Seventy years of futility loomed over Northwestern as the team took the court against Minnesota. The ninth-seeded Wildcats needed to make a run in the Big Ten tournament to show the selection committee it was worthy of its first-ever NCAA Tournament bid, and the run needed to start against the Golden Gophers.
The 2008-2009 Wildcats seemed poised to end their 10-year postseason drought. The squad finished the regular season at 17-12 - a dramatic improvement from the previous mark of 8-22 and even upset Minnesota earlier in the season. It could have finally been the year for Northwestern basketball.
One week later, the Wildcats left the court after losing to Tulsa in the first round of the National Invitational Tournament. Seventy years and counting.
Northwestern hosted the first-ever NCAA men's basketball championship game in 1939. The program has not gotten any closer to the title since. It is the only program in the major six conferences - Atlantic Coast Conference, Big 12, Big East, Big Ten, Pac 10, Southeastern Conference - to never make the NCAA Tournament. And Northwestern head coach Bill Carmody has welcomed the pressure of being the last team standing.
"If you have some good players, which I think we do, you look forward to it," Carmody said at the Big Ten media day. "That's why you're here. There's 330 Division I teams, and that's everyone's goal right now, to get in the NCAA. And we're just really looking forward to it."
The 7-1 Wildcats are without last season's leading scorer and rebounder Kevin Coble. Coble, a senior forward, injured his left foot in preseason practice and opted for season-ending surgery after meeting with a specialist.
Sophomore forward John Shurna has stepped in to fill the void left by Coble. He is averaging 15.3 points and seven rebounds per game and led the squad to the Chicago Invitational Challenge title, beating Iowa State and Notre Dame along the way.
Shurna scored a career-high 25 points in the team's first round upset over the Fighting Irish and 23 points in the championship round against the Cyclones. Shurna's performances earned him the tournament MVP and Big Ten Player of the Week awards.
The team's only loss came at the hands of No. 23 Butler in the second game of the season - a game that slipped away in the second half. Junior guard Michael Thompson said the team's performance against Notre Dame and Butler showed the Wildcats' potential.
"It showed that we can compete," Thompson said. "We can beat them. I give my teammates the utmost respect. Those wins show our maturity and focus."
Even before the team lost Coble and Jeff Ryan, who will miss the season with an ACL knee injury, Carmody told Thompson he needed to take a bigger role in the offense this season. So far, the guard has answered, averaging 17.4 points per game, including 31 points against Tennessee State and 22 against North Carolina State. He averaged 39 minutes per game in the team's first seven games.
Thompson willingly accepted a leadership role after Coble's injury.
"I just tried to show my leadership," Thompson said. "I've played here the longest. I've played the most minutes. I just let everyone know that everything is okay. Everyone here is a scholarship athlete, and it will be okay."
Despite their early success, the Wildcats' postseason hopes will depend on their record in conference play. The squad finished 9-2 in non-conference play last season, but was 8-10 against Big Ten opponents.
While Carmody is impressed with his team, he thinks the depth of the Big Ten will be a challenge for his squad.
"I think we have one of our better teams coming up," Carmody said at Big Ten media day. "But just looking around from top to bottom the league is very strong and so it's going to be really difficult."
Wins against conference powers Michigan State, Minnesota, Ohio State and Purdue last season show the team is capable of competing in the conference. The team split the season series with six of the 10 teams in the league - it only played Illinois and Penn State once.
Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo, though, thinks this is the year for NU to finally break into the tournament.
"I told (Carmody) I was going to put pressure on him," Izzo said at Big Ten media day. "This is his year to get there. And I think it is. I really honestly do."
For Thompson, reaching the Tournament is the ultimate goal.
"It's a motivating factor," Thompson said. "We want to be a part of that history, the first Northwestern team to make the tournament."
Game of the Week:
No. 10 North Carolina vs. No. 5 Kentucky
Saturday, 12:30 CBS
The defending champion Tar Heels (7-1) travel to Lexington, Ky., to face John Calipari's Wildcats (7-0).
John Wall, Kentucky's freshman phenom, is averaging 18.5 points and 7.8 assists per game, and is being compared to former Calipari guard and current Chicago Bull Derrick Rose.
The highlight of the night, though, should be the battle at the power forward position between UNC's Deon Thompson and UK's Patrick Patterson. Thompson is averaging 17.3 points and 8.3 rebounds per game, while Patterson has 16.3 and 10.6, respectively.
These are two evenly matched teams, but it's hard to pick against the defending national champs, especially after Tuesday's seven point win against Michigan State.
North Carolina 82, Kentucky 73
Big Man on Campus
Jon Scheyer, G, Duke
The Duke senior led the No. 6 Blue Devils to their fourth NIT Season Tip-Off title and was named tournament MVP. Scheyer scored 19 points and recorded five assists as the Blue Devils defeated No. 14 Connecticut, 68-59, in the championship game. The guard played a total of 77 minutes in the semifinal and championship games.
Scheyer is averaging 16.8 points per game this season, an improvement from his 12.9 career average.
jflaboon@syr.edu
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