Northwestern rolls past SIU-Edwardsville 98-55
Five players scored in double figures to lead Northwestern to a 98-55 victory over Southern Illinois-Edwardsville Thursday night.
The Wildcats (13-5) raced to a 55-25 halftime lead, which included a 28-2 run, in the nonconference game. Northwestern led by as many as 45 points in the second half in rolling to its fourth win in their last five games.
Drew Crawford led the Wildcats with 16 points. Luka Mirkovic had 15 points and freshman JerShon Cobb added 11, while Alex Marcotullio and Reggie Hearn each scored 10 points.
"Once we got going as a team, we were moving the ball well and finding open shots," Crawford said.
Northwestern had a 38-22 rebound advantage and shot 58 percent in the game. And they did it all without their top scorer, John Shurna.
The 6-foot-8 junior forward was held out of the game for precautionary reasons. Shurna, who ranks third among Big Ten players with 19.5 points per game, suffered a high left ankle sprain on Dec. 23 against Mount St. Mary's. He has played through it, including Tuesday when he scored 24 points in a victory over Michigan, but the Wildcats didn't want to take any chances on Thursday.
"Tomorrow he'll go (practice)," Northwestern coach Bill Carmody said.
Northwestern let the shot clock expire on its last two possessions to avoid hitting the century mark.
"Coach Carmody understands our situation," Southern Illinois-Edwardsville coach Lennox Forrester said. "He's a classy coach and they have a classy program."
Cornelius Chatt scored 25 points for Southern Illinois-Edwardsville (5-16), which is in the third year of a four-year reclassification process in moving from Division II to Division I.
Chatt was 7 of 13 from the field, including 3 of 6 from 3-point range, and made all eight of his free-throw attempts.
"He was very aggressive," Forrester said. "It wasn't just offensively. I also thought he did a good job on the defensive end."
Corey Wickware added 10 points for the Cougars, who shot 39 percent as a team from the outside.
The Wildcats return to Big Ten play on Sunday, when they host No. 18 Wisconsin.