ROSEMONT, Ill. – Dererk Pardon led five Northwestern players in double figures with 18 points as the Wildcats used a strong second-half performance to pull away from Brown for a 95-73 win Saturday at Allstate Arena.
Trailing by seven early in the second half, Northwestern outscored the Bears 47-18 over the final 15:30 of the game to earn the victory.
The contest was the final nonconference game of the season for NU (10-5) which resumes Big Ten Conference play Tuesday.
Neither team was able to make a run through the opening minutes of the matchup despite Northwestern holding Brown without a field goal for a five-minute stretch.
A three-point play by Anthony Gaines at the 12:46 mark gave NU a 15-10 advantage, the first lead of more than three points for either team through the first seven minutes of the contest.
The advantage was four before Aaron Falzon drilled a triple from the top of the key and Gaines followed with a steal and a slam, giving Northwestern its largest lead of the half, 37-28, with just over four minutes remaining before halftime.
Brown eventually would close back to within 42-37 at the intermission despite 11 first-half points by Bryant McIntosh and the Wildcats shooting 51.6 percent from the field (16-31).
An early second-half surge allowed the Bears to get the lead back as they went up 49-46 just under three minutes into the period. The guests' advantage grew to seven but a dunk by Scottie Lindsey, a corner trey by Jordan Ash and a triple by Gavin Skelly sparked a quick eight-point run that gave NU the lead back, 56-55, with 13:49 left.
Overall, a 20-3 run over a span of six and a half minutes pushed Northwestern's lead to 68-58 with nine minutes remaining.
A three-point play by Lindsey with 7:54 left gave him 1,000 points for his career, making him the 35th player in school history to reach the milestone.
Brown was within seven, 77-70, with five minutes to go, but a fall-away jumper by Lindsey and a hammer dunk by Pardon off a feed from Vic Law pushed the lead back up to double digits and igniting an 18-3 run to end the contest.
NU shot 54.1 percent (33-61) from the field, including 56.7 percent in the second half (17-30). Pardon grabbed a game-high eight rebounds to go along with four blocked shots. Joining Pardon with double-figure scoring were Lindsey (14), McIntosh (13), Law (11) and Gaines (11).
Northwestern is back in action Tuesday, Jan. 2 when it returns to Big Ten Conference play against Nebraska at Allstate Arena. Tip time is 8 p.m. and tickets are on sale at NUsports.com, by calling 888-GO-PURPLE or in person at the Allstate Arena ticket office.
Northwestern Notes vs. Brown – Dec. 30, 2017
• Northwestern now leads the all-time series with Brown, 8-2.
• Redshirt junior forward Vic Law returned to the Wildcats' lineup after missing the previous two games due to injury. He finished with 11 points.
• With a three-point play with 7:54 remaining, Scottie Lindsey became the 35th player in Northwestern history to score 1,000 points in his career.
• Bryant McIntosh started the 113th game of his career Saturday, tying him with Tavaras Hardy for seventh place in school history.
• With 13 points, McIntosh surpassed Cedric Neloms for ninth place on Northwestern's all-time scoring list. McIntosh now has 1,540 career points.
• McIntosh handed out three assists bringing his career total to 633 and tying him with Indiana's Yogi Ferrell for 10th place in Big Ten history.
• Northwestern had five players score in double figures for the second consecutive game.
• The Wildcats' 95 points are one shy of their season high of 96 achieved against Chicago State Dec. 11.
• Pardon connected on six of seven field goal attempts and now has a .642 field goal percentage this season including .741 (23-31) over the last four contests. His career field goal percentage of .628 ranks first in school history.
Trailing by seven early in the second half, Northwestern outscored the Bears 47-18 over the final 15:30 of the game to earn the victory.
The contest was the final nonconference game of the season for NU (10-5) which resumes Big Ten Conference play Tuesday.
Neither team was able to make a run through the opening minutes of the matchup despite Northwestern holding Brown without a field goal for a five-minute stretch.
A three-point play by Anthony Gaines at the 12:46 mark gave NU a 15-10 advantage, the first lead of more than three points for either team through the first seven minutes of the contest.
The advantage was four before Aaron Falzon drilled a triple from the top of the key and Gaines followed with a steal and a slam, giving Northwestern its largest lead of the half, 37-28, with just over four minutes remaining before halftime.
Brown eventually would close back to within 42-37 at the intermission despite 11 first-half points by Bryant McIntosh and the Wildcats shooting 51.6 percent from the field (16-31).
An early second-half surge allowed the Bears to get the lead back as they went up 49-46 just under three minutes into the period. The guests' advantage grew to seven but a dunk by Scottie Lindsey, a corner trey by Jordan Ash and a triple by Gavin Skelly sparked a quick eight-point run that gave NU the lead back, 56-55, with 13:49 left.
Overall, a 20-3 run over a span of six and a half minutes pushed Northwestern's lead to 68-58 with nine minutes remaining.
A three-point play by Lindsey with 7:54 left gave him 1,000 points for his career, making him the 35th player in school history to reach the milestone.
Brown was within seven, 77-70, with five minutes to go, but a fall-away jumper by Lindsey and a hammer dunk by Pardon off a feed from Vic Law pushed the lead back up to double digits and igniting an 18-3 run to end the contest.
NU shot 54.1 percent (33-61) from the field, including 56.7 percent in the second half (17-30). Pardon grabbed a game-high eight rebounds to go along with four blocked shots. Joining Pardon with double-figure scoring were Lindsey (14), McIntosh (13), Law (11) and Gaines (11).
Northwestern is back in action Tuesday, Jan. 2 when it returns to Big Ten Conference play against Nebraska at Allstate Arena. Tip time is 8 p.m. and tickets are on sale at NUsports.com, by calling 888-GO-PURPLE or in person at the Allstate Arena ticket office.
Northwestern Notes vs. Brown – Dec. 30, 2017
• Northwestern now leads the all-time series with Brown, 8-2.
• Redshirt junior forward Vic Law returned to the Wildcats' lineup after missing the previous two games due to injury. He finished with 11 points.
• With a three-point play with 7:54 remaining, Scottie Lindsey became the 35th player in Northwestern history to score 1,000 points in his career.
• Bryant McIntosh started the 113th game of his career Saturday, tying him with Tavaras Hardy for seventh place in school history.
• With 13 points, McIntosh surpassed Cedric Neloms for ninth place on Northwestern's all-time scoring list. McIntosh now has 1,540 career points.
• McIntosh handed out three assists bringing his career total to 633 and tying him with Indiana's Yogi Ferrell for 10th place in Big Ten history.
• Northwestern had five players score in double figures for the second consecutive game.
• The Wildcats' 95 points are one shy of their season high of 96 achieved against Chicago State Dec. 11.
• Pardon connected on six of seven field goal attempts and now has a .642 field goal percentage this season including .741 (23-31) over the last four contests. His career field goal percentage of .628 ranks first in school history.