and seven rebounds. Lepore tallied a career-best 18 points while Newman added 13 points. Julian Bonner dished six assists while serving a major role in holding PSU's Joe Crispin to 1-for-12 shooting from the field.
Wildcat Probable Starters
P No Name (height, weight, class, hometown) ppg rpg F 33 Tavaras Hardy (6-8, 210, Fr., Joliet, Ill.) 7.0 4.5 C 42 Evan Eschmeyer (6-11, 255, Sr., New Knoxville, Oh) 20.7 11.0 G 4 Julian Bonner (6-1, 198, Sr., Detroit, Mich.) 4.0 2.6 G 22 Sean Wink (6-2, 176, So., Brea, Calif.) 8.5 1.9 G 24 David Newman (5-11, 165, Fr., Des Moines, Iowa) 9.0 2.1First off the bench
F 5 Joe Harmsen (6-9, 248, Sr., Fond du Lac, Wis.) 0.7 1.5 F 11 Danny Allouche (6-5, 200, Sr., Omer, Israel) 3.1 1.8 F 14 Steve Lepore (6-5, 200, Fr., North Olmstead, Ohio) 5.9 3.6 C 35 Aron Molnar (6-11, 242, Jr., Mississauga, Ontario) 2.9 2.4
Northwestern-Wisconsin, The Series
This will be the 149th all-time meeting between the two schools. UW holds a 91-57 series lead. The Badgers won the first meeting this year, a 57-49 decision at Welsh-Ryan Arena on January 16.
Head Coach Kevin O'Neill
Kevin O'Neill (McGill, 1979) is in his second season at the helm of the Wildcat basketball program. This is his 11th season as head coach at the Division I level and 13th overall as a collegiate head coach. He also has served as head coach at North Country CC (1980-82), Marycrest (1982-83), Marquette (1989-94) and Tennessee (1994-97).
O'Neill owns a 24-23 record at NU and a 164-143 record as a Division I head coach. Known as one of the best recruiters in the nation, O'Neill resurrected the Marquette and Tennessee programs, taking two teams which had not enjoyed recent success to postseason play.
Best Big Ten Start Since 1967-68
The turnaround of the Wildcat program under head coach Kevin O'Neill is making a dent in the Wildcat history books.
This marks the first time since the 1967-68 season the Wildcats have started a Big Ten season at 6-4. The 1967-68 squad finished 13-10 overall and fourth in the Big Ten at 8-6.
NU has notched 14 wins for just the 11th time in school history, the last coming in the 1993-94 NIT campaign (15-14 overall). The school record for wins in a season is 18, set by the 1982-83 squad which ended 18-12 overall and also advanced to the NIT.
The Nation's Top Defense
The 'Cats continue to hold the NCAA's No. 1 ranking in field goal percentage defense. NU enters the Wisconsin game holding opponents to .361 shooting from the field. NU also leads the Big Ten and ranks fourth in the NCAA in scoring defense, allowing just 55.2 points per game.
Northwestern also leads the Big Ten in three-point field goal defense, allowing opponents to shoot just .272 from beyond the arc. Here's what NU has done to some opposing offenses this season:
- Held Oakland, currently averaging 10.1 threes per game, to just three three-pointers.
- Held #21 Iowa (76 ppg entering the game) to just 52 points.
- Held #16 Minnesota (74 ppg entering game) to 55 points. Also held UM to .311 shooting (.486 entering game).
- Held UT-Pan Am's Brian Merriweather, who entered the game as the nation's leading scorer at 25.3 ppg, to just 14 points.
- Held St. Francis' Ray Minlend, currently the NCAA leader in scoring, to just 11 points.
- Held Michigan's Louis Bullock, who entered the game 17th in the country averaging 21.6 ppg, to just eight points. NU also snapped his consecutive-game streak of hitting at least one three pointer at 45 games.
Eschmeyer Named National Player of the Year Finalist
Evan Eschmeyer has been named one of 10 finalists for the Oscar Robertson Award, presented by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association to the National Player of the Year. The winner will be announced March 28 at the Final Four in St. Petersburg, Fla.
