picking up a tough win on the road

the Wildcats held off a pesky Brown squad Saturday night to move to 3-0. remarkably, this is the first time since 1993 that NU men's basketball has begun the season with three straight victories. this was clearly a tougher match-up than their first few games, as evidenced by Coble, Moore and Thompson each logging 39 minutes. Shurna and Rowley were the other two starters, and NU got off to a fast start. the 'Cats scored 48 points in the first half, 24 of those coming on eight Craig Moore three pointers.

Brown went away from the zone defense in the second half and held Moore to seven points in the second half. meanwhile, NU's defense in the second half (the Bears shot 70% from the field)allowed Brown back in the game. they cut it to 66-60 with five minutes left but committed several turnovers and couldn't get any closer. here are my random observations...

• attendance was a whopping 1331, although it didn't look like that even many were there. not counting students, i would say Northwestern fans outnumbered the home crowd and were definitely louder.
• Carmody's lineup down the stretch was Thompson, Moore, Coble, Shurna and Mirkovic. Shurna was very underwhelming in person. you could argue that he was the best player in the first two games, but he didn't contribute much on Saturday.
• Rowley does NOT look seven feet tall. he started the game but only played 13 minutes. Brown's roster lists no one taller than 6' 9" but Rowley did not tower over anyone. my initial thought was Kyle Rowley = Kevin Duckworth, but i believe that is paying too high a compliment.
• assistant coach Ivan Vujic looks like a hit man. he reminded me of one of those silent assassin types from British movies like Snatch or Trainspotting. like this guy.