Finding ways of setting up sophomore Todd Leslie for outside shots sooner and devising means for 6-foot-11-inch freshman Kevin Rankin to make his presence felt beneath the basket would seem to be food for thought for Northwestern coach Bill Foster during his team`s Christmas break.
Leslie put on a stellar display of three-point marksmanship Friday and Saturday in the Billiken Holiday Classic. The 6-5 guard, who had a 31-point average in his final high school season at Fremd in Palatine, hit all 11 of his three-point attempts in the two games.
He was 5 for 5 in the 74-66 victory over Morgan State and tied Jeff Grose`s school record set in 1987-88 by sinking 6 of 6 in the 93-77 loss to host St. Louis.
Against St. Louis, three of the trifectas came in the last 85 seconds when the game was long gone. If Leslie had been able to get his three-point shot off the launching pad at the beginning instead of the end of the contest, the Wildcats wouldn`t have been playing a futile game of catchup.
Instead, it was the Billikens who used the three-pointer as a powerful weapon at the outset when they seized a 25-12 lead.
Rankin, meanwhile, grabbed 14 rebounds against Morgan State and 10 vs. St. Louis. Even though an aggregate total of 14 of those rebounds came off the offensive boards he was limited to six field goals and 21 points for the two nights.
”I`ve got to somehow get Kevin underneath more,” said Foster. ”He can score from there.”
