NIU Red Riot

77-63 NIU

NIU led 42-21 at the half, but Augustana came out and played really well in the second half.

I was impressed by Augustana’s size and height. All-around they were a much bigger team than the #13 Aurora team we played last Friday. They resembled the MAC teams we’ll play in conference. The only guy who really played well for them was Chandlor Collins. I can definitely see why they’re a powerhouse program in Division III.

NIU’s Shaun Logan had another good game with 10 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists. Michael Hart who walked on and played at Division III Carthage played really well. He had 13 points and 6 boards but got into foul trouble early. I like how strong he is down low and he’s very athletic. Every time he gets the ball i’m waiting for him to posterize his defender. Senior Ryan Paradise came out and had a nice game tonight with 15 points and 5 steals. Sophomore Cody Yelder was tearing it up as usual. He had 12 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, and two steals. This kid is gonna be really good for us. I was saying that last year when he averaged 9.8 ppg as a true freshmen and became a starter later in the season. This is the kid who broke Dwayne Wade’s career scoring record at Richards High School. Sean Smith played well again. I really like his shooting range for a forward. Bristan Kelley is a nice compliment when he comes off the bench. He had 6 points and 5 boards. Only player who hasn’t played well is Ben Rand. He doesn’t look the same ever since his knee injury two years ago. He’s had surgery on it twice and hasn’t played much ball the last two years, but he was really good in high school and played at Iowa before transferring to NIU. This is his senior year and it doesn’t look like he’s going to get much PT based on his results.

Saw a lot of good things out of our team tonight. We ran a faster paced offense, which is one of the things Patton said he would bring in. I was expecting more turnovers as a result, but surprisingly we did a really good job in that regard (with 11 total).

Cody Yelder, Sean Smith (from Vincennes JC), Shaun Logan, Michael Hart (new walk-on), and Jarvis Nichols played really well. I was very impressed with Nichols who had 14 points and shot well from the three (3-for-3). Sean Smith one of our 2007 recruits that Patton brought in looked good with 11 points and a nice shooting touch. Shaun Logan nearly had a double double with 14 points and 9 boards.

On The Score aftershow, Patton said he was happy with Nichols but wants him to be more aggressive on the boards. He said tonight was more about getting all the players out tonight to see who would redshirt. He also said there are a lot of sets that they are waiting to use in the regular season. Najul Ervin was out due to a pulled muscle.

Some things we need to work on are our free throw shooting (50% on the night) and perimeter defense. Aurora shot very well from beyond the arc (13-for-27). No doubt they had some nice sharp shooters like the little guy MaGee and Trudo, but we needed to disrupt them better on the perimeter.

Our second and final exhibition game is on Monday, November 5 vs. #5 Augustana. You can listen to the game on 670 - The Score.

Here’s a link to the game recap: http://niuhuskies.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/recaps/110207aab.html