Here are some initial thoughts from Northwestern's (7-5) 58-52 win over Brown (6-4):
1. Drew Crawford
At the end of the first half, Drew Crawford had 17 of Northwestern's 25 points, that's 68 percent of the Wildcats' total points. Four other Northwestern players (Alex Olah, Dave Sobolewski, James Montgomery III and Kale Abrahamson) scored two points each.
With JerShon Cobb out for the second straight-game with sprained ankle, Crawford was forced to do almost everything for Northwestern in the first half. As a team, Northwestern shot just 31 percent from the field in the first 20 minute as Crawford went 6-10. Because of Crawford, Northwestern was able to hang around with Brown, despite a poor shooting effort.
2. Helping hands
Northwestern outscored Brown by eight points in the second half while Drew Crawford only scored seven of his game-high 24 points after halftime.
Both Abrahamson and Olah stepped up, scoring 21 combined points (17 in the second half). Olah had a personal 7-0 run to give Northwestern the lead with under 10 minutes left in the game. Abrahamson put in the dagger with 43 seconds left with a layup and a foul to put Northwestern up five. Abrahamson also collected nine rebounds, a block and a steal.
3. Dave Sobolewski
Dave Sobolewski's shooting woes have been well-documented this season as his grip on his role as the team's point guard is loosening more and more. With Cobb out, Sobolewski got the start and played 39 minutes. Collins gave him an opportunity to earn more playing time and the results were iffy at best. Against Brown, the junior was 2-11 from the field and 0-3 from three. A couple bright spots were his seven assists and active defense, but his five turnovers showed another one of Sobolewski's weaknesses: his floor-vision.
Two instances stick out. In the first half, Sobolewski was late on a pass to Tre Demps in transition, causing Demps to miss what should have been an easy layup. Later in the second half, Sobolewski again found himself on the break, this time with a three-on-two advantage. Instead of making a decision on where he would go with the ball before he reached the free-throw line, Sobolewski barreled into a Brown defender and was called for an offensive foul.