Dec. 23, 2010
Box Score
| |
Site: Evanston, Ill. (Welsh-Ryan Arena)
Score: Northwestern 70, Mount St. Mary's 47
Records: NU (9-1), Mount St. Mary's (3-10)
Next NU Event: Friday, Dec. 31 -- at Purdue (West Lafayette, Ind.), 11 a.m. CT
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern quickly put its first loss of the season behind it, scoring the first 20 points of the game and then cruising the rest of the way in defeating Mount St. Mary's 70-47 in a Thursday matinee at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
Drew Crawford led a balanced scoring attack with 16 points, while Luka Mirkovic contributed 15 points on 6-of-7 shooting from the filed. John Shurna finished just shy of a triple-double, recording 13 points, eight rebounds and a career-high eight assists in just 24 minutes of action.
"I told the guys it was fortunate we had a game right away so we could get the loss out of their system," said head coach Bill Carmody. "They came out the right way, defended and passed the ball nicely. Luka (Mirkovic) came out strong, John (Shurna) found him three or four times with a pick and roll or two-man game, he was getting down the court fast and really helped us out."
"I think we're in a good place, you don't like to lose and I'd rather have no losses but I think we're in good shape."
After allowing St. John's to shoot lights-out in the second half during their first defeat of year on Tuesday, the Wildcats forced Mount St. Mary's into misses on their first 14 field goal attempts in Thursday's contest.
Meanwhile, Northwestern started 7-for-11 from the floor and found itself in front by 20 before the Mountaineers knew what hit them. The visitors didn't get on the board until nine minutes and 19 second had elapsed.
The NU lead would grow to as many as 24 in the opening stanza before they eventually took a 39-16 lead into the break.
The selfless Wildcats assisted on 14 of their 15 first-half field goals and forced the Mount into nine turnovers over the opening 20 minutes of play.
Northwestern quickly put the game out of reach in the second period, starting on an 11-2 run to go in front by 32, 50-18, with 15 minutes to go. The hosts' lead would grow to as many as 34 in the contest as they improved to 9-1 on the season, including 6-0 at home.
Alex Marcotullio matched Shurna's assist total with eight of his own. In all, the Wildcats assisted on 25 of their 29 baskets and finished with a 41-32 advantage on the boards.
Northwestern takes seven days off before returning to action on New Year's Eve when it opens Big Ten play at Purdue. Tip-off is set for 11 a.m. Central time.
Be the first to know what's going on with the 'Cats -- Follow @NU_Sports on Twitter, become a fan of Northwestern Athletics on Facebook! and subscribe to the NU Sports Express e-newsletter to receive the latest news, schedule updates and video and to interact with NU. For more information on following specific Northwestern teams online, visit our Social Media page!