Dec. 6, 2008

Box Score |  Photo Gallery 

EVANSTON, Ill. -- Kevin Coble scored a season-high 25 points and Craig Moore added 14 points to lead Northwestern to a 63-36 victory over DePaul on Saturday.

For his efforts, Coble was named the Waldo Fisher-Frank McGrath Most Valuable Player, an award that has been given to the MVP of the DePaul-Northwestern game since the 1974-75 season. Coble becomes only the second player to win the honor a second time, joining former NU star Billy McKinney, who won the honor in 1975-76 and 1976-77.

The victory allowed the Wildcats to improve to 6-1 this season, the team's best start since opening 7-1 in 2001-02.

Northwestern scored the game's first seven points, jumped ahead 16-4 and never saw its second-half lead dip below 13 points. The Wildcats rolled to a 31-15 halftime advantage.

Coble out-scored DePaul all by himself in the first half, posting 16 points before the break.

A foot injury sidelined Blue Demons starting center Mac Koshwal, who was a leading rebounder and scorer. He was replaced by Matilja Poscic, one of three freshman in the Blue Demon's starting lineup. Northwestern also started a pair of freshmen.

The 27-point margin of victory was the largest ever for NU in the series, topping 14-point wins in 1970 and 1987. The 36 points were the fewest by the Blue Demons in a game since Jan. 29, 1949.

Dar Tucker had 17 points for DePaul (4-2), which suffered its second straight defeat. Poscic had eight points and fouled out.

The Wildcats are on a three-game winning streak. They shot 46.6 percent compared with 24.6 percent for the Blue Demons.

 

The Associated Press contributed to this report

The Team

2011-12 Viewbook

Welsh-Ryan Arena

Bill Carmody Basketball Camps

Buy Tickets Online Here!

Multimedia

Photo Galleries

Big Ten Tournament Central