On December 29, he was named to the mid-season top 30 team for the John Wooden Award, which is presented by the Los Angeles Athletic Club to the national player of the year. Eschmeyer was one of only two true centers to earn a spot on the list (Washington's Todd MacCulloch).
Eschmeyer Named Big Ten Player of the Week for the Third Time This Season
For the third time this season, Evan Eschmeyer has been named Big Ten Player of the Week. Last week, he scored a combined 57 points (29 vs. Michigan, 28 at PSU) in just 56 minutes. "Esch" averaged 28.5 points and 11.0 rebounds per game last week.
On Dec. 28, he was named Big Ten Co-Player of the Week after recording double-doubles in NU's games against Boston College (23p, 10r) and Long Beach State (16p, 13r). On Jan. 11, he earned the honor again after leading NU to wins at 16th-ranked Minnesota (24p, 15r) and at Illinois (16p, 17r, 5a).
Eschmeyer is Nation's Only 20-10 Player
Evan Eschmeyer has reclaimed his position as the only player in NCAA Division I who is averaging at least 20 points and 10 rebounds per game. He comes into Wednesday's contest at 20.7 ppg and 11.0 rpg.
Eschmeyer Leads the Big Ten -- Times Three
Evan Eschmeyer currently stands atop the Big Ten in three statistical categories: rebounds (11.0 rpg), field goal percentage (.604) and double-doubles (12). He also is third in the Big Ten in scoring (20.7 ppg).
According to the Feb. 2 NCAA stats, "Esch" ranks fifth in rebounding, 12th in field goal percentage and 37th in scoring. He enters the Wisconsin game with 41 career double-doubles and has scored in double figures 61-straight games.
More on Eschmeyer
With his 29 points against Michigan, Eschmeyer became just the second Wildcat ever, and the 57th in conference history, to record 1,000 Big Ten points. Billy McKinney is the only other NU player to accomplish the feat. He has now scored 1,039 career points against Big Ten Conference competition.
On January 13, he recorded just the second triple-double in program history with his 27-point, 12-rebound, 10-assist performance at Indiana. It also was the first-ever triple-double posted in IU's Assembly Hall.
In the Jan. 27 USA Today, Eschmeyer was named to their midseason All-America first team and described as "the most productive player in the nation's best conference." CNN/SI also named him to their midseason All-America team on Jan. 25.
Eschmeyer's league-leading 12 double-doubles is more than twice as many as his closest Big Ten competitor. IU's William Gladness is second in the conference with five double-doubles.
Eschmeyer Sets NU Career Rebound Mark
With his fourth made free throw Saturday at Penn State, Evan Eschmeyer set his fourth NU career record. He enters the UW game needing just 13 blocked shots to break the NU career blocks record. Here's where Eschmeyer currently ranks among NU's all-time career leaders:
Category Eschmeyer Next Up FG Pct. 1st - .600 --- FT Attempts 1st - 780 --- Rebounds 1st - 922 --- FT Made 1st - 497 --- Scoring 2nd - 1,651 Billy McKinney (1,900) Blocked Shots 3rd - 121 Jim Pitts (123), Kevin Rankin (133) Field Goals 3rd - 577 Jim Stack (623), Billy McKinney (768)
Recent Rumblings About Eschmeyer
Many coaches and media have started to take notice of Northwestern's National Player of the Year Candidate Evan Eschmeyer, including CNN/SI and USA Today, both of which named Esch to their midseason All-America teams. Here's a sampling of what's appeared within the last couple of weeks:
- "The most productive player in the nation's best conference." -- USA Today (January 27)
- "Evan Eschmeyer's shoulders are big enough to carry all of Chicago." -- Greg Collins, ESPN.com (February 8)
- "Eschmeyer is the man to beat for MVP." -- Gary Reinmuth, Chicago Tribune (February 3)
- "There's no better post player in college." -- Seth Davis, Sports Illustrated (February 2)
- "Evan Eschmeyer is my pick for Big Ten Player of the Year. Kevin O'Neill has helped develop him into a well-balanced player on both sides of the court." -- Digger Phelps, ESPN (February 2)
- "He's why Northwestern...is in good shape for its first NCAA tournament berth." -- Rob Miech, CBS Sportsline (January 29)
- "Northwestern is efficient...playing the inside-outside game with Evan Eschmeyer, who averages 20 points and 10 rebounds despite being double-, triple- and quadruple-teamed in the paint." -- Chris Altruda, Sportsticker (January 29)
- "He's the best center in the Big Ten, if not the country." -- Purdue head coach Gene Keady (January 27)
- "Eschmeyer has really got to be a good kid because he helps everybody else and takes advantage of what he has offensively." -- Indiana head coach Bob Knight (January 13)
Check out Bonner's Defense
Senior guard Julian Bonner has drawn quite a few tough defensive assignments this season and has to be considered a candidate for Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year.
