With nothing falling early on, Northwestern was desperate for a spark.
Down 31-14 with a little more than four minutes to go in the first half, the Wildcats were cold from 3-point range and Michigan center DeShawn Sims had tossed in 11 points with little opposition.
That’s when freshman Drew Crawford caught fire. His teammates fed off Crawford’s momentum, rallying to beat the Wolverines 68-62 at Crisler Arena for their first Big Ten win of the season.
“Drew Crawford brought us back at the end of the first half,” coach Bill Carmody said. “We went back to the locker room and I said, ‘If I’ve got a freshman doing this, where are the other guys?'”
Crawford, who was scoreless in the first 16 minutes, quieted the Michigan crowd by draining a 3-pointer. He added another in transition after a John Shurna steal, then stole the ball himself, hitting two free throws and another 3. In four possessions, Crawford turned a one-sided game into a manageable six-point deficit. He would finish with 25 points and eight rebounds, shooting 4-of-5 from beyond the arc and emphatically slamming home a tip-back in the second half to cut Michigan’s lead to one.
After shooting 1-of-10 from 3-point range before Crawford’s streak, the Cats hit 10-of-14 from the perimeter. Junior point guard Michael Thompson, who has struggled since suffering a hip injury against Illinois, broke out of his slump by scoring 12 of his 15 points in the second half. The Cats’ 1-3-1 and matchup zones, which had allowed Sims to run rampant down low, started giving Michigan problems. After Crawford’s run, NU forced nine turnovers, including a five-second-inbounds violation, and held Sims to only six points after halftime.
“We were able to turn it up,” Crawford said. “We started getting some steals, getting some deflections and rebounds.”
NU (12-3, 1-2 Big Ten) came out flat, as Michigan went on an 8-0 run after sophomore center Luka Mirkovic scored the game’s first four points. The Wolverines (8-7, 2-2), who along with the Cats are one of the few teams to run the 1-3-1 zone, used their familiarity with the set to jump out to a 17-point lead. Meanwhile NU had no such luck against the defense it sees in practice every day.
“We sort of fell prey to our own defense,” Carmody said. “We were ready for it, but when the lights are on, sometimes things change.”
Crawford’s two-minute shooting spree turned things around for the Cats. NU’s defense stepped up, stealing the ball four times before the half ended. After intermission, Crawford sparked a 6-0 run by dishing out an assist and scoring four points, including a follow-up after senior guard Jeremy Nash blew a transition layup.
“We were much more energized,” Carmody said.
NU stormed in front by 10 after nailing five consecutive 3-pointers, including a Mirkovic corner shot out of a timeout that tied the game at 47. A Wolverines rally allowed them to come back and take a one-point lead with less than a minute to go. But stiff defense and four free throws from Crawford gave the Cats a lead they did not relinquish.
The game was a departure from a string of games dominated by Shurna’s scoring. The sophomore forward had led the Cats in scoring with five straight 20-point performances, averaging 28 points per game in conference play. Michigan’s defense honed in on Shurna, and he finished 4-of-14 from the field for 11 points. But his teammates picked up the slack.
“It was nice balancing,” Carmody said. “Shurna is a marked man, Thompson is a marked man, so you look around for some other men. And a couple guys came through tonight.”[email protected]
