EVANSTON, Ill. (AP)—An 11-day layoff didn’t seem to bother Northwestern and it certainly didn’t bother freshman Drew Crawford, who scored a career-high 35 points, including eight 3-pointers, as Northwestern defeated North Carolina A&T 90-65 Sunday.
The Wildcats (7-1) won their sixth in a row, and their 20 3-pointers smashed the team record of 15, set in 2007 against Arkansas State.
With the score tied at 11-11, Northwestern went on a 12-2 run, as Crawford hit three 3-pointers and Nash one. The Wildcats went 13-of-25 in the first half from behind the arc in taking a 50-37 lead at the break.
Crawford had 24 points in the opening half, six on 3-pointers, topping his previous game-best of 22 points against Liberty, and far surpassing his 5.7-point average. He made his second 3-pointer just over six minutes into the game to beat that number.
For the game, Crawford was 12-for-17 from the field, 8-for-13 from 3-point range. The Wildcats also set a school record for 3-point attempts with 47. They tried 36 from behind the arc in a 2003 game against Ohio State.
Four Northwestern players scored in double figures, as Michael Thompson had 19, freshman Alex Marcotullio 11 and Jeremy Nash 10. Thompson had five 3-pointers, eight assists and five rebounds.
Thomas Coleman led the Aggies (4-6) with 16 points, while Robert Johnson and Tavarus Alston had 12 points apiece. It was the first meeting between the schools.
