Ferrell Leads No. 25 Indiana To 89-57 Rout Over Northwestern
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) — Kevin "Yogi" Ferrell scored 17 points and Max Bielfeldt added 13 as No. 25 Indiana blew out Northwestern, 89-57, on Saturday.
The Hoosiers (17-3, 7-0 Big Ten) won their 12th straight, matching the longest winning streak since coach Tom Crean was hired in 2008. Indiana started 12-0 in 2011-12.
They did it in trademark fashion, too. Four days after making a school record 19 3-pointers, the Hoosiers made 13.
Alex Olah scored 19 points and Tre Demps had 17 to lead Northwestern (15-6, 3-5), which lost its third straight.
Indiana scored the first 10 points and never allowed the Wildcats to get closer than four. An 11-0 run late in the first half extended the lead to 41-22 and after the Hoosiers opened the second half by scoring the first six points, it was 49-26.
After that, the Wildcats couldn't get closer than 18.
It's been a remarkable run for the Hoosiers.
For the first time since 1992-93, they are 7-0 in league play.
They have held leads of 30 or more points in three straight home games and they completed a rare double — winning consecutive conference games by more than 20 points. The last time Indiana achieved that feat was in 2006-07 when it beat Michigan State 73-51 and Purdue 85-58.
The Hoosiers routed Illinois 103-69 on Tuesday.
And the way they're playing, they could keep it up.
In addition to shooting 52.6 percent from the field, they outrebounded Northwestern 40-23 and limited the Wildcats to just 5 of 15 on 3-point attempts.
TOUGH STRETCH
The Wildcats are facing their toughest stretch of the season. They lost at No. 7 Maryland on Tuesday, have now lost at Indiana and will face No. 11 Michigan State on Thursday before visiting No. 9 Iowa on Jan. 31. After that, the Wildcats have only one game left on the schedule against a team currently in the Top 25.
TIP-INS
Northwestern: The 89 points allowed was the most given up by the Wildcats this season. ... Indiana native Bryant McIntosh finished with four points, six rebounds and six assists. He needs nine more assists to break Tim Doyle's season school record (157), which was set in 2006-07. ... The Wildcats are 3-3 in their last six trips to Assembly Hall and 8-6 against the Hoosiers during the Crean Era.
Indiana: Needs one more win to match its longest winning streak (13) since 2000. The last time Indiana did that was in 2007-08. ... Ferrell, the Hoosiers' career assists leader, added six more to his total (559) and moved into the school's top 10 in scoring, too, by passing Eric Anderson (1,715 points). Ferrell has 1,719. ... Bielfeldt made one 3 in the game, giving him 12 this season — one more than his career total at Michigan.
UP NEXT
Northwestern hosts No. 11 Michigan State on Thursday.
Indiana visits Wisconsin on Tuesday.
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