Something had to give. With Iowa State’s high-powered offense going up against Northwestern’s stingy defense Saturday, not many knew what to expect. In the end, the Wildcats (5-1) slowed down the Cyclones (6-1) to come away with a 67-65 victory and the Chicago Invitational Challenge Championship.After notching a career-best 25 points in NU’s win over No. 23 Notre Dame on Friday night, forward John Shurna came up big once again. The sophomore led the Cats with 23 points, earning tournament MVP honors.”You’ve got to take accountability for wins and losses,” coach Bill Carmody said. “And (Shurna’s) doing that now.”Shurna kept NU in the game after Iowa State raced out to a 10-3 lead. He scored 17 points in the first 12 minutes to put the Cats ahead by four. But Iowa State rallied back, going on a 19-10 run to close the half.Coming into the game, the Cyclones were shooting 51.5 percent from beyond the arc, and they continued their hot shooting against NU in the first half. Iowa State took 15 shots from long distance, draining seven. Add that to their 18 points in the paint and the Cyclones had racked up 39 points by halftime.”(The tempo) was going too fast for us to win that game,” coach Bill Carmody said.Even though Iowa State was lighting up the scoreboard, NU held Iowa State’s leading scorer, forward Craig Brackins, to six points and thee boards in the first half.But Brackins bounced back after intermission.The Iowa State star slammed down an alley-hoop to start the second period, and he went on to score seven of the Cyclone’s first nine points.One minute into the half, Iowa State jumped out to a nine-point lead, its largest of the game. But this time senior guard Jeremy Nash came to the rescue, nailing consecutive 3s to pull the Cats within three. NU played catch-up for the next eight minutes, finally tying the game on junior guard Michael Thompson’s 3-pointer with 11 minutes left. Two minutes later, freshman guard Alex Marcotullio hit a 3 to put the Cats ahead for good.NU’s defense clamped down, holding the Cyclones to 26 second-half points. After shooting 50 percent from the field in the first half, Iowa State shot only 28 percent in the second.The Cyclones chipped away at the Cats’ lead. With 21 seconds left NU’s advantage had slipped to two, but Nash hit two free throws to give the Cats a four point advantage. Iowa State wasn’t finished, hitting a free throw and a 3-pointer. Nash nailed two more free throws with seven seconds left, killing any comeback chances.”The biggest plays of the game were Nash,” Carmody said.With Shurna struggling, the Chicago native stepped up in the second half. Nash recorded all 10 of his points after halftime.”It seems like (Nash) is getting a little more dependable,” Carmody said.The 6-foot-3 guard finished with 16 points and four steals in the Cats’ two tournament games to earn a spot with Thompson on the All-Tournament Team.Along with Nash and Thompson, Shurna has been filling the scoring void left by the absence of Craig Moore and Kevin Coble. Not only did Shurna lead NU in field goals against Notre Dame and Iowa State, but he also connected on six 3s in the tournament, tops on the team.”He’s a hard guard,” Carmody said. “Who do you guard him with?”NU will take on North Carolina State in its first road game of the season Tuesday, part of the ACC-Big Ten Challenge.

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