Bill Carmody assumed the position early in the second half.
Right hand tucked under the chin, a look of resignation on his face as he sat helplessly on the Northwestern bench in the Wildcats’ Big Ten opener. The coach might be striking that pose quite often this season if his Wildcats (5-7, 0-1) don’t start playing more assertively.
Michigan cruised Wednesday night en route to a 78-54 thrashing at Crisler Arena.
“I didn’t think we played with the intensity to win, especially on an away court,” said Carmody, whose team has dropped four straight.
Michigan had its way with the overmatched Wildcats, impressing the home crowd with an dazzling array of three-pointers, baseline jumpers, floaters off the glass and an occasional one-hand jam to spike the enthusiasm of the 10,153 in attendance.
“I was frustrated about our energy level and our sense of urgency,” said Jitim Young, who led Northwestern with 20 points and seven rebounds, and became the eighth player in NU history to start 100 games.
“I told the guys in the locker room, `You know, you guys are going to be pretty good next year and the year after that.’ We have a lot of sophomores and juniors. But this is my last year and I want these guys to play for me.”
The Wolverines (10-2, 1-0) shot 65 percent from the field and outrebounded the visitors 31-18. Sophomore Lester Abram scored a career-high 27 points, Bernard Robinson Jr. added 18 and Dion Harris came off the bench to score 13. Michigan led 45-26 at the half after shooting 76 percent.
“I just thought our backcourt was letting guys penetrate. There was just no hard intensity there,” said Carmody, whose Wildcats travel to Iowa Saturday afternoon. “Our defense was just terrible.”
Northwestern had not played in 10 days, but its energy level registered empty. Carmody inserted walk-ons Michael Jenkins, Joe Kennedy and Josh Grier in the final minutes. Freshman center Vince Scott (four points and four rebounds in 20 minutes) started in place of Davor Duvancic as Carmody tried to infuse some spark.
“Any work that we did during the holidays didn’t seem to do any good,” said Carmody, who is 44-56 in 100 games for Northwestern.
Vedran Vukusic was the only other Wildcat in double figures, scoring 10 points, but the 6-foot-8-inch sophomore forward had no rebounds. Sophomore guard Evan Seacat had eight points, including a pair of three-pointers.
“Maybe I will put Jitim [under the basket] more and move Vince Scott out because we have to get some kind of scoring from the core of our offense,” Carmody said.
With a minute and 22 seconds remaining in the game, Michigan coach Tommy Amaker substituted all five of his starters.
“I have been saying for awhile that we really haven’t shot the ball very well,” Amaker said. “Certainly this evening we were able to put it in the basket. We had a lot of confidence after getting off to a pretty good start.”
Robinson and Abram combined to make 16-of-19 shots and go 10-of-10 from the free-throw line.
“Abram was terrific on the offensive end. His decisions were good,” said Amaker, whose team hosts Indiana Sunday. “To score 27 points on eight shots (from the field)–that’s incredible.”
