Northwestern basketball coach Bill Carmody wasn’t expecting a cupcake Monday night, and he didn’t get one.
The Wildcats’ Valentine’s Day date with Texas A&M-Corpus Christi was anything but easy. Northwestern evened its record at 12-12 with a 59-51 victory over the Islanders at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
“They beat Florida State at Florida State, who you remember beat Wake Forest,” Carmody said. “They beat Baylor at Baylor and beat Old Dominion, which has 23 wins. We knew they were very good. We knew they were the talk of the first six weeks of the basketball season.
“I had no one to blame, no assistant to blame because I scheduled that game. I think in the summer I didn’t think they would be this good.”
Northwestern, which trailed 31-26 at halftime, came back with solid defense in the final 20 minutes. The Islanders (17-7) committed 12 second-half turnovers that resulted in 15 points. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi was held to five field goals in the second half, including 1 of 9 from the three-point line.
“Shot selection?” said Islanders coach Ronnie Arrow, whose team was led by Thomas Bailey’s 14 points. “What shot selection? There was no shot selection.
“For whatever reason, we had a tough night at the point guard spot to get us in the offenses. Our point guards have been really good for us.”
Northwestern was led by Vedran Vukusic with 20 points and Michael Jenkins with a career-high 11 points. Vukusic, who was 1 of 10 from three-point territory, gave NU a 54-51 lead on a layup off an assist by T.J. Parker with 2 minutes 15 seconds left. Jenkins followed up with a three with 54 seconds left for a 57-51 lead.
If the Wildcats were looking for a little love, they invited the wrong team. The Islanders were riding a six-game winning streak, but their record does include a pair of victories over winless Savannah State and one over Longwood, which has won one game.
The Islanders defeated Chicago State and lost to Northern Illinois during the holidays.
A&M-Corpus Christi took a halftime lead when Northwestern didn’t score a field goal in the last 8:53. The Wildcats fell behind 10-1 early, but Vukusic, who scored 13 in the first half, led them back into the game. NU took the lead 15-14 on a dunk by Mohamed Hachad after an an A&M turnover, but the Islanders didn’t flinch.
They outscored Northwestern 8-1 in the last five minutes of the half. The final basket came on a fast-break layup by Bailey with three seconds left after a missed Wildcats free throw. Bailey scored 12 of his 14 in the first half.
