Northwestern tops Iowa State 67-65 in title game

John Shurna scored 17 points in the opening 12 minutes of the Chicago Invitational Challenge title game. Sounds great for Northwestern, right?

"I liked it, but I didn't like the feel," said NU coach Bill Carmody. "I knew that that wasn't good for us."

That's because Shurna's feverish scoring pace fed into unbeaten Iowa State's plan to kick up the tempo. The first half moved too quickly for the Wildcats' benefit - and the Cyclones had 39 points at halftime to prove it.

Northwestern slowed the championship game to a crawl in the second half, yet had more than enough time to rally from a 9-point deficit and claim a 67-65 victory Saturday night before 2,500 at the UIC Pavilion.

Shurna, voted the tournament's Most Valuable Player, finished with 23 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists - many of them while battling potential NBA lottery pick Craig Brackins. The 6-foot-10 Iowa State junior finished with 18 points and 9 rebounds with such honchos as the Bulls' John Paxson inspecting him from the baseline.

"I knew how good he was," said Brackins, who guarded Shurna occasionally this summer in Colorado as they scrimmaged for their respective USA Basketball teams. "I knew how great a shooter he was."

Shurna wasn't the only one for Northwestern (5-1).

Junior point guard Juice Thompson, another all-tournament selection, put up 16 points while playing all 40 minutes for the second night in a row. With the Wildcats trailing 43-34, senior guard Jeremy Nash drained back-to-back 3-pointers from the same spot in the corner to reel in the Cyclones (6-1).

Then, with every possession crucial, Shurna fed Drew Crawford for a backdoor layup, and third-string center Davide Curletti swished a 3-pointer from the top of the key (the third of his career) to give NU a 61-55 lead with 3:55 to play.

"That was a huge 3 by Davide," Thompson said.

Between Curletti's solid play down the stretch and freshman guard Alex Marcotullio's second consecutive strong game (8 points, 5 rebounds, 3 steals), suddenly the Wildcats look like they might have enough firepower to live up to their preseason billing, even without Kevin Coble and Jeff Ryan.

"There had to be some uncertainty about losing some guys and all," Carmody said. "I really didn't address it, to tell you the truth. No pep talks. None of that stuff."

Now none of that stuff's necessary.

"We took a step forward for the program," Thompson said. "A lot of people didn't expect us to win the tournament. ... I think our confidence level is the same."