EVANSTON, Ill. -- T.J. Parker scored 12 points and the winning basket as time expired and Vedran Vukusic scored a career-high 26 points as Northwestern beat Arizona State 63-61 on Wednesday.
Jitim Young forced a jump ball that went Northwestern's way and with 4.6 seconds remaining Parker dribbled up the length of the court and hit a 14-foot jumper, to give Northwestern the win.
Young had 12 points and nine rebounds for Northwestern. Parker had eight assists.
Northwestern (5-3) led by as many as 13 early in the second half, but Arizona State was able to cut into the Wildcats' lead.
Arizona State outscored Northwestern 8-0 during a five-minute span midway through the second half. Ike Diogu had a putback for Arizona State to get within 38-42 with 11:20 left.
Justin Allen hit a 3-pointer for Arizona State to tie it at 49 with 6:09 left and Steve Moore hit a 3 to give Arizona State a 60-59 lead with 1:25 left, their first lead of the second half.
Vukusic came back down and hit two free throws for the Wildcats to give them a 61-60 lead. Allen Morill missed his first free throw for Arizona State, but hit the second to tie the game at 61 with 45.9 left.
Diogu finished with 23 points and 14 rebounds for Arizona State. He was the only Sun Devil in double figures. Moore finished with nine points.
Arizona State was just 5-for-22 from 3-point range in the game.
Northwestern went on a 9-0 run in the first half, hitting three 3-pointers in a row. Evan Seacat, Vukusic and Young each had a 3-pointer. Young's put Northwestern up 21-13 with 8:44 left in the first half.
Northwestern led 34-27 at half. Vukusic led the Wildcats with 10 first-half points. Diogu had 10 for Arizona State. Northwestern was 7-for-10 from 3-point range in the first half, while Arizona State (5-3) was 1-for-10.
The Wildcats extended their lead in the second half, scoring the first six points of the half. Vukusic had the first four points. He then made a nice pass to Parker on a backdoor play to make it 40-27, Northwestern's largest lead of the game.
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