Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
IPFW
Balanced Attack Propels Wildcats Past IPFW
2/11/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 11, 2006
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EVANSTON, Ill. (AP) - Tim Doyle scored 14 points to lead Northwestern to a 73-49 victory over Indiana-Purdue-Fort Wayne on Saturday.
Doyle added 7 assists and 6 rebounds to lead a balanced Wildcats attack. Mohamed Hachad scored 12 points in a perfect shooting display and Bernard Cote added 11. Vedran Vukusic scored nine points on 4-of-10 shooting, only the second time this season the Big Ten's leading scorer failed to register double digits in points.
Eight different players hit a 3 for the Wildcats, a school record. They hit 11-of-21 3-pointers overall.
The game was the first meeting between the two schools. IPFW is in its fifth year as a Division I program and plays as an independent.
The Mastodons (7-16) kept it close early and trailed 22-21 thanks to three straight 3-pointers from Justin Hawkins. But the Wildcats responded with a 16-2 run, on 6-of-7 shooting from the field, to take control of the game. Hachad had seven points in the stretch. Doyle and Cote each had 10 points in the first half as Vukusic mostly stayed in the background.
Hachad hit all four of his field goals, including two 3-pointers, and both of his free throws. Doyle shot 6-of-8 from the field.
Northwestern (12-10) didn't need much from Vukusic in a break from conference play. It shot 73.9 percent (17 of 23) in the first half, its best shooting half of the season, to take a 47-29 lead. The Wildcats had 14 assists in the half.
The Wildcats only shot 57.4 percent for the game, which was worsened by the early entry of the bench players. Northwestern coach Bill Carmody started to clear the bench with more than six minutes left in the game.
Hawkins and DeWitt Scott led IPFW with 14 points each. The Mastodons played its seventh straight road game.
