On Thursday afternoon, John Shurna led the way for Northwestern. On Friday, it was Drew Crawford who stepped up for the Wildcats, scoring 28 points in NU’s 69-65 win over Tulsa.
The junior forward hit 11-of-19 shots from the field, including an impressive 5-of-8 clip from behind the arc.
The victory sends the Cats to the championship match of the Charleston Classic, where they will take on the winner of tonight’s Seton Hall-Saint Joseph’s matchup.
NU won despite hitting just 37.3 percent of its shots from the field. It actually posted a better shooting percentage from behind the arc than it did from inside the three-point line. Once again, the Cats were hampered by very little production from inside the paint. They got outrebounded 45-26 in Friday’s contest.
Steven Idlet and Jordan Clarkson gave NU fits all day, with Idlet draining 5-of-7 shots and contributing seven rebounds from the forward position and Clarkson pouring in 16 points from the outside, including one three that came from at least a foot behind the arc.
But where the Cats were successful was on the defensive end, holding the Golden Hurricane to 44 percent from the field and forcing 15 Tulsa turnovers.
