National Basketball Association
Indiana 71, Northwestern 56
When: 6:30 PM ET, Thursday, March 12, 2015
Where: United Center, Chicago, Illinois
Officials:
# Chris Beaver, # Ray Perone, # Gene Steratore
Attendance:
N/A
By SportsDirect Inc.
Indiana 71, Northwestern 56: James Blackmon Jr. finished with 25 points, seven assists and six rebounds to power the Hoosiers past the Wildcats in second-round action at the Big Ten tournament in Chicago.
Yogi Ferrell contributed 17 points and five assists for seventh-seeded Indiana (20-12), which plays No. 2 seed Maryland in Friday’s quarterfinals. Troy Williams added three blocks and grabbed 12 boards as the Hoosiers corralled as many offensive rebounds as Northwestern did on the defensive end (20) and handily won the battle of the glass 42-25.
Freshman Bryant McIntosh had 13 points as the 10th-seeded Wildcats (15-17) trailed by double figures for the final 32½ minutes and fell to 7-18 all-time in the Big Ten tournament. Alex Olah tallied 12 points, seven rebounds and two blocks for Northwestern.
Indiana grabbed 13 offensive rebounds in the opening half and used the extra opportunities to hoist nearly as many 3-pointers (18) as Northwestern attempted shots (24), connecting on four triples during an early 21-1 assault to open up a 18-point advantage. Blackmon capped off his 13-point first half with his third 3-pointer with 28 seconds left, helping the Hoosiers roll into intermission with a 14-point lead.
The Wildcats crawled within 11 three times before Blackmon bookended an 8-2 spurt with two more triples and fellow freshman Nick Zeisloft added a 3-pointer to stretch the margin to 60-42. Blackmon (six) and Ferrell combined for Indiana's final 11 points as the Hoosiers coasted the rest of the way.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Indiana F Hanner Mosquera-Perea went down in considerable pain with a right knee injury after Olah, who was attempting to take a charge, fell into Mosquera-Perea as he was trying to score near the basket midway through the second half. The 6-9 junior, who missed seven games with a right knee injury earlier in the season, did not return. … The Hoosiers went 11-of-32 beyond the arc and have connected on a school-record 301 3-pointers this season. … Ferrell finished 3-of-10 beyond the arc, extending his Division I-best streak of hitting at least one 3-pointer to 63 games.
Top Game Performances
Northwestern |
|
Indiana |
Bryant McIntosh 13 |
Scoring |
James Blackmon Jr 25 |
Bryant McIntosh 5 |
Assists |
James Blackmon Jr 7 |
Alex Olah 7 |
Rebounds |
Troy Williams 12 |
Alex Olah 6 |
Free Throws Made |
James Blackmon Jr 4 |
Tre Demps 1 |
Steals |
Yogi Ferrell 2 |
Alex Olah 2 |
Blocks |
Troy Williams 3 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
Northwestern
|
56 |
43.5 |
5-12 |
11-16 |
12 |
21 |
5 |
5 |
9 |
Indiana
|
71 |
41.5 |
11-32 |
6-10 |
19 |
35 |
6 |
5 |
8 |