Issue date: 3/7/08 Section: Sports

Freshman forward Ivan Peljusic used to be one of the last players off the bench for Northwestern.

Before NU's Feb. 13 game against Ohio State, the freshman from Zadar, Croatia played in only eight games, scoring only 16 total points and averaging 5.5 minutes per contest. But Peljusic's role with the Wildcats changed that night.

The 6-foot-8, 195-pounder received his first start against the Buckeyes and has remained in the starting lineup ever since, scoring 6.9 points per game.

"Ivan has been coming around of late," coach Bill Carmody said. "I had him in the starting lineup for the first month. ... It took him longer than I thought to get production out of that spot."

Peljusic came up big for NU in its 62-60 win against Michigan on Feb. 26. He scored a career-high 13 points and grabbed seven rebounds. He followed that game by matching his career high with 13 points in the first half at No. 15 Purdue on Saturday.

Carmody said he would like to see the freshman contribute more on the defensive end. But Peljusic's offensive play has helped take some of the pressure off the team's scorers.

MELCHIOR NO MORE

Forward Jean-Marc Melchior has decided he will not play for NU next season, making Saturday's game against Wisconsin his final appearance in a Cats uniform. The junior will graduate a year early in June with an economics degree.

"He came in as a sophomore basically," Carmody said. "He wants to play and last year was looking to transfer but it didn't work out."

Carmody said he is helping Melchior look for schools with graduate programs where he would be able to get playing time, most likely at a Division II or III school.

But Melchior is keeping his options open.

"I want to play for another year, but if not I'll go work in Chicago," Melchior said. "I was an econ major here, but later in life I want to get my MBA. I want to do something like communication studies to work on my English skills."

Continued...

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