March 3, 2004

Box Score

By NANCY ARMOUR
AP Sports Writer

EVANSTON, Ill. (AP) - Vedran Vukusic scored his only five points in the last minute, including a long jumper with seven-tenths of a second left that gave Northwestern a 51-49 victory over Iowa on Wednesday night.

T.J. Parker, Jitim Young and Davor Duvancic all had 14 points for Northwestern, which swept the season series against Iowa for the first time since 1959. Parker was particularly strong, knocking down four three-pointers including all of his three attempts in the second half.

The victory was a critical one for Northwestern for both its Big Ten and postseason aspirations; at 8-7 in the Big Ten, the 'Cats are currently tied for fourth in the conference with Iowa but would gain the fourth seed by virtue of their sweep of the Hawkeyes. Overall, NU needs to be .500 or better to become eligible for the NIT, and with the win the Wildcats improved to 13-13 with one regular-season game left.

Greg Brunner had 19 points and 11 rebounds for Iowa (15-11, 8-7), but the Hawkeyes didn't have any other players in double figures.

Vukusic averages 14.6 points a game, second-best on the team, but he was 0-for-9 through the first 39 minutes of the game. When the Wildcats really needed him, though, he came up big.

"My coaches said 'you've got to get him out,' but I'm not like that to get him out," said NU head coach Bill Carmody of his sophomore forward. "He wasn't feeling good about himself. Whatever it was, he just needed a blow and I think that revitalized him somehow."

With Northwestern trailing 47-45, Vukusic hit an off-balance 3-pointer. Brody Boyd missed a long 3, and Duvancic made the front end of a one-and-one. He missed the second, though, and Iowa got the ball with 30 seconds left. Jeff Horner was fouled by Young and made both shots, tying the game again at 49.

But Vukusic had one more big shot in him. With seven-tenths of a second left, he drilled a long jumper. As the ball swished through the net, the Northwestern bench jumped to its feet and the crowd roared.

"That final play was for Jitim; I wanted to get the ball in Jitim's hands," said Carmody. "They really locked him up -- Hansen, the big guy, was all over him. Vedran looked at him closely, but wanted to make sure we didn't turn it over so he did the next best thing."

Iowa had one chance left, but Duvancic tipped the inbounds pass and time ran out.

"Davor had a tremendous game," said Carmody. "He rebounded in crowds, and the only shots he missed were the ones Hansen whacked away."

Northwestern went almost seven minutes without a field goal midway through the second half, but Iowa couldn't capitalize on the drought. Erek Hansen scored on a dunk and a turnaround jumper as part of a 7-1 Iowa run that gave the Hawkeyes a 34-28 lead with 14:25 to play, but the Hawkeyes couldn't build a bigger lead.

Duvancic finally broke Northwestern's scoring drought with a layup with 11:46 to play. Then Parker caught fire, draining three 3-pointers in a seven-minute span to give Northwestern a 45-40 lead with 2:49 to play.

"T.J. kept us in there in the second half," said Carmody. "I didn't think he looked too good early on, but then he came through and hit those three in a row like he was playing H-O-R-S-E out there."

Northwestern will conclude the regular season Saturday afternoon when it hosts Michigan, which is also in the mix in the middle of the Big Ten pack at 7-8. Tipoff is slated for 1:30 p.m.; Senior Day ceremonies will take place at approximately 1:15.

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