Crawford (35 points) shoots NU to victory
EVANSTON -- An 11-day layoff didn't seem to bother Northwestern and it certainly didn't bother freshman Drew Crawford, who scored a career-high 35 points, including eight 3-pointers, as Northwestern defeated North Carolina A&T 90-65 Sunday.
"My teammates really were finding me and I was able to hit my first shot (3-pointer) and I kind of got on a roll," Crawford said. "I was just a little bit hot tonight."
More than a little bit, according to his teammates.
"I think he's selling himself short," said Northwestern point guard Michael Thompson. "He did a great job of shooting the ball as well as attacking the basket. We did a great job of riding with the hot man. He was open a lot of the time and we just made sure to get him the ball."
The Wildcats (7-1) won their sixth in a row, and their 20 3-pointers smashed the team record of 15, set in 2007 against Arkansas State.
"We've been playing well," Crawford said. "We're on a good streak here. We've got some momentum."
With the score tied at 11-11, Northwestern went on a 12-2 run, as Crawford hit three 3-pointers and Nash one. The Wildcats went 13-of-25 in the first half from behind the arc in taking a 50-37 lead at the break.
Crawford had 24 points in the opening half, six on 3-pointers, topping his previous game-best of 22 points against Liberty, and far surpassing his 5.7-point average. He made his second 3-pointer just over six minutes into the game to beat that number.
"Anything I said to him was about defense," Northwestern coach Bill Carmody said of Crawford. "I didn't say anything about the offense because he knew what he was doing out there today and didn't need any help. I just would have messed him up."
For the game, Crawford was 12-for-17 from the field, 8-for-13 from 3-point range. The Wildcats also set a school record for 3-point attempts with 47. They tried 36 from behind the arc in a 2003 game against Ohio State.
"They packed it inside," Thompson said of the North Carolina A&T defense. "Today was one of those days to step up and make shots."
The Wildcats haven't been ranked in basketball since the 1968-69 season, but may have a chance to end that streak.
"I'm sure everyone on the team knows we're pretty close (national ranking) and we'll get some votes to be ranked," Thompson said. "But our goal is to make it to the NCAA tournament."
Northwestern's hopes of its first NCAA tournament appearance seemed to be in trouble when Kevin Coble, last year's leading scorer, was lost with a season-ending foot injury. But the Wildcats have found some new contributors.
On Sunday, four Northwestern players scored in double figures, as Thompson had 19, freshman Alex Marcotullio 11 and Jeremy Nash 10. Thompson had five 3-pointers, eight assists and five rebounds.
Thomas Coleman led the Aggies (4-6) with 16 points, while Robert Johnson and Tavarus Alston had 12 points apiece. It was the first meeting between the schools.