Northwestern improved to 6-0 Tuesday night with an impressive 76-60 victory over Georgia Tech at Phillips Arena.
After a somewhat shaky performance in their win over Stony Brook on Friday, the Wildcats came out red-hot against the Yellow Jackets, jumping out to an early 15-4 lead less than five minutes into the game. NU expanded its lead to 13 points midway through the period before Jason Morris brought Georgia Tech back within reach, scoring 13 of its next 19 points to cut NU’s lead to three.
Morris finished with 21 points off the bench, but he wasn’t the story as senior forward John Shurna controlled play with 25 points and eight rebounds. He made more than half of his shots from the field and drained three-of-six from behind the arc. Two other Cats’ players finished in double figures, as junior forward Drew Crawford had 14 points and senior center Luka Mirkovic added a season-high 13.
NU’s balanced offensive attack finished with a 55 percent clip from the field and played consistently from one half to the next. The Cats made sure their 44-39 halftime lead would stick with solid defense, as the Yellow Jackets made just 30 percent of their field goal attempts in the second half and committed 17 turnovers on the night
Georgia Tech never led Tuesday. NU was able to maintain its advantage throughout the game by combining its dominance of the paint with myriad points off the fast break. The Cats outpaced the Yellow Jackets 17-10 on the fast break, and outscored them by a margin of 44-30 in the paint,
NU continues to follow a pattern set by earlier Bill Carmody teams of starting strong in non-conference play. The veteran coach’s 2009-2010 team entered Big Ten play with a 10-1 record, while his 2010-2011 team won its first eight before falling to St. John’s in the championship game of the Holiday Festival at Madison Square Garden.