Already, he has held the nation's top two scorers in check. Ray Minlend of St. Francis, who currently leads the NCAA at 24.9 ppg, scored just 11 points on 3-of-12 shooting. Brian Merriweather of Texas Pan-Am, second in the NCAA at 24.5 ppg, scored just 14 points on 5-of-23 shooting.
Last Thursday, he held Michigan's Louis Bullock to just eight points on 2-of-11 shooting, and also snapped Bullock's streak of 45-straight games hitting a three pointer. Then, approximately 36 hours later, he held Penn State's Joe Crispin to 1-of-12 from the field. Among the other guards he's kept off the scoreboard were MSU's Mateen Cleaves (seven points, 2-9 FG) and Seton Hall's Shaheen Holloway (nine points, 3-10 FG).
Wink Among Big Ten Three-Point Leaders
Sophomore guard Sean Wink ranks sixth in the Big Ten in three pointers made, averaging 2.4 per game. For his career, Wink is shooting .429 (133-310) from three-point range. His 133 career threes rank second in NU history. Todd Leslie holds the all-time Wildcat record with 203 treys.
Against Boston College, Wink hit 6-of-12 from three-point range, marking the fifth time in his NU career that he has hit six three-pointers. All five of those games have come at home. Wink also hit five three-pointers this season against Long Beach State and four at Minnesota, Illinois and Indiana. NU, as a team, is second in the Big Ten in three pointers at 6.9 per game.
Poll Watching
The Wildcats received 27 votes in this week's AP poll, good for 36th in the country. The latest "unofficial" RPI has the 'Cats rated 33rd. Several teams ranked in the top 25 during the season (and others considered by some experts to be a lock for the NCAA tournament) are currently rated behind NU, including: Utah (36), SW Missouri State (37), Syracuse (42), Oklahoma (45), TCU (47), Arkansas (48) and Oklahoma State (51).
Quick Hits
NU has either been tied or led at halftime in 17 of 20 games this season. Only Indiana, Michigan State and Penn State have led at the break, all of which were road contests for the Wildcats. NU has never trailed at halftime in 14 home games this season.
Julian Bonner moved into sixth place in NU history last Saturday, dishing six assists at Penn State. He enters the UW game with 266 career assists. Jim Stack is in fifth (270) with Kevin Rankin (271) in fourth place.
Home Court Advantage
In Kevin O'Neill's two seasons as head coach, the Wildcats have made Welsh-Ryan Arena a tough place to play. NU has a 21-9 (.700) home court record under O'Neill, which is a marked improvement considering that, in the three seasons prior to O'Neill's arrival in Evanston, NU won just 14 home games. This marks the first time in school history that NU has recorded back-to-back seasons of 10-or-more home victories.
