Coble sparks Cats past Texas-Pan American

Kevin Coble scored 21 of his game-high 29 points in the second half to rally host Northwestern to a 68-59 victory over Texas-Pan American on Wednesday night.

Michael Thompson added 18 points for Northwestern (7-11), which had lost seven of the past eight games.

The Wildcats trailed 34-26 after a 3-pointer by Brian Burrell with 15:43 left. But Northwestern put together 11-1 and 11-0 runs to take control of the game.

Northwestern went 10:05 without a basket in the opening 20 minutes and was 1-for-10 from beyond the arc in the first half, while Texas-Pan American (14-11) was 4-for-10.

Texas-Pan American built its largest lead of the first half at 24-16 when Paul Stoll hit his fourth of five 3-pointers. Northwestern's Nikola Baran sank a 3-pointer just before the halftime buzzer to bring the Wildcats to within 25-21 at the break.

Burrell led Texas-Pan American with 21 points, including five 3-pointers, before fouling out with 10 seconds left. Stoll added 16 points.

Miami (Ohio) 66, NIU 51: Junior guard Kenny Hayes and senior forward Tim Pollitz combined for 44 points, and visiting Miami (Ohio) beat host Northern Illinois.

Hayes finished with a game-high 25 points, while Pollitz notched 19 points and grabbed 7 rebounds for the RedHawks (8-10, 3-4 Mid-American Conference.

Freshman guard Darion Anderson led the Huskies (5-14, 2-5) with 16 points. senior forward Michael Hart added 8 points and a season-best 7 rebounds.

The RedHawks held NIU to 35 per cent shooting (19-for-53) from the field, including 1-for-13 from 3-point range.

"We played well enough defensively to have a chance to win, but sometimes you've got to make shots," said Huskies coach Ricardo Patton. "Anytime you play a team that's physical, they p revent you from cutting and getting to your spots. They prevent you from doing what you want to do. The game is not designed to be played that way. If you allow the game to be played that way, the bigger, stronger team is going to win."