Dec. 19, 2009
STANFORD, Calif.- John Shurna scored 22 points and Northwestern used aggressive defense to hang on and defeat Stanford 70-62 on Saturday afternoon for its eighth consecutive victory.
Northwestern (9-1) matched its best start in 79 years while its current winning streak is the longest since a 9-0 debut during the 1993-94 season.
Stanford (5-4) received yet another standout performance from Landry Fields, who poured in a game-high 24 points while adding nine rebounds and five assists. Jeremy Green chipped in with 14 points while Drew Shiller added 12 points (4-5 from beyond the arc), six boards and five assists in 33 minutes off the bench.
In a hard-fought game that featured six ties and 12 lead changes, Stanford was hindered by a season-worst 18 turnovers. The Cardinal entered the game averaging only 11.3 turnovers to rank 17th-best in the nation.
Stanford was also whistled for 28 fouls, as Northwestern cashed in at a 22-33 clip from the free throw line. Conversely, the Wildcats were called for only 13 fouls and the Cardinal finished just 6-12 from the charity stripe.
Stanford was saddled with foul trouble through most of the second half, at one point seeing four of its five starters go to the bench with four fouls.
But the Cardinal nearly rallied from a 10-point deficit with 5:43 remaining, climbing within one point at 60-59 following an improbable three-pointer from Green with multiple Northwestern defenders in his face.
The first half ended in a 33-33 tie, with Fields and Shurna leading their respective clubs in double-digit scoring through 20 minutes.
Tied at 39-39 with 15:29 remaining, Northwestern jumped out to a 48-41 lead following two free throws from Shurna at the 11:44 mark.
Six minutes later, the Wildcats led 60-50 after a three-pointer from Luke Mirkovic.
But Stanford played tough, aggressive defense to whittle the lead down to 60-59 before Northwestern closed the game on a 10-3 scoring run.
Stanford wraps up its road trip at Texas Tech on Tuesday, Dec. 22, at 5 p.m. PT.
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NOTES: Four of Stanford's five losses have been by eight points or less ... Through 10 games this year, Stanford has scored 367 points in the first half, 367 points in the second half and two points in overtime ... Landry Fields registered his ninth 20-point game of the year and has now finished as the game's leading scorer seven times. He is averaging 23.0 points and 8.8 rebounds per game while shooting 50 percent from the field ... Drew Shiller is now 22-42 from beyond the arc, translating to 52.4 percent ... With Jarrett Mann and Jeremy Green in foul trouble, Gabriel Harris played a career-high 22 minutes off the bench and added three points and three boards ... Stanford held a 15-5 edge in bench scoring ... Stanford owned a 39-36 rebounding edge ... The Cardinal shot 42.1 percent from the floor compared to a 39.6 percent clip from Northwestern ... Stanford has defended the three-point shot well all year, allowing opponents to connect at a 31.1 percent rate. Saturday was no different; with Northwestern limited to just 8-22 from long range ... Stanford has dropped back-to-back games for the first time in 2009.