Republished, with permission from ChicagoSporting - Sports News Source

“You haven’t been playing that well [this season] let’s see what you can do.” - Northwestern coach Bill Carmody to forward Kevin Coble

Coming off their closest-to-a-Big-Ten-win against Iowa, it was going to be interesting to see how Northwestern responded against the 14th ranked team in the country Saturday night. Many questioned if the Cats would be able to respond to such a challenge, or if they would give in, following a game where their best was still not good enough.

In their favor was Friday’s shattering news of the resignation of Indiana head coach Kelvin Sampson. The game was to be played within only 36 hours of the news. Several Indiana players skipped Friday’s practice after hearing the man who recruited them would no longer be their leader.

Their new coach, Dan Dakich, said after Saturday’s game, he was not surprised that many of the players skipped practice. He pointed out, they are only 18 to 22-year-old kids, and dealing with this type of situation would be nearly impossible, even for adults.

He credited the strength of the program in how it responded, especially the team managers. Apparently, for Friday night’s shoot around, which all the players did attend, the managers simulated Northwestern’s offense to help prepare the team for the game.

To honor their fallen coach, the Indiana players wrote “KS” on their shoes for the game.

I was late in arriving for the sold-out contest, as I was covering the Chicago State game earlier that day. When I finally did arrive with a few minutes left in the first half, I nearly defecated in my pants when I saw the score.

Up against probably the best team in the Big Ten, Northwestern was not only in the game, they were winning by seven as the half was drawing to a close.

I got there in time to see a brutal three-point shot by supposed star freshman Eric Gordon, where he missed the rim by slightly under a hundred feet. Chants of “air ball” reigned down from the Northwestern students on young Eric every time he shot a free throw for the game’s duration. A pair of threes by Jordan Crawford brought Indiana within two as the first half came to an end.

The second period started with a layup by freshman center Ivan Peljusic. Peljusic has been playing great over the past few games since coach Carmody inserted him into the starting lineup; he's their only big man who can get to the hoop and create his own shot. Though he ended up fouling out later in the half, he showed he can pass as well, finishing with seven assists in only 22 minutes of play. 

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