A dominant first half performance by the Northwestern University Wildcats allowed them to cruise to a 79-49 victory against the Texas Southern University Tigers at Welsh-Ryan Arena on Nov. 13.

On opening night, Wildcats’ senior forward Drew Crawford, scored a game high 20 of the team’s 43 points and single handily out scored the Tigers in the first half. The Wildcats built a 29 point lead headed into the second half, 43-14.

“Coach [Bill] Carmody always says make shots, so we work on it all day in practice,” Crawford said.

Together, Northwestern shot 59 percent from the field in the first half, while Texas Southern was limited to six field goal makes on 29 attempts.

The Wildcats fell into a rhythm early, which allowed Carmody to rest some of his starters late in the second half. It also gave some of the young Wildcats a chance at their first college basketball action.

The Wildcats allowed more than twice as many points in the second half (35), but the Tigers deficit was too much to overcome.

Despite Crawford missing all three of his shot attempts and failing to score a single point in the second half, the Wildcats received enough contribution from 9 of his teammates. Northwestern freshman guard Kale Abrahamson finished with 15 points in 19 minutes off the bench.

Abrahamson thanked Carmody for the opportunity to play at the press conference, following the game. The freshman hit three of his four three-point shot attempts.

“It was a great experience,” he said. “I just wanted to be ready whenever [Carmody] called my name. That’s what they tell you to do. So, I was trying to sit there and be ready.”

Carmody did not shy away from using his other freshman throughout the night. Aside from starting freshman center Alex Olah, he also played his back up center Chier Ajou. Both freshman are at least 7′ and give the Wildcats a strong presence inside.

Carmody said once the two relax, they should be key components to the program.

The Wildcats head into practice following their first victory of the year to prepare for Mississippi Valley State University Devils on Nov. 15 in Evanston, Il. [kml_flashembed publishmethod=”dynamic” fversion=”10.1.8276″ useexpressinstall=”true” movie=”https://columbiachronicle.com/soundslides/NUvTS_Bball_111312/soundslider.swf” width=”500″ height=”440″ targetclass=”flashmovie”]

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