A Northwestern manpower shortage produced by injuries and illness in the frontcourt was offset by the horsepower supplied by Geno Carlisle and Jevon Johnson in the backcourt.
Only eight Wildcats dressed for Saturday’s game in Welsh-Ryan Arena, and that was all coach Ricky Byrdsong needed to demolish Robert Morris 66-46.
Carlisle, the sophomore who has been switched from point guard to shooting guard, scored a game-high 21 points. Johnson, the junior who has reclaimed the point-guard job after missing most of last season because of knee surgery, contributed a career-high 14 points and played an outstanding all-around game.
“Our motion offense is basically kind of chaotic,” said Johnson. “Nothing is set. I have to come down and bring something to the chaos, and defensively I have to set the tone.”
“Our guards are three-point shooters, and the Northwestern guards were too quick and too strong for them,” said coach Jarrett Durham of Robert Morris (2-1). “You could tell the strength of the Big Ten.”
Fifteen of Carlisle’s 21 points came in the first half, when the Wildcats raced to a 34-20 lead en route to their second victory in three non-conference games. In the second half, Byrdsong’s team kept the game on cruise control, never letting the visitors make a sustained run.
“The difference was that we played exceptional defense for at least 30 of the 40 minutes,” said Byrdsong. “And for the second game we kept our turnovers to a workable number (10).
Up front, the Wildcats were minus 7-foot Dan Kreft, who was sick with the flu. Evan Eschmeyer, the highly regarded 6-11 junior who sat out the last two seasons because of foot problems, made his first start and collected nine points, 10 rebounds, four blocked shots and two steals. The flaw in his game was seven misses in 10 free-throw attempts.
Sophomore Joe Branch played his third straight solid game at small forward, augmenting his 12-point performance with two blocks and two steals. Two of Branch’s baskets came on the three-point shot, which was one of his weaknesses last season.
