Northwestern's Shurna shoots down Notre Dame

Notre Dame's Luke Harangody received the most votes for the Associated Press' preseason All-American team.

Northwestern's John Shurna settled for a bunch of "he could be his team's sleeper" preseason speculation.

But in the schools' first meeting in 25 years, Shurna put up the All-American numbers to lead the Wildcats to a 72-58 victory over No. 23 Notre Dame.

The sophomore forward from Glenbard West delivered a career-high 25 points to go with 8 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 blocks to push Northwestern (4-1) into today's Chicago Invitational Challenge title game against unbeaten Iowa State (7 p.m., BTN).

Shurna nailed a 27-foot pull-up jumper just before the halftime horn to give NU the lead for good.

He also spent a lot of time posting up the Irish's smaller Ben Hansbrough and showcasing his lightly used power moves.

"He was really hard to guard tonight," said Notre Dame coach Mike Brey. "He's a crafty guy, a tricky guy to guard."

Even moreso with Michael Thompson (20 points) running the point for the Wildcats. Thompson had just 1 assist for the night, but he kept noticing the times when Shurna had the five-inch height advantage and triggered the correct sets that allowed Shurna to set up in the post.

"We talked about it the last couple of days," said NU coach Bill Carmody. "It didn't always look too pretty, but a couple of them went in. That really helps a guy when he can score inside like that."

"We have a lot of plays," Thompson said. "Sometimes Carmody just gives me that look - that little shoulder - (that says) get it in to him."

Harangody, meanwhile, finished with 21 points and 9 rebounds. Not only was that 6 points and 1 rebound off his average, the perpetually active post player got off to a terrible start against the Wildcats' 1-3-1 zone trap that they extended nearly to halfcourt.

When Harangody headed to the bench for a timeout with eight minutes gone in the first half, he yelled a few unhappy words at the world. Not only did he miss 6 of his first 7 shots, he didn't grab his first rebound until 3:48 remained in the first half.

"We were trying to double him as much as we can," Thompson said. "But with that 1-3-1, he really wasn't underneath the basket as much where he's most effective."

Notre Dame (5-1) kept trying to bust the zone with 3-pointers, but the Irish hit just 7 of 31 on what both coaches admitted were a lot of open looks.

The Irish slashed a 12-point deficit to 52-51 with 7:18 to go, but that's when freshman guard Alex Marcotullio swung into action.

The scruffy lefthander scored 8 of NU's next 9 points, including 2 long 3-pointers, to lift the Wildcats to safety. He finished with a career-high 13 points.

"I got recruited to shoot the ball here," Marcotullio said.