IU holds off scrappy Wildcats

It was a lineup change that made IU look a little more like its usual self in last night's 72-63 win over Northwestern at Assembly Hall Wednesday night.\nThe No. 21 Hoosiers (13-5, 5-3 Big Ten) got a total of 20 points from both of their leading scorers -- senior forward Marco Killingsworth and sophomore guard Robert Vaden -- but were still able to win, shooting the familiar numbers of 51 percent from the field and 39 percent from 3-point range.\nAfter two lackluster performances on the road last week, IU coach Mike Davis made the decision to rework his starting rotation. \n"We really didn't shake it up," Davis said. "We just played the guys that were going to give us a chance to win the basketball game."\nOne of the changes was relieving junior guard Rod Wilmont of his sixth-man status, in favor of starting him as the third guard. The junior proved he could bring the energy as a starter as well, scoring a career-high 23 points. He also made his presence felt on the defensive end with two steals and a block as the Northwestern shot clock expired with the \nscore at 22-20.\n"I just get a lot of good looks -- wide open looks," said Wilmont, who scored his previous career-high on the Wildcats last year. "My teammates looked for me tonight and I knocked down most of them."\nJunior guard Errek Suhr worked himself in practice up to the seventh spot in IU's rotation. He came off the bench to score 10 points and tie a career-high for assists with five.\n"Errek came in and played the way he's been practicing," Davis said.\nWith the score at 42-35 and around 11 minutes left to go in the game, Suhr showed the Hoosier faithful just how hard he's been practicing.\nHe tore down the baseline to save an air ball flung by Wilmont and kicked it out to Vaden on the perimeter for a 3-pointer. Suhr then assisted Killingsworth on a layup the next time down the floor, and on the ensuing possession, he topped it off with a 3-pointer of his own.\n"Suhr gave us a lot of second chance opportunities tonight and he was able to hit some big shots for us too," senior guard Marshall Strickland said.\nThings were pretty familiar for Northwestern (10-9, 3-5), too.\nThe Big Ten's leading scorer, forward Vedran Vukusic, turned in a familiar performance for the Wildcats with 18 points. The Croatian also accounted for 10 of the Wildcats first \n24 points.\nNorthwestern also sent out its usual zone and trap defense to hound the Hoosiers, but IU pulled out the win, and the Wildcats are still winless at Assembly Hall.\n"It was difficult trying to get use to their defense, especially with Northwestern's zone trap," Strickland said. "The trap was really tough and it took us out of our rhythm. It was my job to try to throw that trap off"