Feb. 26, 2008

Box Score

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Craig Moore's school-record eighth 3-pointer with one minute left in regulation was the game-winner as Northwestern was able to finish off Michigan for a 62-60 victory Tuesday evening at Crisler Arena.

Moore scored a game-high 25 points in the contest and broke the previous NU record of seven treys twice achieved by himself and Todd Leslie and once by Winston Blake.

Kevin Coble added 16 points for the Wildcats (8-18, 1-14), while freshman Ivan Peljusic enjoyed his best collegiate game to date, scoring 13 points and grabbing a team-high seven rebounds.

Manny Harris led Michigan (9-19, 5-11) with 17 points and eight rebounds.

The Wildcats - namely Moore - came out on fire as Northwestern blindsided the Wolverines with a 16-2 lead five minutes into the game. Moore was deadly from 3-point range, connecting on each of his first four attempts to help NU to the early advantage.

However, Michigan finally discovered its offense and rattled off 10 consecutive points to pull back within four.

The half of runs continued as the Wildcats broke out of their dry spell to rebuild their lead. A 20-5 run featured Moore knocking down two more tries from behind the arc to give Northwestern its largest lead of the half of 19 at 36-17.

The Wolverines would chip away before the half as they scored eight in a row to creep back within 36-25 at the intermission.

NU forced 10 first-half turnovers by Michigan while holding the hosts to 33.3 percent (7-21) shooting. Moore connected on six of seven 3-point attempts in the first half while the rest of the Wildcats went 0-for-9.

Northwestern's lead was still 11 at 41-30 just under six minutes into the half when Michigan made its move. Nine straight points by the Wolverines got them back to within two with 11:34 to go.

The Wildcats continued to maintain a precarious lead until Michigan finally got back to even at 50-50 with 5:46 left on a basket by Anthony Wright.

NU built the lead back to six before Ron Coleman chopped the hosts' deficit in half at the 3:26 mark. No Wildcat other than Moore had hit a 3-pointer in the game until Peljusic picked the perfect time to knock down his first one of the season with 2:49 remaining.

Michigan continued to battle back, though, as two free throws by Wright and a deep trey by Harris cut Northwestern's edge to 59-58. When Harris then knocked down two from the charity stripe with 1:15 to go, the Wolverines finally had their first lead of the game.

After coming up just short in losses to Iowa and Indiana last week, it appeared as through victory might elude the Wildcats once again. In both contests, Moore had opportunities to give NU the lead late, but his 3-point tries in both games were off the mark.

But this time, the junior guard redeemed himself, drilling a triple from the right wing with a minute left to give Northwestern back a two-point lead that would hold up.

Harris would turn the ball over for Michigan on the following possession, and after the Wildcats missed on the other end, the Wolverines had one final chance. But Wright's 3-point try from in front of the Michigan bench was off the mark. Moore hauled in the rebound and threw the ball down to the other end of the court to allow the final three seconds to tick away.

Northwestern returns to action at 1 p.m. Central time Saturday when it travels to Purdue.