Box Score

WHEATON, Ill. – The University of Northwestern men's basketball team was its own worst enemy on Friday night as the Eagles were on the short side of a 69-47 score against 23rd-ranked Wheaton College. The Eagles, who hovered around 50 percent shooting for much of the evening, committed a season-high 21 turnovers en route to the loss.

Northwestern trailed 31-29 after a first half that saw the Eagles lead the Thunder for much of the period. Eric Witthus (Chanhassen, Minn./Chanhassen) made a three-pointer to put UNW up 7-3 before another long make from Will Gisler (Stewartville, Minn./Stewartville) pushed the Purple advantage to 12-5 as nearly six minutes had ticked off the clock. While Northwestern was making its outside baskets, Wheaton was making its presence known in the paint, where the Thunder's Nate Haynes was turning offensive rebounds into easy put-backs as the home team shortened the gap to 14-12 and then again at 16-14.

With Northwestern double-teaming the Thunder's bigger players down low, Wheaton started to make some outside shots of its own, and  Caleb DeMoss's downtown make gave the Thunder its first lead since an early 1-0 advantage in the initial minute. Gisler came back with his fourth jumper of the first half to keep the buffer at one (20-19) despite seven UNW turnovers at the six minute mark of the half. While mistakes plagued the Eagles, so too did Northwestern struggle to find room inside the three-point line against Wheaton's bigs.

Points in transition put the Thunder in front 25-19 as the half wound down, with Tyler Peters earning several fast break points on Wheaton's side of the court. Northwestern's answer to Peters was Gisler, who was 5-7 from the field in the period, which ended with the Eagles within two as Caleb Janson (Pierz, Minnesota/Pierz Healy) made a layup in the lane in the final seconds.

After UNW's turnover count finished at 11 in the first 20 minutes, the Eagles couldn't have started the first two minutes of the second half much worse as Wheaton took advantage of more Northwestern blunders to lead 39-29. Tim Grosz's crew made a stronger effort to get to the basket and it paid off with some opportunities at the free throw line. Michael Carney (Ames, Iowa/Des Moines Christian), who had nine first half points for the Eagles, hit a jumper at the base line to cut the Thunder lead to 41-34, but the 6-4 Peters came closer to hitting his 20.9 points per game average with a layup at the 13:41 mark of the second half.

Carney continued to add makes from the outside, but the Eagles couldn't break the 10-point margin that Wheaton had created. Northwestern was shooting 48 percent from the floor, but the UNW turnovers – and the Thunder points in transition – continued to escalate. Peter Smith's third trey of the night gave Wheaton a 20-point lead with just over two minutes remaining in the game before the final difference was 22 points when time expired.

Northwestern's shooting slipped in the final minutes, putting the Eagles at a 44.7 rate for the night. Wheaton went from a 42.3 shooting percentage to 58.6 in the second half to help the Thunder finish at 50.9 percent. Wheaton's seven turnovers were 14 less than that of the Eagles, who matched the Thunder in rebounding with 26 apiece.

Carney wrapped up the night with 21 points to lead all scorers. Gisler was held scoreless in the second half, finishing 5-9 for 11 points and five rebounds. Wheaton's Peters had 20 points on 8-12 shooting, most of which came on fast breaks in the lane.

Northwestern, now 3-6 on the year, will take a break for Christmas before reconvening to prepare for a holiday tournament at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire on Dec. 30 and 31. The Eagles will play Wisconsin-River Falls on Monday the 30th (5 p.m.) and then the Blugolds from Eau Claire on the 31st at 7 p.m.