Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Texas-Pan American
Second Half Runs Power Wildcats to Victory
1/30/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 30, 2008
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EVANSTON, Ill. -- Kevin Coble scored 21 of his game-high 29 points in the second half and Michael Thompson had a solid all-around performance with 18 points, seven assists and seven rebounds to rally Northwestern to a 68-59 victory over Texas-Pan American on Wednesday night.
NU's win snapped the Broncs' seven-game winning streak.
The Wildcats (7-11) shook off a slow start and trailed by as many as eight before rallying back to snap a three-game skid. Northwestern couldn't find the touch from 3-point range in the opening half as it misfired on it's first nine attempts from beyond the arc.
Meanwhile, the Broncs (14-11) took advantage as they went up 24-16 on Paul Stoll's fourth 3-pointer of the half with just over two minutes left before the break.
Nikola Baran finally connected on a trey for Northwestern with just five seconds left in the first half to cut UTPA's advantage to 25-21 going into the intermission.
The Broncs' lead was still eight at 34-26 after a 3-pointer by Brian Burrell with 15:43 left. But Northwestern put together 11-1 and 11-0 runs to pull ahead 57-43 with just under four minutes remaining.
Coble connected on eight of 11 field goal attempts in the second half and 11 of 17 for the game, while just missing out on his second 30-point game of the season.
The Wildcats shot 61.5 percent (16-26) from the floor in the second half and 53.3 percent (24-45) for the game. NU also finished with a 32-26 rebounding advantage paced by Thompson's career-best total.
Jeff Ryan contributed a solid performance off the bench for Northwestern, hitting all four of his field goal attempts on his way to scoring eight points and hauling in five rebounds.
Burrell led UTPA with 21 points while Stoll added 16, with each player hitting five 3-pointers apiece.
The Wildcats return to action at 11 a.m. Central time Sunday when they travel to 11th-ranked Indiana. The game is being televised by Big Ten Network.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
