Northwestern’s offensive woes continued this past week, but the Wildcats’ defense dominated Western Michigan on Saturday in a 51-35 victory. The win snapped a three-game losing streak and was the Wildcats’ third straight victory at home.
With star center Shayne Whittington on the bench for most of the second half, Western Michigan (5-3) struggled to get into an offensive groove.
Northwestern (5-5) was able to double up the Broncos in the first half, taking a 24-12 lead into halftime.
The Wildcats quickly extended their lead to 18 points in the second half at 31-13, and it grew to as many as 20 at 46-26 with 6:11 remaining.
Western Michigan crawled back within 14 points but never really posed much of a threat.
Fifth-year senior Drew Crawford led the way for Northwestern with 15 points and nine rebounds while junior JerShon Cobb recorded 11 points, five assists, and three steals.
7-foot sophmore center Alex Olah added 10 points and six boards.
Despite his first half foul trouble, Whittington recorded a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds, and leading scorer David Brown posted 10 points and five boards.
No other Broncos reached double figures in scoring.
The Wildcats received a treat as Mike Krzyzewski, Duke’s legendary head coach and Northwestern head coach Chris Collins’ former boss and coach, was in attendance.
“He’s like part of my family,” Collins told The Daily Northwestern. “The main thing he wanted to do was make sure I wasn’t going to be messed up by him in there. It was an honor to have him at our game.”
Northwestern returns to action against Mississippi Valley State on Dec. 16 while Western Michigan will play at Missouri next Sunday.
