NCAAB Game Recap - Southern Illinois-Edwardsville at Northwestern
Sun Dec 15, 2019 4:00 PM EST

OhSt
71
Minn
84
F
Woff
68
UNC
64
F
(N/A)
30
W&M
90
F
Quin
81
Maine
61
F
CenCT
55
BC
74
F
UTRGV
82
NebOm
92
F
GWebb
46
VaTec
73
F
Copp
77
UMBC
86
F
(N/A)
41
ETSU
97
F
Norf
45
LoyIL
64
F
IlSt
64
NoKY
79
F
MsVl
67
Mia-O
79
F
TNSt
66
Ford
61
F
SacHr
65
UCF
76
F
(N/A)
50
Akr
100
F
OkSt
61
Hou
55
F
NCSU
80
UNCG
77
F
(N/A)
55
UTSA
98
F
SIU-E
54
NW
72
F
Purd
56
Nebras
70
F
SIU
48
Mizzu
64
F
Troy
80
Chat
84
F(OT)
Longw
76
Stetsn
72
F
Drex
61
SoFL
81
F
Clev
58
BGSU
72
F
UCRiv
56
WaSt
70
F
GaSo
51
Brad
81
F
SouthCar
67
Clem
54
F
(N/A)
58
SHSU
91
F
CSNor
73
Pacif
79
F
TXAMC
60
TAMU
63
F
(N/A)
65
TxSt
117
F
LongB
76
USC
87
F
MOSt
51
VCU
61
F
SEMO
50
YSU
65
F
Samf
73
HI
94
F

Dec 15, 2019, 4:00 PM EST

Final

1

2

T

Southern Illinois-Edwardsville

25

29

54

Northwestern

31

41

72

Young leads Northwestern over SIU-Edwardsville 72-54
Sun Dec 15, 2019 7:18 PM

EVANSTON, Ill. (AP) With shots not falling for Northwestern on the perimeter, Ryan Young took over the game inside.

Young had career-highs with 25 points and 12 rebounds, Pat Spencer had 15 points and Northwestern overcame a sluggish offensive performance for a 72-54 victory over SIU-Edwardsville on Sunday.

Young, a redshirt freshman, was 11 for 15 from the field in topping his previous high of 19 points against Norfolk State last month.

Overall, the Wildcats (5-4) were 26 for 64 (40.6%) from the field, including 3 for 19 on 3-pointers.

"We didn't shoot the ball well," NU coach Chris Collins said. "We didn't shoot it well from 3, we didn't shoot it particularly well from the free throw line, but I thought we shared it, our defense was solid most of the night and a point of emphasis was to get the ball inside. I thought Ryan Young was fantastic."

Zeke Moore had 18 points to lead SIU-Edwards (2-8).

Northwestern was playing without starter Pete Nance, who was serving a team-issued one-game suspension for "failure to adhere to program standards."

The sophomore forward is averaging 11.9 points and 7.5 rebounds this season. He had 14 points and six rebounds in the Wildcats' 58-44 loss last week at Purdue.

The Wildcats had a slim 31-25 halftime lead mainly because they couldn't find any consistency on the offensive end - especially from beyond the 3-point arc where they were 2 for 10.

At the start of the second half, Northwestern put together its best offensive stretch to that point with a 16-6 run in the first five minutes to open a 47-31 lead.

But then the Wildcats suddenly went cold again and were held scoreless for 3:16 as SIU-Edwardsville ran off eight straight to make it 47-39.

"I liked where it was at times," Cougars coach Brian Barone said of his team's defense. "We did a pretty good job of switching defenses on makes and misses. I thought our transition defense really hurt us on some key moments of the game, though."

Young ended the drought with a basket inside with 11:46 to play. Shamar Wright answered with a 3-pointer at the other end to trim the lead to seven, but the Wildcats then ran off the next nine points for a 58-42 edge with just under seven minutes to go.

"As one of the young guys on the team, I feel like I challenge myself personally to bring energy to games like this," Young said. "As a team, we're inexperienced and we're young and you can fall into that trap of not bringing energy in games that people view as not big games."

BIG PICTURE

SIU-Edwardsville: The Cougars had one of their better efforts of the season, especially on the defensive end. The difference was they had no answer for Young inside.

Northwestern: For whatever reason, the Wildcats have struggled against lower-level Division I programs, and this game was no exception. They just don't seem to play loose and free when facing a team they are expected to beat.

UNDER THE WEATHER

Miller Kopp, who entered leading Northwestern in scoring at 12.1 points, was held scoreless (0-for-3 shooting) in 20 minutes. "I give him credit for coming out," Collins said. "He has not felt well for a few days."

EXAM BLUES

Regardless of the opponent, Collins was happy to survive the Wildcats' first game after exam week.

"This is always a difficult game to play on the heels of final exams," he said. "Our practice time is a little bit limited and when you do practice, you're a little bit fried mentally because of all the work you're doing."

UP NEXT

SIU-Edwardsville at Winthrop on Tuesday.

Northwestern hosts No. 16 Michigan State on Wednesday night.

More AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/Collegebasketball and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25

Leaders

Southern Illinois-Edwardsville PTS +/- AST REB ST BLK
Z. Moore 18 0 2 7 0 0
T. Williford 12 0 2 4 1 0
Northwestern PTS +/- AST REB ST BLK
R. Young 25 0 4 12 2 0
P. Spencer 15 0 4 4 4 0

Team Comparison

SIU-E NW
Points For 54 72
Field Goals 22/48-46% 26/64-41%
Three Pointers 5/17-29% 3/19-16%
Free Throws 5/6-83% 17/28-61%
Offensive Rebounds 4 16
Defensive Rebounds 25 22
Rebounds 32 43
Blocks 6 2
Steals 2 10
Turnovers 18 6
Personal Fouls 24 10
Technical Fouls 0 0
Ejections 0 0

2019-20 Reg Season - NW Leads Series 1-0

Date Result Away Pts Ldr Home Pts Ldr
Sun Dec 15 SIU-E 54 @ NW 72 Z. Moore 18 R. Young 25

Game Information

Stadium: Welsh-Ryan Arena, Evanston, Illinois
Attendance: 5,464
Game Time: