Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Indiana
Indiana Downs Wildcats, 59-44
1/2/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan 2, 2002
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By NANCY ARMOUR
AP Sports Writer
EVANSTON, Ill. (AP) - Jarrad Odle had career highs with 16 points and 15 rebounds Wednesday night as Indiana beat Northwestern 59-44 in the Big Ten opener for both teams.
Jared Jeffries led the Hoosiers (7-6) with 17 points and Tom Coverdale added 13, including 3-of-6 from 3-point range. It was Indiana's 24th straight victory over the Wildcats (8-4) and 100th overall.
Jitim Young led the Wildcats with 17, and Aaron Jennings scored 10 points. But Northwestern was hurt by poor shooting (35 percent) and 16 turnovers.
After trailing by as much as 12 in the first half, Northwestern closed to 32-30 on Tavaras Hardy's dunk with 15:09 left.
But Odle sparked a rally with a layup, and Kyle Hornsby drilled a 3. Odle then came up with the ball in a scrum at halfcourt and took it in for the fastbreak layup. That gave Indiana a 39-30 lead with 13:14 to play, and Northwestern never really threatened again.
The battle for the ball was typical of the game, a bruising Big Ten contest where players ended up with as many floor burns as points. Twenty-two fouls were called, and there were 30 turnovers.
Northwestern did not have an answer for Indiana's early inside game, as the Hoosiers raced out to a 20-10 lead with 10:52 left in the first half. Jeffries was scoring at will, accounting for 12 of the Hoosiers' first 20 points.
As if that wasn't bad enough, the Wildcats couldn't find their own basket. Young scored Northwestern's first 10 points, and the Wildcats didn't get a basket from another player until Winston Blake's 18-footer -- midway through the first half.
And when Jeffries picked up his second foul with 7{ minutes left, the Hoosiers didn't miss a beat as Odle took over. By halftime, Odle had 12 points -- two shy of his previous career high.
Odle followed a rebound layup with a jumper to give Indiana a 30-18 lead -- its largest of the half -- with 2:32 left. But the Wildcats quickly got themselves back into the game, as Blake and Jennings hit back-to-back 3-pointers to cut Indiana's lead to 30-24 with 1:31 left in the first half.
