Defense has become a way of life in this farming community some 70 miles west of Chicago.
Like growing corn and bracing for the winter gusts that whip across the vast open land, it is becoming part of the local folklore. If you play for Northern Illinois coach Jim Molinari, you play defense first and ask questions later.
Northern Iowa had no answers to the Huskies` suffocating defense, which held the Panthers to 13 first-half points in NIU`s 77-51 Mid-Continent Conference victory Saturday night. Four Northern Iowa starters went scoreless for the half.
Molinari`s stingy Huskies, off to a 17-2 start for the first time in their 85-year history and 8-1 in the MCC, came within 32 seconds of holding a fourth-straight opponent under 50 points. Northern Iowa fell to 6-15, 3-6.
”Playing defense for us is like, well, you know when you get up in the morning, you take a shower-that`s a demand,” said forward Antwon Harmon, who wound up with 10 points and four rebounds.
”It`s a part of life, like walking down the street,” said center Andrew Wells, who had 15 points and 10 rebounds.
”It gets our emotions going,” said guard Donald Whiteside, whose 11 points left him one shy of 1,000 for his career. ”Our focus tonight was not to let them get started.”
NIU harassed Northern Iowa into shooting 17 for 63 (27 percent) while hitting 60 percent of its own shots.
”The 60 percent is unselfishness,” Molinari said. For the first time this season, NIU had five players in double figures.
After scoring just two points in the first half, Huskies leader Donnell Thomas finished with 15 points and nine rebounds. It took him 20 minutes to get that first basket, but he had 10 points in the first 5:29 of the second half in staking his team to a 43-23 lead.
A lapse in NIU`s offense and the three-point shooting of Northern Iowa guard Maurice Newby (18 points) brought the Panthers within 50-36, the closest they would get in the second half.
Baskets by Harmon and Mike Lipnisky (10 points) sandwiched around a Thomas three-point play stuffed any comeback aspirations.
The 13 points are the fewest allowed by the Huskies in one half this season. Their previous defensive best was Akron`s 16 points in the first half Jan. 26.
Northern Illinois, not known for making an impact on the national scene, has the third-ranked defense in the nation.
”Holding on to that third spot is incentive enough,” Harmon said when asked why trhe Huskies willingly sacrifice their bodies to Molinari`s philosophy.
An early win over Nebraska last season convinced some that the former De Paul assistant might be on to something. Under his predecessor, Jim Rosborough, the Huskies had fun scoring 79.9 points a game in 1988-89, but were 11-17 after giving up 84.6.
Northern Iowa needed help, especially after NIU shot out to an 11-0 lead in front of another boisterous Evans Field House crowd. It took almost five minutes for the Panthers to score, and it wasn`t until 8:16 remained in the half that they were in double figures. By then, Wells` strong start (eight points, four rebounds in the first seven minutes) had sparked the Huskies to a 25-8 lead. It was 31-13 by halftime.
”Usually, people just think offense, pass and shoot,” Harmon said.
”Then you come out and play against a team like us. We box out, play defense, and if you`re only going to get one shot, it puts something in your mind: You`d better get a good shot.”
The Huskies take pride in the number of air balls their defense forces. Northern Iowa suffered that embarrassment six times.
This was the fifth game that the 6-foot-7-inch Harmon and 6-7 Wells started together. They provided the offense to help overcome an off night by leading scorer Thomas. It`s an alignment the Huskies may be using more often down the stretch.
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NEXT: Home Monday vs. Western Illinois.
