Northwestern 55, Texas Christian 31: Jared Swopshire scored 15 points and the Wildcats' stifling defense dominated the Horned Frogs in the third round of the South Padre Island Invitational in South Padre Island, Texas.
Northwestern (5-0) will play unbeaten Illinois State for the championship on Saturday night. The Wildcats never trailed on Friday as they jumped out to a 24-14 halftime lead, a score that would be expected if the two schools' bowl-bound football teams were playing.
Drew Crawford and Reggie Hearn each tallied 12 points for Northwestern, which has now won 20 straight games in November - the third-longest streak in the nation.
Devonta Abron led TCU (4-2) with 12 points and eight rebounds as the Horned Frogs shot just 26.5 percent from the field (13-49), missed all six of their 3-point attempts and made only 5 of 12 free throws.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Northwestern beat TCU for the first time in three meetings. ... The Wildcats handed out a season-low 12 assists while scoring a season-low 55 points. Northwestern came into the game leading the nation in assists, averaging more than 23. ... Northwestern committed only seven turnovers and made 13 of 14 from the free-throw line.
Northwestern | Texas Christian | |
Jared Swopshire 15 | Scoring | Devonta Abron 12 |
Dave Sobolewski 4 | Assists | Devonta Abron 1 |
Drew Crawford 6 | Rebounds | Devonta Abron 8 |
Jared Swopshire 5 | Free Throws Made | Devonta Abron 2 |
Drew Crawford 2 | Steals | Devonta Abron 1 |
Drew Crawford 1 | Blocks | Devonta Abron 1 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Northwestern | 55 | 38.3 | 6-19 | 13-14 | 12 | 31 | 2 | 6 | 7 |
Texas Christian | 31 | 26.5 | 0-6 | 5-12 | 4 | 32 | 3 | 2 | 14 |