Drew Crawford News

John Shurna scored a career-high 29 points as Northwestern defeated Central Connecticut State 74-54 Tuesday night for its ninth straight victory and its best start in 79 years.

With freshman guard Drew Crawford leading the way, Northwestern set a pair of Big Ten records during its 90-65 win over North Carolina A&T on Sunday.

Tipoff: 11 a.m. at Welsh-Ryan Arena in Evanston, Ill. TV: Big Ten Network Radio: 860-AM Update: The Cardinal plays its first true road game since opening the season with a loss at San Diego.

Six Wildcats scored in double figures and sophomore Luka Mirkovic finished with 13 points, eight assists and two blocks as Northwestern raced past North Florida, 84-54, Wednesday night at Welsh-Ryan Arena.

As he prepared for tonight's game against North Florida, Drew Crawford tried to explain his 35-point outburst Sunday against North Carolina A&T. ''It was one of those nights, and it just kind of happened,'' Crawford said.

Everyone knows Northwestern men's basketball has never made the NCAA Tournament.

Watching Illinois baskets fall like December snow late in the first half and early in the second Sunday, Western Michigan forward Flenard Whitfield had something to say to Illini forward Mike Davis.

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.

Their next game is against North Carolina A&T on Sunday. Their next significant game isn't until Dec.

The roars that went up in the Naperville Central locker room following a 47-39 win Friday at West Aurora made it seem like the Redhawks hadn't won in Aurora in 30 years, like they had just removed the proverbial monkey from their back.

The errant pass skipped toward the Northwestern bench, where coach Bill Carmody snagged it.

The day Alex Marcotullio verbally committed to Northwestern, his high school coach told wildcatreport.com: "I think Northwestern got a real steal." OK, so what coach wouldn't say that about one of his players? But in this case, Greg Esler of De La Salle High School in Warren, Mich., spoke the truth.

Bridgewater College shot 51 percent from the floor Tuesday night, but the Eagles were no match for hot-shooting Southern Virginia University as the Knights pulled away for a 91-65 nonconference victory.

Longtime adversaries renew their rivalry for the first time in a quarter century tonight, as the 23rd-ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish clash with the Northwestern Wildcats as part of the Chicago Invitational at UIC Pavilion.

Notre Dame has blown out its first five opponents this season, but it should get a tougher test Friday night.

Don't have a lot of time because I need to get back to courtside to watch the second half of the Northwestern-DePaul women's game.

Northwestern UIC Pavilion Chicago, Ill. * 7:30 p.m. TV: Big Ten Network Audio: WGN-AM 720 and wgnradio.com Satellite Radio: Sirius 159 and XM 117 Gametracker: NUsports.com In-game Twitter updates: @NU_SportsLIVE Northwestern Game Notes EVANSTON, Ill.

Freshman Drew Crawford scored 22 points, nearly double his output from the first three games combined, to lead Northwestern to a 69-53 victory over Liberty on Tuesday night.

Michael Thompson refused to let Northwestern lose. The junior point guard scored a career-high 31 points including 13 of the team's last 16 as the Wildcats finished the game on a 16-1 run to get past Tennessee State 69-62 Sunday afternoon at Welsh-Ryan Arena.

Michael Thompson scored a career-high 31 points, including 21 in the second half, as Northwestern held off Tennessee State, 69-62, in the Chicago Classic.