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EVANSTON, Ill. (AP) -- Michael Thompson scored a career-high 18 points and Vedran Vukusic added 17 to lead Northwestern to a 73-52 victory over Indiana on Wednesday night in the teams' Big Ten opener.
Early in the second half, Indiana (5-7, 0-1) got within 34-29 with D.J. White's dunk, but Northwestern (8-5, 1-0) responded with a 9-3 run. Michael Jenkins started it with a 3-pointer, then after two free throws by Vukusic, Indiana turned the ball over in their own backcourt. Mohamed Hachad picked up the loose ball and passed it to Vukusic, who finished with a dunk, giving the Wildcats a 43-32 lead with 13:00 left.
After A.J. Ratliff hit his fourth consecutive 3 and Bracey Wright hit a jumper for Indiana, Northwestern rolled off nine straight points. Thompson had four points in the span and Hachad hit two free throws to give the Wildcats a 52-37 advantage with 8:42 left.
Vukusic and Joe Scott hit back-to-back 3's in the final minute to make it 73-52.
Ratliff finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds and White had 12 points.
