Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Georgia Tech
Northwestern Rolls Past Georgia Tech, 91-71
11/30/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 30, 2010
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Northwestern 91, Georgia Tech 71
ACC/Big Ten Challenge
Site: Welsh-Ryan Arena • Evanston, Ill.
Records: Northwestern (5-0), Georgia Tech (4-3)
Up Next: vs. Long Island • Monday, December 13 • 7 p.m.
Tickets available at NUsports.com or by calling 888-GO-PURPLE
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Using a dominating first half in which it shot a blistering 76 percent from the field, Northwestern built a 55-37 lead at the break and never looked back, rolling past Georgia Tech 91-71 at Welsh-Ryan Arena Tuesday night in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.
Six Wildcats recorded double figures on the night, led by John Shurna's 21 and 19 from Drew Crawford. Michael Thompson added 14 points and finished with four assists, recording the 400th assist of his Wildcat career in the process.
Alex Marcotullio came off the bench to contribute 13 points, while Luka Mirkovic played a great all-around game, posting 11 points, eight rebounds and seven assists. Freshman JerShon Cobb pitched in with a career-high 10 points on his 19th birthday.
NU shot lights-out all evening long and was at over 70 percent from the field for the game until the closing minutes. Nonetheless, the Wildcats connected on 64.6 percent (31-48) of their shots, including shooting 12-of-19 from 3-point range.
Georgia Tech stormed out to a 13-5 lead, but Northwestern operated at a high level of efficiency. Marcotullio and Crawford capped a 18-5 run by nailing consecutive triples to give the 'Cats a 23-18 lead with 11:37 to go in the half.
Northwestern was just getting started, though. The hosts' lead was four, 27-23, when it clamped down defensively. Over a span of six and a half minutes, NU limited the Yellow Jackets to four points while scoring 20 themselves to pull away to a 47-27 lead with three minutes left in the opening stanza.
The Wildcats would eventually take a 55-37 lead into the intermission, connecting on 22 of its 29 field goal attempts over the opening 20 minutes of play, including a sizzling 10-for-12 from 3-point range. Crawford and Shurna each connected on five of six attempts, including all three from deep, in the first half as both players tallied 13 points.
Georgia Tech remained within 16 points with nine minutes remaining in the game, but Cobb found Thompson open for a 3-pointer in transition to push the lead back to 19 and the visitors got no closer than 17 the rest of the way.
The victory is Northwestern's third consecutive in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, joining them with Penn State (2007-09) and Ohio State (current) as the only Big Ten teams to win games three straight years in the event. The Wildcats improved to 5-7 all-time in the Challenge, including 4-2 in games played at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
NU's 55 first-half points marked their highest output in a half in Bill Carmody's 11 seasons as head coach. The Wildcats tallied 54 points in this year's season-opener at Northern Illinois Nov. 12 and against Northwestern State Dec. 3, 2007.
Northwestern takes a break for final exams before returning to action at home Dec. 13 when it faces Long Island.
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