Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
14-14, 5-10,B1G
Indiana
19-10, 9-7B1G
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| Indiana | 40 | 25 | 65 |
| Northwestern | 40 | 32 | 72 |
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Players Mentioned
Second-Half Surge Leads Wildcats to Fourth-Straight Win
2/25/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
EVANSTON, Ill. -- After a first half that some may have confused with a three-point shootout, Northwestern's second-half defense -- combined with hot shooting from Tre Demps and Vic Law -- propelled the 'Cats to a 72-65 win over visiting Indiana on Wednesday night at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
Demps scored 23 points on 12 shots, Alex Olah registered his sixth double-double of the season and Northwestern held Indiana to 28.1 percent shooting during the final 20 minutes. Freshman Bryant McIntosh added nine assists and six rebounds.
"The guys were confident, and that's what happens when you've won some games," Northwestern head coach Chris Collins said. "They stop thinking about how they're going to lose and they start thinking about how we're going to win this thing."
Indiana's hot shooting was the story at the start of the game. The Hoosiers connected on six of their first eight three-pointers, three of which came from guard Nick Zeisloft.
But Northwestern dealt with Indiana's attack by shooting 51.7 percent from the floor in the first half. Law, coming off a 17-point, 11-rebound game on Saturday, made his presence felt early. Off a missed Indiana three-pointer, McIntosh found Law in transition, and the freshman forward drove in and finished an and-one layup. He then teamed up with Olah on the next possession, feeding the big man on an over-the-top pass for an easy layup.
Olah then came up with a huge rejection on the other end against Indiana's Hanner Mosquera-Perea, giving him 137 career blocks to pass John Shurna for the all-time Northwestern record. Senior guard Dave Sobolewski found Nathan Taphorn two possessions later for a triple, stretching Northwestern's lead to four. Law came up with three more of his own on a shot along the wing, which McIntosh followed with a breakaway layup to give Northwestern a 20-16 lead.
"They were mixing defenses within every possession. Every time we were making a pass they were going to the zone, then they'd be back to man," Collins said. "So I told the guys, don't worry about running plays. We just have to get to open areas and hit open people."
The `Cats took Collins' words to heart, ultimately scoring 40 first-half points, but Indiana also stayed hot beyond the arc, as Zeisloft hit a trio of three-pointers within a three-minute span. Both offenses continued to click heading into halftime -- including another Law three-pointer -- but Northwestern found itself with a 40-38 deficit under the one-minute mark off Zeisloft's fourth trey. The 'Cats responded by forcing a turnover, and on the other end, Olah found miles of separation under the basket and finished an easy layup to tie it up at 40 heading into the break.
"Both teams were kind of scoring at will in the first half," Collins said. "I just said to the team at halftime, `Whatever team has an extended series of stops will win the game,' because both teams were in such an offensive rhythm."
Coming out of halftime, Demps connected on a mid-range jumper to open up the scoring, and Sanjay Lumpkin took advantage of an open look along the perimeter two possessions later with his first trey. After an 11-point first half, Law nailed another three -- his third in three attempts -- to give Northwestern a five-point edge, its largest of the game to that point.
From there, it became the Tre Demps Show. The redshirt junior scored on a layup with 13:08 to go, after which Scottie Lindsey denied Williams at the rim. McIntosh then found Demps for a corner three.
With the 'Cats leading 56-48, Demps -- already with nine points in the half -- drove in and finished a floater going down the middle of the lane, extending Northwestern's lead to double digits for the first time in the game.
"I was proud of Tre. I thought he made some big-time shots and big-time decisions and reads," Collins said. "He was fantastic."
NU also stepped up defensively during the final 20 minutes, holding the Hoosiers to just two baskets over the first 16:43 of the half.
"I really thought our wings, defensively, were fantastic in the second half," Collins said. "The way they overload...Sanjay Lumpkin, I thought he was everywhere in the zone. He was covering a lot of different areas, and I thought Law was doing the same."
With 4:03 left, McIntosh fed a perfect pass to a cutting Olah, who caught the ball in traffic and went up for two more points, giving him 13 on the night - his fourth straight game in double figures - and extending Northwestern's lead to 14 points, 62-48.
Indiana continued to chuck up three-pointers, finishing 3-of-17 in the half, though two late treys from Yogi Ferrell and Robert Johnson brought the Hoosiers to within seven with 51.3 seconds left. But the 'Cats held on and walked away with their fourth straight win.
"We're playing well. The guys are confident," Collins said. "There's nothing like winning...it builds confidence, and I'm really proud of what we've done these last couple weeks."
Northwestern returns to action at 6 p.m. Saturday when it travels to Champaign to face Illinois.
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