Evanston, Ill. – Vedran Vukusic scored 22 points to lead four Northwestern players in double figures Sunday as the Wildcats defeated Northern Colorado 82-47.
Bernard Cote added 14 points and Vince Scott had 12 for Northwestern (7-4).
Sean Taibi scored 13 points to lead Northern Colorado (1-15). The Bears won their first game of the season Friday against Eastern Michigan.
Northwestern built a 47-21 halftime lead while shooting 72 percent from the field.
The Wildcats scored 33 points off 25 Northern Colorado turnovers.
Sterling Williams scored a career-high 11 for Northwestern, picking up the slack for sidelined guard Mohamed Hachad, the Wildcats’ second-leading scorer (9.8 points a game), who is out indefinitely after an appendectomy Wednesday.
NORTHERN COLORADO (1-15)
Birden 3-7 3-5 9, Olson 3-4 0-0 7, Lowe 3-8 3-6 9, Kline 1-7 0-0 2, Taibi 6-11 0-0 13, Jefferies 0-3 2-2 2, Lewis 0-0 0-0 0, Archibeque 1-3 1-2 3, McDaniel 1-2 0-0 2, Gebhardt 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 18-47 9-15 47.
NORTHWESTERN (7-4)
Doyle 4-7 0-0 8, Vukusic 6-9 9-11 22, Cote 5-7 2-2 14, Moore 3-7 0-0 9, Williams 5-6 1-2 11, Houlihan 0-2 0-0 0, Kennedy 1-3 0-0 3, Seacat 0-1 0-0 0, Melchior 0-1 0-0 0, Jenkins 1-2 0-2 3, Scott 5-8 1-1 12. Totals 30-53 13-18 82.
Halftime – Northwestern 47-21. 3-point goals – N. Colorado 2-15 (Olson 1-1, Taibi 1-6, Jefferies 0-3, Kline 0-5), Northwestern 9-22 (Moore 3-6, Cote 2-2, Vukusic 1-2, Jenkins 1-2, Scott 1-2, Kennedy 1-3, Seacat 0-1, Williams 0-1, Houlihan 0-1, Doyle 0-2). Fouled out – None. Rebounds – N. Colorado 38 (Birden, Lowe 9), Northwestern 20 (Cote 4). Assists – N. Colorado 14 (Kline 10), Northwestern 23 (Doyle 5). Total fouls – N. Colorado 17, Northwestern 15. A – 3,994.
