Cobb’s runner lifts Northwestern past IUPUI 63-61
JerShon Cobb hit a running pull-up in the lane with 2.3 seconds left to give Northwestern a 63-61 comeback victory over IUPUI Friday night.
Northwestern took a 59-55 lead with 2:29 left on three Sobolewski free throws, but IUPUI rallied and tied the score on a pair of Patton free throws with 20 seconds left, setting the stage for Cobb’s heroics. Cobb got the ball on the left wing and drove to the lane just inside the foul line before pulling up for the shot. The ball bounced off the rim and backboard before dropping through.
Cobb finished with eight points on 4-for-13 shooting. Drew Crawford led Northwestern (3-2) with 12 points, all in the second half and Dave Sobolewski added 10.
The Wildcats trailed by 11 points midway through the second half before rallying.
Ian Chiles led IUPUI (1-4) with a game-high 19 points and Mitch Patton had 18.
Northwestern got off to a slow start, falling behind as much as 11 points (21-10) and trailed 31-28 at halftime. The Wildcats were just 12-for-30 (40 percent) from the field in the first half, including 3-for-10 on three-pointers. They overcame a poor shooting night (24-for-58, 41.4 percent) to win their second straight.
IUPUI was 14-for-30 (46.7 percent) from the field in the first half.
Sobolewski, after scoring a career-high 25 points on Wednesday at UIC, had two first-half points on 1-for-5 shooting, and Crawford — who entered with a team-high average of 17.8 points — missed his only three shots.
Crawford opened the second-half scoring with a layup to trim the deficit to a point, but IUPUI quickly regained command and stretched the lead to 49-38 on a three-point play by Chiles with 10:18 remaining. Northwestern then answered with 10 straight points to make it 49-48 with 8:46 to play.
Chiles ended the streak with a pair of free throws, but center Alex Olah had back-to-back baskets to give Northwestern a 52-51 lead with 6:20 left — its first since 8-7 less than five minutes into the game.
IUPUI tied the score on a pair of Patton free throws with 20 seconds left setting the stage for Cobb’s heroics.