Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Michigan
Michigan Pulls Away From Northwestern, 93-70
1/19/2000 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 19, 2000
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) - Jamal Crawford scored 20 points to lead a balanced Michigan attack as the Wolverines pulled away in the second half to defeat Northwestern, 93-70, in Big Ten play Wednesday.
Brandon Smith matched his career best with 15 points, LaVell Blanchard had 14 and Leon Jones and Kevin Gaines added 10 each for Michigan (12-3 overall, 3-1 Big Ten).
Ben Johnson and Steve Lepore scored 15 points each and Jason Burke added 14 for the Wildcats (4-12, 0-4), who have lost seven straight.
Jones also had seven rebounds as Michigan had an overwhelming 35-10 advantage on the boards, including a 20-3 margin after the first half.
But the Wolverines didn't take full control until the second half, and the catalyst was Smith.
The junior forward, who missed the first 10 games of the season while recovering from knee surgery, scored eight points after the break and started the play of the game, a pass off the backboard during a fast break that Crawford caught and slammed.
That came at the start of a 28-11 run that gave Michigan its biggest lead of the night at 87-60 on Gavin Groninger's 3-pointer with 4:32 to go.
Besides its strong rebounding, Michigan shot 64 percent to Northwestern's 56 percent.
Both teams were hot from 3-point range as Michigan was 11-for-17 and Northwestern 14-for-23 from behind the arc.
Northwestern will be back in action Saturday, meeting 10th-ranked Michigan State in East Lansing at 1 p.m.
