Indiana University Athletics
Indiana University
Northwestern
No. 22/21 Hoosiers Top Wildcats, 72-63
2/1/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 1, 2006
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BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Led by three Hoosiers in double figures, the No. 22/21 (AP/Coaches) Indiana men's basketball team improved its record to 13-5 overall and 5-3 in the Big Ten with a 72-63 victory over Northwestern on Feb. 1 at Branch McCracken Court at Assembly Hall. The win marked the 13th straight home conference victory for the IU and the 34th consecutive win over Northwestern in Bloomington. The loss dropped the Wildcats to 10-9 and 3-5 in conference play.
Indiana opened the game with a 5-0 run courtesy of a jumper from junior guard Roderick Wilmont and a three-pointer from senior guard Marshall Strickland. Despite allowing Northwestern a fast-break opportunity, senior forward Marco Killingsworth regained the Hoosiers' five-point lead with a layup to put the score at 7-2 at the 15-minute mark.
Senior forward Sean Kline hit a 10-foot jumper to raise the score to 16-9 with 8:38 left in the half. On the following possession, Kline forced a Wildcat turnover that set up sophomore A.J. Ratliff for the three-pointer to give Indiana its largest lead of the half, 19-9.
The Wildcats pulled within two, but Wilmont snapped their 8-0 run with 4:30 remaining. He drained a long trey to raise the score to 22-17. Wilmont continued to try and shift the game's momentum back the Hoosiers. He blocked a Wildcat three-pointer with 2:53 and followed that with a mid-court steal.
Tied at 22 with 1:30 left in the first stanza, Killingsworth regained the IU lead by converting a pass from junior guard Errek Suhr to put the Hoosiers back up two, 24-22. On the next Hoosier possession, Suhr entered the scoring line as he drained a three-pointer to extend Indiana's lead to five.
At the half, Indiana led the Wildcats, 27-24. Northwestern's Vedran Vukusic led all first-half scorers with 10 points while Wilmont led the Hoosiers with eight points followed by Killingsworth with six points and five boards. Additionally, IU outrebounded the Wildcats 18-15 and shot 11-of-27 from the field in the opening 20 minutes.
The two Big Ten foes traded points and Northwestern tied the score two times in the opening minutes of the second half. Suhr netted his fifth point of the game with a driving layup to put IU up 34-30 with 15:35 remaining on the clock. Wilmont extended the lead with back-to-back three-pointers to push the Hoosier lead to 40-32 with 14:08 left in the contest.
To regain the 10-point lead, 45-35, Vaden drained his first trey of the night from the top of the key with 11:30 remaining in regulation. The Hoosiers then went on a 5-0 run to push the margin to 49-38 through the 11-minute mark.
With 7:30 left on the clock, Suhr's three-pointer in front of the Indiana bench gave IU the 52-42 lead and forced Northwestern to call timeout. After a Northwestern try, freshman Ben Allen scored his first points of the game off a post move to give IU a 54-45 advantage.
Northwestern cut into Indiana's lead and tightened the score to 58-55 with 4:15 remaining on the clock, but Wilmont hit a long three to give IU the 61-55 advantage at the 3:25 mark. After exchanging free-throw opportunities, Indiana clinched the 72-63 win.
Wilmont led all scorers with a career-high 23 points, while Vaden, who tied his career mark in rebounds with nine, scored all of his 11 points in the second half. Suhr, who tallied 10 points, scored in double-figures for fourth time this season and etched a career high in assists with five. Killingsworth led the Hoosier onslaught on the boards with 12, one shy of his career high.
Additionally, Hoosiers outrebounded Northwestern 35-22 while shooting 51 percent (25-of-49) from the field, 38 percent from behind the arc (10-of-26) and an impressive 70 percent (12-of-17) from the foul line. Led by Suhr, IU tallied 20 points off the bench compared to the Wildcats' 12.
Indiana is back in action on Saturday, Feb. 4, against No. 1/1 Connecticut at Assembly Hall. The contest is slated to begin at 1 p.m., and can be seen nationally on CBS and heard on the IU Radio Network.
