Northwestern 51, Western Michigan 35: Drew Crawford led the way with 15 points and nine rebounds as the Wildcats won a defensive battle over the visiting Broncos.

JerShon Cobb scored 11 points and Alex Olah had 10 and six boards off the bench for Northwestern (5-5), which snapped a three-game losing streak. The Wildcats limited Western Michigan (5-3) to 24.4 percent shooting and forced 15 turnovers.

Shayne Whittington had 12 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Broncos, who came in averaging 75.7 points. Leading scorer David Brown was held to 10 points on 3-of-15 shooting.

Northwestern scored the first six points of the game and never trailed. Western Michigan endured two separate scoring droughts of more than five minutes and went 4-of-17 from the field before the break.

Connar Tava hit a free throw 23 seconds into the second half but the Broncos missed their next five field-goal attempts during another scoring drought of more than five minutes. The Wildcats did not exactly light up the scoreboard but Crawford’s 3-pointer made it 41-21 with 7:56 to play as they coasted to the finish.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Northwestern coach Chris Collins made some changes to his starting lineup following the three-game losing streak and James Montgomery went 0-for-1 in his first career start. … The Broncos went 1-for-15 from 3-point range while the Wildcats were 3-for-19. … Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski, who coached Collins and served as his mentor for years on the Blue Devils bench, attended the game.