[NU Sports] NU Basketball

[DPENDERG at aol.com]

For the record, I was there in Charlottesville the other night and,  frankly, 
there were many more bad calls going against UVA than NU, which pretty  much 
explained the NU one-point advantage at half-time. The UVA coach was  
absolutely furious at the refs during that entire first half and with good  reason 
(and probably with his team, which came out cold and lackluster).   In the second 
half, the Cavs caught fire and simply overpowered an  overmatched Cat team 
with three-point shooting and rebounding.  UVA would  have won by considerably 
more if they did not start emptying the bench.  I  have not seen an NU 
basketball game in some time (and one game is perhaps not a  complete picture), but I 
see only one high-quality player on the team  (Vukusic).   The rest are 
average at best.  I would not have high  expectations for the season.
 
Had the chance for nice conversations after the game with Mark Murphy and a  
couple of other athletic department types.  They are clearly encouraged by  
the strong support from Bienen and the university administration for the NU  
sports program (football, basketball, and other programs).