Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Kansas State
Men's Basketball Crushes Kansas State, 79-56
12/8/2001 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec 8, 2001
EVANSTON, Ill. (AP) - Freshman Vedran Vukusic and sophomore Jitim Young each scored 17 points Saturday night in leading the Northwestern men's basketball team to a 79-56 win over Kansas State.
The Wildcats, who have captured four straight games for a 5-1 record, led by 37 points at one point and held Kansas State to 30 percent field-goal shooting. The 5-1 mark is NU's best since the 1998-99 season.
Vukusic, who separated his shoulder in a win over Florida State on Nov. 28, showed no lingering effects in NU's first game action since then. The Croatian freshman was 6-for-6 from the field, and made all four of his 3-point shots. He is a staggering 12-of-13 from beyond the arc this season.
Larry Reid had 20 points to lead Kansas State (4-3), a Big 12 team playing its first road game of the season. Pervis Pasco and Nick Williams added 15 each.
Young scored 10 early points for Northwestern, making two 3-pointers, and Kansas State turned over the ball on four straight possessions as NU went on a 10-0 run for a 17-4 lead. The Wildcats opened a 39-19 lead with three minutes left in the half and were up 44-22 at halftime.
Ball control was the name of the game for NU in the first half, as the 'Cats turned the ball over just once in the opening 20 minutes. For the game, Northwestern had 18 assists and just nine turnovers, compared to 20 turnovers by Kansas State.
Northwestern was ahead 62-25 with 12 minutes left, when Kansas State coach Jim Wooldridge went onto the court and shouted at referee Bill Conner over the calling of fouls. Wooldridge was given a technical foul.
Winston Blake added 12 points for Northwestern, as everyone on the roster played in the game and all but two scored. The Wildcats are off this week for exams before meeting Florida A&M next Saturday, December 15. Tip time for that game will be 7 p.m. CST.
