Game Notes: (MBK) Aurora University @ North Central College (11/27/21)

Final Score
NCC 76, Aurora 44

Game Summary
This one didn't get off to a great start as the Spartans (1-4) scored the game's first four points before the Cardinals (3-1) got things figured out and overcame one last deficit at 6-4, embarking on a 14-2 run that spanned about seven minutes and gave North Central total control. Aurora never got closer than within eight the rest of the way as the Cardinals built a 33-15 halftime lead, then all but it out of reach with eight straight to open the second half. The margin was at least 20 from that point on, and was in the 30's for a good chunk of the half, allowing Todd Raridon to empty his bench for the final couple minutes.

Key Players

• Matt Helwig (NCC): 8-14 FG (3-6 3PT), 3-4 FT; 22 pts, 5 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl. Matt has become the go-to offensive guy for the Cardinals in the early going of the campaign; after a monster performance in the Battle of Chicago-Maple Avenue earlier in the week, he scored the first dozen points of the game for the Cardinals to help set the tone while the rest of the squad got going.
• Terrance Moncrief (NCC): 4-7 FG (2-4 3PT); 10 pts, 1 reb, 1 stl. There weren't a ton of other outstanding Cardinals looking at the box score, but I was pretty impressed with what Moncrief brought to the table in 22 minutes of action. He was an early sub for the Cardinals and hit a couple threes as part of that 14-2 run that gave the Cardinals control for the evening. He's got good burst and a pretty good shot; I think he'll be a good piece going forward for this team, and as a freshman, he's got time to blossom.
• Shamar Pumphrey (AUR): 3-16 FG (1-5 3PT); 7 pts, 2 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl. There were no good picks for Aurora, so we'll go with a guy that felt like a microcosm of their game tonight. When you tie for your team's lead in scoring with seven points... you're not having a good night.

Key Stats

• NCC: 10-24 3PT (41.7%). Coming into this one, the Cardinals were shooting a putrid 21.7% from three point range, so a confidence booster was needed, and tonight provided one. Getting the early spark from Matt Helwig and Terrance Moncrief was good as other guys got into the action as the game went on. The ten made threes matched the total from the first three games and pumped the Cardinals' numbers for the season up a full seven percentage points to a still rough 28.6 percent. We'll get there.
• AUR: 22 points off 20 NCC turnovers. I don't know if Aurora features a press as part of its main defensive strategy or it's something they saw that had given the Cardinals some fits in the early going, but it did help to some extent. Aurora only managed eight points off turnovers in the first half before picking it up a bit in the second (though a lot of that stemmed from a generally awful first half offensively).

Final Thoughts
There's not much to take from this game, and I won't sugarcoat it: this Spartan team is not very good. You have to beat the teams you're supposed to, and in that regard the Cardinals took care of business. But I'm not lauding this as some sort of masterpiece, because the Cardinals do have to clean some things up. I was a little surprised to see North Central finished with a 40-32 rebounding edge, because the Spartans had an edge in the first half. This is something the Cardinals will need to clean up, because CCIW play is fast approaching. North Central has a week now to prepare for the Carthage Firebirds to come invade Gregory Arena to open conference play.