Jalen Leach helps Northwestern sail past Pepperdine

Jalen Leach scored 21 points to help Northwestern post a 68-50 win over Pepperdine on Friday night at Evanston, Ill.

Nick Martinelli added 20, while Brooks Barnhizer added 13 for Northwestern (5-1). Leach was 7 of 12 from the field and perfect from the free throw line on six attempts.

Jaxon Olvera scored 11 points and Taj Au-Duke added 10 for Pepperdine (1-4). The Waves shot 28.6 percent from the field and 15 percent (3 of 20) from beyond the arc.

With 15:24 left in the contest, the Wildcats (5-1) had hit four of their last five shots to increase their lead to as many as 23. Northwestern never looked back, shooting 42.1 percent from the field and adding 18 free throws out of 21 attempts.

Northwestern held highly touted Waves guard Stefan Todorovic to six points. He finished 2 of 10 from the field and missed all four 3-point shots. Todorovic's struggles were coupled with the Wildcats" 11 forced turnovers, which led to a 13 points to help break the game open.

Despite not scoring for less than five minutes in the latter part of the second half, the Wildcats ended their drought with back-to-back free throws from Leach.

Northwestern never trailed, entering the halftime break with a 31-19 lead. The Wildcats were productive on the glass despite only shooting 2-for-11 from beyond the 3-point arc. In defensive rebounds, the Wildcats edged the Waves 32-28.

Pepperdine finished the game by making two of its final 10 field goal attempts despite getting to the free-throw line 18 times and converting on 13 attempts.

Northwestern completed its homestand a perfect 4-0, and its attention now shifts toward Thanksgiving week and participating in the Arizona Tip-Off before conference play begins next month.

Northwestern's victory against Pepperdine was its first in program history. Two decades earlier, the team had lost two previous meetings.

-Field Level Media