Jan. 28, 2009
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EVANSTON, Ill. -- In another memorable Big Ten showdown for Northwestern, senior Craig Moore stepped to the line with the score tied and calmly sank two free throws with 6.6 seconds remaining to lift NU to a 77-75 victory against Indiana at Welsh-Ryan Arena Wednesday night. Moore finished with 21 points in the win while junior Kevin Coble scored 19 and joined Moore as the second Wildcat this season to crack the 1,000-career points plateau.
Northwestern has won three of its last four games and improves to 11-7 overall with a 3-5 mark in conference play while Indiana falls to 5-14 and 0-7 in the Big Ten. The Hoosiers have lost 10 straight contests dating to Dec. 10, 2008.
Following a first half that ended with the teams deadlocked at 39, the Wildcats built a lead that crept as high as 11 with 11:49 to play on the layup and foul that gave Coble his 1,000th career point. But Indiana did not quit, cutting NU's lead to three before eventually tying the game on a 3-pointer by Matt Roth with 36 ticks left on the clock.
Moore was fouled dribbling at the top of the arc and converted both free throws with enough time left for one more Indiana possession. But Coble intercepted IU's Verdell Jones' entry pass from the sideline at midcourt and dribbled out the clock to secure the victory.
Fans at Welsh-Ryan Arena were treated to a display of sharp shooting by both teams with Northwestern shooting at a 56.5 percent clip and Indiana converting on an even 50 percent of its field goal attempts. Early in the first half, the story was the impressive long-range shooting display by Moore and Indiana's Devan Dumes, who hit on his first five 3-point attempts and recorded 21 first-half points, tying his previous season high for a game.
Both teams finished 12-of-23 from beyond the 3-point arc.
Northwestern's first four baskets of the second half came on 3-pointers as Moore and point guard Michael Thompson each hit back-to-back treys in an eight-minute span.
Thompson finished with 15 points and a team-best five assists before fouling out with 5:21 remaining in the second half.
Once Indiana began to climb back from its 11-point deficit, NU turned to Coble to provide the scoring despite the forward's quiet offensive performance to that point. Coble hit a tough turnaround in the lane with 7:10 remaining to put the 'Cats up nine, 68-59, and later nailed a 3-pointer on the heels of six free throws by IU's Malik Story that brought the Hoosiers to within one.
On the next Northwestern possession, Coble again came up big, muscling in a jumper as the shot clock wound down to up NU's lead to 75-69.
Dumes finished with a game-high 26 points for the Hoosiers while Jones helped keep his team in the ballgame with seven assists.