Northwestern-Michigan: 11-0 Run Might Have Saved Wildcats' Season

With 4:23 to go in the first half, Manny Harris hit two free throws to give Michigan a 31-14 lead over the Northwestern Wildcats.

I never turn off my teams' games early, but I was tempted to do it in this case. I mean, as a Northwestern fan I've suffered enough trauma to start 2010. First the Outback Bowl, then the blowout loss to MSU in hoops, then the uninspiring win over Texas Pan-American that could have easily been a loss, it hasn't been a fun start to the new decade.

An 0-3 start to Big Ten play would be extremely difficult to overcome, at least for a NCAA tournament berth. (They started 0-4 last year, but still made the NIT.)

But then Drew Crawford decided to save Northwestern's season.

For all the attention paid to John Shurna and Michael "Juice" Thompson, the freshman Crawford is the X-Factor this year for NU hoops.

He's the best athlete Northwestern basketball has had since Geno Carlisle. The kid still makes some mistakes passing the ball and he's struggled with foul trouble at times.

But man can he score.

Down by 17, Crawford coolly drained two threes in a row, then drove hard to the hoop and drew a foul. The freshman drained two shots from the charity stripe, then banged home another triple.

And like that...it was a six-point game.

From then on, it was a back and forth battle, that saw NU go up by 10 in the second half, only to see Michigan storm back to take a one-point lead.

Then Crawford took control again, hitting four straight free throws to give NU the lead for good.

He tallied a game-high 25 points, and just as importantly hauled in eight rebounds.

He didn't do it alone of course. Luka Mirkovic played his best game of the season, scoring 13 points and pulling down eight rebounds. Meanwhile, Shurna and Thompson both hit some huge shots late in the second half.

But it was the 11-0 run by Drew "The Truth" (my new nickname for him) Crawford that will keep Northwestern fans realistically hoping for a NCAA tournament berth.

They'll need to have every aspect of their game working though when nationally ranked Wisconsin comes to town Wednesday night. More consistent performances from both Shurna and Thompson will be necessary in order to pull off the upset.

But for now, the truth is...Northwestern's season is very much alive.