Big Ten Stat Leaders
Here's where the 'Cats rank among the Big Ten and NCAA stat leaders (Big Ten as of Feb. 8, NCAA as of Feb. 2):
Individual - All Games
Scoring: Evan Eschmeyer - 3rd Big Ten, 37th NCAA (20.7 ppg) Rebounds: Evan Eschmeyer - 1st Big Ten, 5th NCAA (11.0 rpg) FG Pct.: Evan Eschmeyer - 1st Big Ten, 12th NCAA (.604) Double-Doubles: Evan Eschmeyer - 1st Big Ten (12) FT Pct.: Evan Eschmeyer - 11th (.732) 3pt Made: Sean Wink - 6th (2.4 tpg) 3pt Pct.: Sean Wink - 8th (.385) David Newman - 9th (.384) Blocks: Evan Eschmeyer - 4th (1.9 bpg) Offensive Rebs: Evan Eschmeyer - 1st (3.7 orpg) Defensive Rebs: Evan Eschmeyer - 1st (7.3 drpg)
Team - All Games
3pt Pct. Defense: 1st (.272) FG Pct. Defense: 1st Big Ten, 1st NCAA (.361) Scoring Defense: 1st Big Ten, 5th NCAA (55.2 ppg) 3pt FG Made: 2nd (6.9 tpg) 3pt Pct. Offense: 3rd (.374) Rebound Margin: 4th (+3.6 rpg) Blocked Shots: 4th (3.9 bpg) Assists: t4th (15.9 apg) Asst/TO Ratio: 5th (1.05-to-1) Scoring Margin: 5th (+7.1 ppg)
Letter-of-Intent Signees
During the November early signing period, the Wildcats signed five players to National Letters of Intent to begin playing basketball at NU next season:
Winston Blake (F, 6-5, 180, Plano, Texas/Plano Senior)
Brody Deren (F, 6-7, 223, Harlan, Iowa/Harlan Comm.)
Aaron Jennings (C, 6-11, 200, Atkins, Iowa/Benton Comm.)
Ben Johnson (G, 6-3, 180, Minneapolis, Minn./De La Salle)
Adam Robinson (F, 6-10, 210, Cedar Falls, Iowa/Cedar Falls)
Johnson (No. 60) and Blake (No. 95) are each ranked among the top 100 players in the country by Bob Gibbons. Deren was "Southwest Iowa Player of the Year" as a junior, while Jennings and Robinson were both named All-Americans this season by various publications.
In Memoriam
The Wildcats will wear a patch on the left corner of their shorts for the remainder of the season bearing the initials "D.P." The patch is in memory of Don Pomeday, father of senior guard Nate Pomeday, who passed away on December 9.
The Kevin O'Neill Show
Once again this season, Fox Sports Chicago will air "The Kevin O'Neill Show." Dave Eanet, play-by-play announcer for NU football and basketball on WGN radio, hosts the half-hour show. The next show airs Tue., Feb. 16, at 3:30 p.m. CST and replayed that night at 2 a.m. CST.
#4 Julian Bonner - Has started the past 13 games after coming off the bench in the first seven ... Candidate for Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year ... Hit the game-winning three pointer against St. Francis with 0.4 seconds remaining on the clock ... Also hit a running jumper with 0.6 seconds left in overtime to defeat Penn State ... Ranks sixth in NU history with 266 career assists ... Needs five assists to move into fifth and six assists to move into fourth all-time ... Ranks fifth in NU history with 97 career three pointers.
#5 Joe Harmsen - Reserve power forward/center ... Grabbed season-high four rebounds against Oakland, Dayton and Seton Hall.
#10 Matt Kammrath - Walk-on ... Saw game action vs. Oakland, UWM, UT-Pan Am and Michigan this season ... Lone rebound came vs. UT-Pan Am.
#11 Danny Allouche - Tallied season-bests of seven points vs. UWM and UT-Pan Am ... Collected season-best five rebounds against Long Beach State ... Reserve forward ... Sat out last season after transferring from Missouri.
#14 Steve Lepore - Started the first seven games ... Nailed five three-pointers in the win at Penn State ... Also hit three three-pointers at Minnesota and at Indiana ... Hit a running jumper with eight seconds left against Penn State to send the game into overtime ... Hit both free throws with three seconds left to seal the win against No. 14 Purdue ... Also hit 3-of-4 free throws in the final 14 seconds to seal the win at Penn State.
