Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Tennessee Tech (San Juan Shootout)
Wildcats Drop First Game of San Juan Shootout
12/19/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 19, 2006
Final Stats
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- Freshman Kevin Coble dumped in 23 points, but his 3-pointer at the buzzer rimmed out, allowing Tennessee Tech to escape with a 66-65 victory today in the first round of the 2006 San Juan Shootout.
The Wildcats will face UPR-Mayaguez Wednesday at 11 a.m. (9 a.m. CT) who lost its opening game to Vanderbilt Tuesday morning.
Northwestern (6-3) trailed by four points, 66-62, with under a minute left when TTU's Belton Rivers drilled his sixth 3-pointer of the game. After a Northwestern timeout, Craig Moore picked up a loose ball rebound and sank an off-balanced 3-pointer to cut the lead to one. On the ensuing inbounds play, Jason Okrzesik forced TTU's Anthony Fisher to dribble the ball off his legs out of bounds, allowing the Wildcats one last chance. However, Coble's three from the left wing would miss by inches to the right, snapping the NU's five-game win streak.
It was the third straight double-digit scoring game for Coble who was 9-of-20 for the game and 5-of-11 from behind the arc. The freshman from Scottsdale, Ariz., who is averaging 20.0 points over the last three games, also recorded seven rebounds and two blocks.
The Golden Eagles opened a five-point lead with 8:25 left when Antjuan Koger hit two free throws. After that the 'Cats went on a 9-2 run over the next three minutes, highlighted by a Moore 3-pointer and capped off on a layup from Coble for the 56-54 lead. The game was back and forth the rest of the way with Rivers connecting on two late 3's to help TTU seal the win.
The Wildcats hung tough on the boards, led by Vince Scott's game-high nine rebounds and eight points. Moore warmed up late, finishing with 10 points (2 3-pointers) and tying a career-high with six assists.
Northwestern was 44 percent shooting on the day, and 9-of-28 from deep.
Coble opened the game red-hot, connecting on three treys in the first eight minutes to help the Wildcats open a 13-10 lead. Six points from back-up center Ivan Tolic and a 3-pointer out of the corner by Sterling Williams gave NU a 30-29 lead with under a minute in the first until Rivers struck again with a deep three seconds before the halftime buzzer.
Rivers was a thorn in the Northwestern's side throughout, finishing the game 8-of-15 from the field (22 points) to go along with his six makes from long range. Fisher finished with 12 points and seven assists for TTU who move on to face Vanderbilt tomorrow.
