Sunday, November 25
Fullerton, Calif.
1 p.m.
Northwestern
5-1
79
vs
57
Utah
3-3
1
2
F
Northwestern
28
51
79
Utah
24
33
57
Shooting, Defense Leads Northwestern to 79-57 Win Over Utah
11/25/2018 3:23:00 PM | Men's Basketball
FULLERTON, Calif. — Northwestern (5-1, 0-0 Big Ten) used a stifling defense to dispatch Utah (3-3, 0-0 Pac-12), 79-57, to finish off a two-win Wooden Legacy stay on Sunday afternoon at Titan Gym.
Senior forward Vic Law scored in double-digits for the sixth-straight game to start the year. He led the Wildcats with 19 points, including four three-pointers — his most in the 2018-19 season and his most since making five against Michigan State on Feb. 17, 2018. He also added six rebounds, two blocks, and an assist.
Northwestern forced 21 Utah turnovers — tied for the second-most by a Wildcat opponent in the Chris Collins era (trailing only 24 forced turnovers by Chicago State on Dec. 11, 2017). The 'Cats scored 26 points off those Ute takeaways.
"Our defense has got to be our calling card," said Sullivan-Ubben Head Men's Basketball Coach Chris Collins. "I think we can be a team with deflections that can cause some turnovers and we did that at a very high level today. We forced that team into 21 turnovers, they don't normally do that because they are so well coached, and they run their stuff well. It shows how active we were."
Senior center Dererk Pardon was perfect from the field, going five-for-five — including his first-career three-pointer — for 15 points. He has not missed a shot in his last two competitions, going nine-for-nine between the Utah and La Salle games.
Graduate guard Ryan Taylor and sophomore guard Anthony Gaines both also finished with double-digit points. Gaines' 11-point output matched a career high, while Taylor's 14-point game was his 62nd career game with 10-plus points.
Northwestern returns to home to battle Georgia Tech in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge on Wednesday at 8:15 p.m. CT at the new Welsh-Ryan Arena.
Senior forward Vic Law scored in double-digits for the sixth-straight game to start the year. He led the Wildcats with 19 points, including four three-pointers — his most in the 2018-19 season and his most since making five against Michigan State on Feb. 17, 2018. He also added six rebounds, two blocks, and an assist.
Northwestern forced 21 Utah turnovers — tied for the second-most by a Wildcat opponent in the Chris Collins era (trailing only 24 forced turnovers by Chicago State on Dec. 11, 2017). The 'Cats scored 26 points off those Ute takeaways.
"Our defense has got to be our calling card," said Sullivan-Ubben Head Men's Basketball Coach Chris Collins. "I think we can be a team with deflections that can cause some turnovers and we did that at a very high level today. We forced that team into 21 turnovers, they don't normally do that because they are so well coached, and they run their stuff well. It shows how active we were."
NU compiled 30 points from beyond the arc, shooting 10-for-21 (48 percent) from three-point range. Redshirt junior forward A.J. Turner went 2-for-3 from downtown.
As a team, NU finished with a 51 percent field goal percentage — their third time this season with a shooting percentage of 50 percent or better (also, Binghamton (51.6) and La Salle (56.1)). Only two Big Ten Teams (Indiana (5) and Michigan State (4)) have more such games so far this season.Senior center Dererk Pardon was perfect from the field, going five-for-five — including his first-career three-pointer — for 15 points. He has not missed a shot in his last two competitions, going nine-for-nine between the Utah and La Salle games.
Graduate guard Ryan Taylor and sophomore guard Anthony Gaines both also finished with double-digit points. Gaines' 11-point output matched a career high, while Taylor's 14-point game was his 62nd career game with 10-plus points.
Northwestern returns to home to battle Georgia Tech in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge on Wednesday at 8:15 p.m. CT at the new Welsh-Ryan Arena.
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Team Stats
509
UTAH
FG%
.509
.462
3FG%
.476
.313
FT%
.682
.842
RB
28
26
TO
15
21
STL
4
5
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
15
FGM
5
3FGM
1
FTM
4
Pts
14
FGM
5
3FGM
1
FTM
3
Pts
11
FGM
2
3FGM
0
FTM
7
Players Mentioned
G
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