Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Minnesota
Northwestern Takes Down No. 18 Minnesota, 74-65
1/18/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 18, 2009
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EVANSTON, Ill. - Senior Craig Moore's 3-point shooting sparked a 16-0 NU run early in the second half and vaulted the 'Cats to a 74-65 upset of No. 18
Minnesota at Welsh-Ryan Arena Sunday afternoon. Moore finished with six treys and a game-high 22 points while Kevin Coble poured in 20.
The win is Northwestern's first Big Ten win of the season and improved its overall record to 9-6. Minnesota suffers just its second setback of the year and moves to 16-2, 4-2 in conference play.
In taking down Minnesota, NU won its first game against a ranked opponent since Feb. 8, 2006, when the Wildcats bested No. 18 Iowa, 51-48, in Evanston.
The Gophers entered the contest coming off a game in which it overcame a 12-point deficit with under five minutes to play to knock off Wisconsin in overtime. But on Sunday, Northwestern made sure there would be no such comeback.
Starting the second half with a three-point lead, Minnesota stretched the margin to six as Lawrence Westbrook opened the scoring with a 3-pointer at the 18:20 mark.
That basket proved to be Minnesota's only points over the first eight minutes of the half as Northwestern clamped down on defense and erupted on the offensive end. Moore hit two pivotal shots during that stretch, sandwiching a pair of threes around an old-fashioned three-point play by Coble as Northwestern claimed a 45-37 advantage.
Minutes later, Ivan Peljusic gave the Wildcats a spark off the bench with two buckets in the paint, including a fast-break layup off a steal by Jeremy Nash, as Northwestern took a 12-point lead with 9:15 remaining.
Nash was active all afternoon for NU and finished with nine points, six rebounds, three assists and three steals.
Minnesota then used back-to-back baskets to cut the Wildcats' lead to nine. But on the ensuing possession, Northwestern executed its offense to perfection and Coble found Luka Mirkovic wide open underneath for a deuce with 2:45 to play.
A driving layup by Michael Thompson put NU up 12 and iced the game for Northwestern with 1:36 showing on the clock.
In the first half, both teams traded baskets until Minnesota showed off its ability to get to the rim and convert some easy baskets. With the 'Cats trailing by just one at 24-23, the Gophers scored their next six points on driving layups in traffic. Damian Johnson then hit a mid-range baseline jumper to give Minnesota a 32-23 advantage with 5:23 left in the first.
But the Gophers hit a dry spell after that, allowing Northwestern to creep back into the game. Moore buried a trey with 90 seconds remaining and Coble hit both ends of a one-and-one at the free throw line to send NU into the locker room trailing by three.
Coble and Moore now each have three games of at least 20 points this season.
Northwestern's difficult conference stretch continues with a mid-week bout at Michigan State at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday.
