Indiana's Cody Zeller scored 21 points and collected 13 rebounds as the Hoosiers held off a second-half Northwestern rally to post a 67-59 victory over the Wildcats at Evanston on Sunday.
IU improves to 16-2 overall, 4-1 in the Big Ten, while Northwestern falls to 11-8, 2-4 in the league.
The Hoosiers jumped out to a 17 point first-half lead, and maintained a 31-17 advantage at the break. But, the Wildcats employed a 1-3-1 trapping defense in the second half that forced hurried IU shots. Northwestern cut the lead to five three times, but some late free throws iced the game for the Hoosiers.
"They just kind of sped us up for a while," Zeller said. "We were kind of panicked there for a while."
Senior guard Jordan Hulls picked up the scoring slack with 15 points and senior forward Christian Watford added 14. Junior forward Victor Oladipo was held to seven points, but left the game early after being hit in the eye.
Northwestern senior Reggie Hearn scored a game-high 22 points to pace the Wildcats.
IU returns home to Assembly Hall to host Penn State Wednesday and Michigan State next Sunday.
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