Cats destroy Chicago State
EVANSTON, Ill. (AP)-Tre Demps tied his career-high with 23 points and Northwestern shrugged off a sluggish start for a 77-35 rout of Chicago State on Sunday night.
Demps, who was 9 for 18 from the field (including 5 of 10 on 3-pointers), also scored 23 in three previous games, the last being in February against Indiana. Nathan Taphorn also had 11 points for Northwestern.
Devon Friend led Chicago State (3-8) with 12 points.
The Wildcats (8-1) have won five straight and are off to their best start since also winning eight of nine to start the 2010-11 season.
It was Northwestern's first game in eight days. The Wildcats hadn't played since an 81-56 win over SIU-Edwardsville on Dec. 5.
The long layoff was apparent early as Chicago State jumped out to a 5-0 lead and Northwestern didn't connect on its first field goal until four minutes and 32 seconds into the game.
The Wildcats, though, quickly gained control. After falling behind by five points early, they limited Chicago State to just 10 points the remainder of the first half. Northwestern led 31-15 at halftime paced by Demps' 13 points.
Chicago State scored the first basket of the second half to pull within 14, but the Wildcats scored the next 15 points to open up a 46-17 lead with just under 15 minutes left.
Northwestern Notes vs. Chicago State - Dec. 13, 2015
Northwestern improves to 10-0 all-time against Chicago State.
The 35 points allowed by Northwestern matched a low under third-year head coach Chris Collins. The Wildcats allowed 35 in a win over Western Michigan Dec. 7, 2013. It matches the fewest points allowed by NU since a 68-30 win over Oakland on Nov. 21, 1998.
The Wildcats improved their record to 8-1 with the win. It is the team's best start to a season since opening the 2011-12 season with the same mark.
Chicago State entered the game 10th in the nation, forcing 18.2 turnovers per game. Northwestern finished the contest with only eight turnovers.
Northwestern assisted on 24 of its 29 field goals in the contest (82.8 percent). The 24 assists matched a season high and was the second consecutive game that the Wildcats posted the mark, also doing so against SIU Edwardsville on Dec. 5.
Demps was the game's leading scorer with 23 points, matching his career high. He scored 23 points on three previous occasions, most recently vs. Indiana on Feb. 25, 2015.
Demps pulled down a career-high 9 rebounds in the contest. His previous high was 8 rebounds vs. Illinois Jan. 12, 2014.
Demps knocked down a career-high five 3-pointers. His previous high was four triples on six occasions.
Demps moved up three spots on Northwestern's all-time scoring list into 21st place. He surpassed Frank Ehmann, Brian Schwabe and Andre Goode on Sunday night.
With his five 3-pointers, Demps moved past Alex Marcotulio and into eighth place in career 3-point field goals with 158.
Taphorn matched a season high with 11 points. He also scored 11 at Virginia Tech Dec. 1. His 5 rebounds bested his previous career high of 4 (two occasions), while his three 3-pointers matched a career high (five other occasions).
Graduate senior center Joey van Zegeren missed the game due to a right foot injury.