Nov. 19, 2008
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EVANSTON, Ill. -- After building a 21-point second-half lead, Northwestern withstood a charge in the final 10 minutes to overcome Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 66-48, at Welsh-Ryan Arena Wednesday night. Freshman John Shurna put his stamp on the game in the second half, finishing with 17 points and nine rebounds.
With the win, Northwestern improves to 2-0 on the young season while the Islanders drop to 1-2.
Five of Shurna's nine boards came on the offensive end of the floor, helping the 'Cats tally 13 second-chance points. The rookie also asserted himself on the defensive glass, pulling down tough rebounds on back-to-back possessions when NU's lead was down to 10 with six minutes left to play.
Senior Craig Moore, who with a first-half three-pointer became the most prolific long-range shooter in Northwestern history with 213 career threes, totaled 14 points and five assists for the 'Cats.
Junior Kevin Coble finished as the game's leading scorer for the second time in as many games, racking up 18 points in 30 minutes of action.
NU started off the game playing extremely efficient basketball, executing its Princeton-style offense to near perfection. Northwestern recorded assists on 10 of its first 11 baskets while not turning the ball over until more than 13 minutes into the game.
After Moore's record-breaking three-pointer two minutes into the contest, Northwestern created two wide-open long-range opportunities for Coble off screens at the high post, both of which Coble converted to give the Wildcats an 11-7 lead.
From there, NU began taking advantage of A&M-Corpus Christi's aggressive defense, scoring four lay-ups off of backcuts. Moore converted an alley-oop lay-up from Coble to give the 'Cats a 17-9 lead before Moore hit a cutting Michael Thompson for an easy deuce. Coble buried another contested three from the right wing to give NU a 28-13 lead with 7:30 remaining in the half and complete a 17-4 Wildcats spurt.
The Islanders made an effort to close the gap with four and a half minutes remaining in the first half. Kevin Palmer sandwiched a lay-up and a three-pointer around a lay-up by Kevin Perkins to draw within 12 at 32-20.
But following the half's last media timeout, Moore and Shurna squashed A&M-Corpus Christi's thoughts of a first-half comeback. Shurna drilled a left-wing triple and was fouled on the play, but could not convert the free throw. Moore was fouled on the next possession and hit two foul shots before the 'Cats got a steal at midcourt, leading to a Shurna lay-up off a quick feed from Moore. It proved to be the last basket of the half as NU entered the locker room with a 39-21 lead. Moore led all scorers at the break with 11 points.
After intermission, the two teams traded baskets as Northwestern maintained its 20-point advantage. Shurna carried the load for the Wildcats, scoring six points and grabbing two offensive boards in the half's first four minutes. At the 12:40 mark, Shurna lofted an alley-oop pass toward the basket that Coble laid in to up NU's lead to 52-31.
But the Islanders soon turned up the defensive pressure, going on a 12-2 run and pulling to within 55-45 off a lay-up by Tim Green.
Northwestern responded, hitting two free throws on consecutive possessions before Shurna got into the lane off the dribble and banked in a lay-up to kill A&M-Corpus Christi's momentum.
NU senior Sterling Williams followed that with a baseline drive and lay-up with 2:30 remaining, sending the 'Cats on their way to a second straight victory.
Palmer finished as the Islanders' leading scorer with 14 points.
This weekend, Northwestern hits the road for the first time in the 2008-09 season, visiting Brown in Providence, R.I., Saturday at 6 p.m. Central time.