Vedran Vukusic drives the lane against Northern Colorado. (AP Photo)Vedran Vukusic drives the lane against Northern Colorado. (AP Photo)

Wildcats Win Third Straight With 82-47 Win Over Northern Colorado

Jan. 1, 2006

Box Score

EVANSTON, Ill. (AP) - Vedran Vukusic scored 22 points to lead four Northwestern players in double figures Sunday as the Wildcats easily defeated Northern Colorado 82-47.

The Wildcats now shift their focus to Big Ten play when they open up at home vs. Purdue at 6 p.m. Wednesday.

Bernard Coté added 14 points and Vince Scott had 12 for Northwestern (7-4). Sean Taibi scored 13 points to lead Northern Colorado (1-15). The Bears won their first game of the season on Friday against Eastern Michigan.

Northwestern built a 47-21 halftime lead while shooting 72 percent from the field. Coté (2), Vukusic, Moore and Scott each hit from downtown to help the 'Cats pull away early.

Northern Colorado scored the first points of the game on a Matt Kline jumper, beating the shot clock buzzer. But it was all Northwestern from that point on as Vukusic's layup started a 18-4 run to put NU up by 12.

The 'Cats extended their lead to 17 on a Coté three-pointer as NU outscored Northern Colorado 29-12 to end the half.

Northwestern led by as much as 43 on a Michael Jenkins three-pointer at the 9:22 mark in the second half.

The Wildcats scored 33 points off 25 Northern Colorado turnovers. Sterling Williams scored a career high 11 for Northwestern, picking up the slack for sidelined guard Mohamed Hachad, the Wildcats' second-leading scorer (9.8 points a game) who is out indefinitely after an appendectomy Wednesday.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

Postgame Notes:

  • Northwestern has now won their last three games and four of its last five heading into conference play.

  • The 'Cats are giving up an average of just 41.6 points per game over their current three-game win streak.

  • The 82 points were the most this season and the most since scoring 85 against Penn State March 1, 2003 in double-overtime. Northwestern last scored that many points in regulation back on Dec. 2, 2000 in an 83-62 win over Mississippi Valley State.

  • The 35-point win was the largest margin of victory since Nov. 24, 2001 when the Wildcats defeated Chicago State 80-42 (38 points).

  • The 'Cats shot a season-best 56.6 percent from the field and shot a blistering 72.0 percent (18-of-25) in the first half.

  • Northwestern forced 25 turnovers and outscored the Bears 33-3 in points off turnovers.

  • Bernard Coté established a new career-high with 14 points on 5-of-7 from the floor, including 2-of-2 from the arc, to go four boards and two steals.

  • Redshirt freshman Sterling Williams recorded a season-high 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting to go with three steals and two assists.

  • Vedran Vukusic has now led the team in scoring in 10-of-11 games this season and has hit for 20 or more eight times.

  • Vince Scott recorded his best offensive game of the season with 12 points to go with four assists.

  • With five assists, junior Tim Doyle has now recorded five or more assists seven times this year.

  • In six his starts this season, Craig Moore has 15 assists and only three turnovers and is averaging over six points per game.

  • Today was the first meeting between the two schools.

  • Attendance: 3,994

    • Postgame Quotes:

    Northwestern Head Coach Bill Carmody
    Opening Statement...
    "The last two games we were supposed to win and we did. You play those games to get wins and you play them for seasoning. It was important that Craig Moore and Sterling Williams-who are freshman-and Bernard Coté-who has not played all that well yet-that they get into a flow. The last few games we gave those guys some minutes and hoped that their confidence can be built up. We weren't playing with confidence in our games against Seton Hall, UIC and Virginia-where I actually thought we executed pretty well. We just missed a lot of open shots and layups. Coming off of those games I think that helped us and I hope it shows up starting Wednesday."

    On Northwestern guard Sterling Williams...
    "I thought Sterling was very active today. He plays like that in practice. He gets his hands on the ball a lot, gets rebounds, gets to the basket and takes it to the rim. And we need a guy like that, especially with (Northwestern guard Mohamad Hachad) out. We need that activity in there. I always say Mohamad is a bit crazy, but Sterling is not crazy enough. But I liked the way he played today."

    On the offense...
    "I thought (Craig Moore) and (Bernard Coté) hitting a couple shots in the first half helped open it up. Then (Vedran Vukusic) gets a very quiet 12 or 14 points in the first half just because that middle is spread and he's a tough guy to guard one-on-one. But that team is on the road all the time and they have had a tough go at it. Now they're going to go play other independents and not be on the road all the time so they'll have a better shot."

    On injured guard Mohamad Hachad...
    "I would feel a lot better if Mo were in there. He gives you another athletic guy who has been taking the ball to the rim a lot more. He's probably shooting around 50 percent and he's our leading rebounder. But he seemed to be taking more responsibility for the team winning and losing, and that's important. I would feel a lot better if he were with us."