National Basketball Association
Northwestern 70, Central Conn. St. 64
When: 2:00 PM ET, Saturday, December 17, 2011
Where: Welsh-Ryan Arena, Evanston, Illinois
Officials:
# Glenn Mayborg, # Gerald Williams, # Ray Perone
Attendance:
5246
By SportsDirect Inc.
Reggie Hearn scored 15 of his career-high 17 points in the second half, and was 4-of-4 from 3-point range, as Northwestern survived a scare from visiting Central Connecticut State for a 70-64 victory on Saturday.
Hearn, who was 6-for-7 from the field, completed a key three-point play with 55 seconds left to put the Wildcats (9-1) up 66-62. Drew Crawford, who had 14 points, later put Northwestern up 68-64 on a basket with 13 seconds remaining.
Freshman Kyle Vinales led all scorers with 27 points for Central Connecticut State (5-5), which has lost three straight. Robby Ptacek registered 17 points and Ken Horton had 15 points and 11 rebounds for the Blue Devils. Horton came in averaging 23.3 points.
John Shurna added 12 points and eight rebounds for Northwestern, which was 7-for-15 from 3-point range in the second half after going 2-for-14 in the first 20 minutes.
Vinales’s 15 points helped Central Connecticut State push its lead to as much as eight in the first half. But Northwestern battled back to score the final nine points, capped by 3-pointer in the final seconds by Shurna, for a 30-29 halftime lead.
Northwestern’s senior class now has 66 victories, breaking a school record set by last year’s class.
Top Game Performances
Central Conn. St. |
|
Northwestern |
Kyle Vinales 27 |
Scoring |
Reggie Hearn 17 |
Ken Horton 5 |
Assists |
Luka Mirkovic 5 |
Ken Horton 11 |
Rebounds |
Luka Mirkovic 8 |
Robby Ptacek 4 |
Free Throws Made |
John Shurna 5 |
Ken Horton 5 |
Steals |
Dave Sobolewski 2 |
Terrell Allen 2 |
Blocks |
Reggie Hearn 2 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
Central Conn. St.
|
64 |
37.5 |
8-21 |
8-13 |
10 |
31 |
4 |
8 |
10 |
Northwestern
|
70 |
43.9 |
9-29 |
11-14 |
15 |
28 |
5 |
3 |
12 |