Northwestern
Tulsa
Northwestern Falls to Tulsa in NIT, 68-59
3/18/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 18, 2009
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TULSA, Okla. - Craig Moore, who hit five 3-pointers, and Kevin Coble scored 17 points apiece but it wasn't enough as Northwestern saw its 2008-09 season come to an end with a 68-59 loss at Tulsa in the first round of the National Invitation Tournament Wednesday evening.
The Wildcats went 9-for-23 from 3-point range in the contest against the nation's second-best 3-point defense.
Jerome Jordan scored 16 points and Ben Uzoh added 13 to lead Tulsa (25-10).
Uzoh hit four free throws in the final 21 seconds as the Golden Hurricane survived a late scoring drought to win their first game in the tournament since winning the title in 2001. Justin Hurtt added 13 points for Tulsa and Ray Reese had 12 points, eight rebounds and seven assists.
Both teams had the hot hand early as Moore nailed a pair of triples and three baskets as NU led 14-10 five minutes into the contest. Moore and Thompson would each pick up their second personal foul by the midway point of the opening period and were forced to the bench for the final 10 minutes of the half.
However, the Wildcats were able to overcome having their starting backcourt on the bench to hang with the hosts. The opening 20 minutes of play featured a whopping 15 lead changes and six ties.
After making just two of 13 3-point shots in the first half, Tulsa made its first two of the second half and four consecutive baskets out of the break to turn a 30-28 deficit into a 44-34 lead.
Tulsa led 60-49 on a layup by Glenn Andrews with 7:25 left, but Moore hit two 3-pointers for Northwestern and Thompson scored inside to cut the deficit to 60-57 with 2:02 left as Tulsa went cold.
After the teams traded baskets, the Wildcats got a stop on the defensive to regain possession with a minute remaining. Following an NU timeout, Moore got a good look at a potential game-tying 3-pointer with 26 seconds to go, but it was barely off the mark.
It was the fourth NIT appearance for Northwestern and its first since 1999. Tulsa's NIT appearance is its first since 2001, when the Golden Hurricane won the tournament for the second time. Tulsa also won the NIT in 1981.
After shooting just 33.3 percent from the floor in the first half, Tulsa connected on 58.8 percent of its attempts after the break. The Golden Hurricane also converted on 25 of 29 free throw attempts to 6 of 9 for the Wildcats.
Northwestern finishes its season with 17 victories, one shy of the school single-season record of 18 set in 1983.
It was the final game in the NU careers of Moore and fellow seniors Sterling Williams, Patrick Houlihan and Marlon Day.
