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It seemed like a lifetime ago, but in truth it had been only 11 months since coaches Chris Collins and Chris Holtmann last met at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
Collins’ Northwestern team walloped Holtmann’s Ohio State Buckeyes by 25 points on a cold, late-January night in Evanston, Ill., en route to the Wildcats’ second straight NCAA Tournament appearance.
Holtmann, meanwhile, was on his way out the door — fired by Ohio State five games later with four years remaining on his contract. He wound up in a most unlikely location, at the Lincoln Park school whose basketball glory days were so long ago only Baby Boomers remember the particulars.
Saturday’s coaching reunion was a chance for Holtmann to show the Blue Demons’ early-season success was no mirage. But after spotting DePaul the first basket of the afternoon, the Wildcats ripped off a 20-0 run and cruised to an 84-64 nonconference win.
Eighteen DePaul turnovers, many leading to easy transition baskets, were the obvious difference in the game.
“We need to get better and we will,” Holtmann said. “Trust me, we will.”
Faith in DePaul basketball has been in short supply for quite a while, so forgive Blue Demons fans if they need to see improvement before taking the new coach’s word for it.
Nick Martinelli (23 points) and Brooks Barnhizer (21 points, 12 rebounds) led Northwestern, while Jacob Meyer paced DePaul with 18 points. Barnhizer was named the game’s MVP, an award late radio personality Les Grobstein helped champion when the rivalry between the local programs was a relatively big deal.
Collins said it was still a “big game” to his players and believes the four local schools — including Loyola and UIC — are as strong collectively as Chicago has seen in years.
NU and DePaul have been heading in opposite directions for the last decade, basically switching identities since Collins turned around the Wildcats program.
Northwestern, renowned for losing, made the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 2017, and after…
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Author : Chicago Tribune
Publish date : 2024-12-22 01:23:00
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