#22 Sean Wink - NU's top three-point threat...Has hit 133 career three pointers, second-most in NU history ... Hit six three-pointers against Boston College, tying his career best ... Also nailed five three-pointers against Long Beach State and four treys on four other occasions ... Set the NU single-season three-point mark (86) last season as a freshman.
#24 David Newman - Starting point guard as a true freshman ... Tallied a season-best 22 points and five rebounds against Furman ... Dished eight assists in his collegiate debut against Maine ... Has come through in several clutch situations this season, especially from the free-throw line in the final minute.
#31 Nate Pomeday - Suffered a torn ACL in his right knee during the first half against Texas Pan-American ... Will undergo rehab as NU hopes to have him back in time for the Big Ten Tournament ... Reserve shooting guard ... Plays with a lot of heart and emotion ... One of the team's most vocal leaders ... Hit at least one three pointer in four of his last nine games, all coming off the bench.
#32 Collier Drayton - Extremely quick athlete ... Is a stronger defensive player than offensive ... Grabbed three rebounds in seven minutes against Oakland.
#33 Tavaras Hardy - Scored in double figures three of his first five collegiate games ... Tallied first career double-double (18p, 10r) vs. Oakland ... Has a nice outside touch from about 15 feet ... Had 13 points at Indiana, his highest point total since the Oakland game.
#35 Aron Molnar - Backup center ... Vastly improved in all facets of his game ... Tied his career best with seven boards against Penn State ... Posted season-best 10 points, on 5-of-9 shooting, at Michigan State ... Pulled down five rebounds in 15 minutes against Oakland and five boards in 10 minutes against Boston College ... Also had three boards in nine minutes against Dayton.
#42 Evan Eschmeyer - National Player of the Year candidate ... One of only two true centers on the midseason top candidate list for the Wooden Award ... Finalist for the Oscar Robertson Award ... The only player in Division I averaging at least 20 points and 10 rebounds per game ... Ranks among the nation's leaders with 12 double-doubles this season, including a triple-double at Indiana ... Has scored 20-or-more points in 10 games this season ... Also ranks among the Big Ten leaders in free throw percentage (12th, .732) ... Enters the UW game having scored in double-figures 61-straight games ... Has 41 career double-doubles.
#44 Jeff Eschmeyer - Younger brother of Evan Eschmeyer ... Walked onto the squad last season ... Saw action against Oakland, UWM, UT-Pan Am and Michigan ... Tallied one rebound against UWM and Michigan.
Wildcat Season Bests
#4 Julian Bonner
Points: 8 five times, last at Michigan State (1/30/99) Rebounds: 7 vs. UT-Pan American (1/23/99) Assists: 6 at Minnesota (1/6/99) and vs. Purdue (1/27/99) Steals: 4 vs. UT-Pan American (1/23/99)#5 Joe Harmsen
Points: 2 five times, last vs. Iowa (1/3/99) Rebounds: 4 three times, last at Seton Hall (12/19/98)#10 Matt Kammrath
Points: none Rebounds: 1 vs. UT-Pan American (1/23/99)#11 Danny Allouche
Points: 7 vs. UW-Milwaukee (12/14/98) and vs. UT-Pan American (1/23/99) Rebounds: 5 vs. Long Beach State (12/27/98)#14 Steve Lepore
Points: 18 at Penn State (2/6/99) Rebounds: 12 vs. St. Francis (11/25/98) Assists: 5 vs. St. Francis (11/25/98) and Furman (11/28/98) Steals: 3 vs. Maine (11/17/98) 3pt. FG: 5 at Penn State (2/6/99)#22 Sean Wink
Points: 20 vs. Boston College (12/23/98) Rebounds: 5 vs. Furman (11/28/98) Assists: 4 at Seton Hall (12/19/98) 3pt. FG: 6 vs. Boston College (12/23/98)#24 David Newman
Points: 22 vs. Furman (11/28/98) Rebounds: 5 vs. Furman (11/28/98)