Northwestern stays unbeaten, tops St. Francis

NEW YORK — John Shurna scored 26 points and Drew Crawford had 25 to lead Northwestern to a 92-61 victory over St. Francis. N.Y. on Monday night in the opening round of the Holiday Festival.

Michael Thompson had 14 points and JerShon Cobb added 11 for the Wildcats (8-0), who was one of nine Division I schools that entered Monday undefeated.

Northwestern, which is off to its best start since going 9-0 in 1993-94, will face the winner of the St. John's-Davidson for the championship on Tuesday night.

Travis Nichols had 19 points for the Terriers (6-4), who had a five-game winning streak snapped.

The Wildcats took a big lead in the first half by doing what they do best — hit the 3-pointer. They were 8 of 14 from long range as they took a 45-31 halftime lead.

In the second half, Northwestern went inside to score, getting 28 points in the paint after having only 12 there in the first half.

The Wildcats used a 12-3 run — with three players each hitting a 3 — to take a 41-22 lead with 2:19 left in the first half. Northwestern came into the game shooting 50.7 percent from the field, which was fifth in the country, and 42.1 from 3-point range, which was 13th in Division I.

The Wildcats shot exactly 50.7 percent for the game (34 for 67) and finished at 45.5 percent on 3s (10 of 22).

Shurna, who came into the game shooting 64.3 percent from the field — sixth in the country — was 9 for 15, including 3 of 5 on 3s. He came in shooting 62.2 from 3-point range, third in the nation.

Northwestern came into the game averaging 80 points per game and St. Francis came in allowing just 61.7 per game.

The Wildcats turned it on in the second half by scoring inside and there was little the Terriers could do about it. St. Francis got within 49-40 when the Wildcats went on a 10-0 run with all the points coming on layups and drives. They turned it into a rout with a 13-0 run in which Shurna had all but two of the points. His rebound basket with 4:09 left gave Northwestern an 80-54 lead.

The Wildcats' biggest lead was 92-59.