For Indiana guard Roderick Wilmont, Northwestern has become synonymous with career-high, as in scoring.

Unfortunately for the Wildcats (10-9, 3-5 Big Ten), Wilmont’s career nights have led directly to losses, including Wednesday’s 72-63 defeat in front of 17,094 fans at Assembly Hall in Bloomington, Ind.

Wilmont, a junior, scored 23 points, his highest total with Indiana (13-5, 5-3), to surpass his previous high of 20, which he set last season in a home victory against NU. He shot 8 of 13 from the field, including 5 of 10 from beyond the arc.

“Indiana was able to find some openings, and Wilmont got some good looks,” NU guard Mohamed Hachad said. “It seems like every time we play them he has a good game.”

Indiana, which shares the Big Ten lead in 3-pointers made with nine per game, hit 10 of 26 3s. The team shot 51 percent overall.

NU neutralized Indiana forward Marco Killingsworth, holding the senior to nine points, 10 below his season average. But the Indiana backcourt picked up the slack, with three guards – Wilmont, Robert Vaden (11 points) and Errek Suhr (10) – scoring in double figures.

“Killingsworth is obviously their biggest strength,” Hachad said. “We tried to minimize him and did a good job, but he’s a good passer and was able to get the ball to the open guys.”

On NU’s offensive end, Indiana’s sagging man-to-man defense kept NU out of the paint, forcing the Cats into taking 24 3-pointers, including several contested shots in the first half. NU, which had been shooting 31.8 percent heading into Wednesday’s game, made eight 3s for 33.3 percent.

“Every time we were cutting it seemed like there was another guy there to stop us,” Hachad said. “But I think we gave up by taking 3s. It’s hard to make shots on the road, so we can’t give up on the offense like that.”

Although slow starts in both halves forced NU to play from behind for most of the night, NU trailed by just three at halftime and tied the score at 30 with 16:53 remaining.

But two offensive rebounds by Indiana’s smallest player, the 5-foot-8 Suhr, led to two second-chance 3-pointers that gave the Hoosiers the lead and momentum.

“We were competing with them all night,” NU senior forward Vedran Vukusic said. “But we let the little guy, Suhr, get two crucial balls, and they pulled away. It’s a tough loss.”

NU coach Bill Carmody opted for a smaller lineup for most of the night, with the 6-8 Vukusic as his tallest player.

In six minutes of playing time in the first half, 6-9 junior forward Bernard Cote forced two Indiana turnovers and hit a 3-pointer, but he did not play in the second half.

“It wasn’t anything he did wrong,” Carmody told WGN radio after the game. “I just wanted Vedran in there at center.”

NU had three players in double figures: Vukusic scored 18 points, Hachad had 14 and freshman guard Craig Moore added 11.

With the loss, the Cats remain winless at Assembly Hall and have not won at Indiana since 1968.

“We’ve been playing a lot harder away from home,” Vukusic said. “We played really well tonight. We were in it for the whole game. But we can’t be satisfied with a loss.”

Reach Scott Duncan at [email protected].