Jeff Ryan News

Northwestern players have a better chance of spotting Santa Claus in the next three days than they do of running into coach Bill Carmody.

As he prepared for tonight's game against North Florida, Drew Crawford tried to explain his 35-point outburst Sunday against North Carolina A&T. ''It was one of those nights, and it just kind of happened,'' Crawford said.

Michael Thompson watched his Northwestern teammates scrimmage while he stood beside the scorer's table during a recent morning practice at Welsh-Ryan Arena.

The errant pass skipped toward the Northwestern bench, where coach Bill Carmody snagged it.

John Shurna lugged the Chicago Invitational Challenge MVP trophy out of Northwesterna s locker room on Saturday night -- and did it while wearing a look that defined the word sheepish.

Mark Twain once stated that, "reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated." The same holds true for the Northwestern men's basketball team.

Considering the season-ending injuries to senior forwards Kevin Coble and Jeff Ryan , as well as senior guard Jeremy Nash's breathing problems, Northwestern has been a magnet for misfortune.

"I had to bring my teammates together and let them know we still had a lot of game left," said the 5-foot-10 Thompson, who scored 13 of his career-high 31 points in the final 5:04 Sunday as Northwestern finished with a 16-1 run and rallied to defeat Tennessee State 69-62. "Even when we're down, we still have what it takes to pull out a game." ...

No. 4 KENTUCKY 72, MIAMI : John Wall proved to be worth the wait. The heralded freshman scored 19 points -- including the winning jumper with 0.5 seconds left -- to lift the Wildcats over the RedHawks on Monday in Lexington, Ky.

The Wildcats have had the worst luck so far. They already have lost star Kevin Coble and key backup Jeff Ryan for the season.

Butler knew it would be facing high expectations this season, evidenced by the highest preseason ranking in school history.

For the first time, Butler visits a Big Ten arena nationally ranked and favored.

Danielle McCray scored 20 points and No. 19 Kansas used a late 11-0 run to win Wednesday night at Iowa, 66-55. All the Kansas starters scored in double figures.

The 11th-ranked Butler Bulldogs are fresh off an impressive victory to open the season, and they will take on the Northwestern Wildcats in Evanston, Illinois this evening.

No one believes in you. Your season is over and it's barely even started. Your leading scorer and rebounder from last year is out for the season after opting for foot surgery .

Northwestern's Kevin Coble opts for season-ending foot surgery. Northwestern University senior forward Kevin Coble , after consulting with a second foot specialist on Monday, confirmed that he'll undergo season-ending surgery on his left foot.

The 6-8 senior forward met with the media before the Wildcats opened their season with a 77-55 victory Friday against Northern Illinois before a crowd of 4,057 at Welsh-Ryan Arena.

Sources have indicated to Examiner.com that senior guard/forward Jeff Ryan will be on the shelf for the whole of the 2009-10 basketball season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee.

Northwestern basketball coach Bill Carmody had a message for junior point guard Michael ''Juice'' Thompson: ''I told him his job is to lead us to our best season.'' The expectations among players and fans are for the Wildcats to earn a spot in the NCAA tournament, something the school has never done in men's basketball .

Jeremy Nash scored 20 points to lead Northwestern past Northern Illinois 77-55 Friday night in the season opener for both teams.