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EVANSTON, Ill. - Northwestern's JerShon Cobb rolled in an off-balanced 14-foot runner with 2.3 seconds to play, sending the host Wildcats to a 63-61 win over IUPUI inside Welsh-Ryan Arena on Friday (Nov. 22) night in the opening game of the 2013 Continental Tires Las Vegas Invitational. 

Junior Khufu Najee missed on a good look from midcourt as time expired as his shot hit the top of the square and the front of the rim before falling off. 

"Battled was the optimal word - we certainly battled. I just saw so many good things. There's no hanging our heads tonight. They made one more play than we did, that's what it came down to. They had the ball last and made a play," IUPUI Head Coach Todd Howard said. "It was a contested shot, and probably not a good shot, but he got it to go in. I thought we defended it well."

Junior Ian Chiles led four Jaguars in double-digits with 19 points and seven boards and Mitch Patton chipped in 18 points and six caroms. Both Donovan Gibbs and Najee added 11 each and Marcellus Barksdale had six rebounds, five assists and five blocked shots. 

IUPUI (1-4) led 49-38 with 10:18 left on a Chiles three-point play, but as expected, Northwestern (3-2) made an immediate run. NU's leading scorer, Drew Crawford, hit a pair of free throws and the Wildcats employed a full-court press for the first time all night. The Jaguars weren't ready and turned the ball over, leading to Dave Sobolewski knocking down a wing three. After an IUPUI timeout, the Jaguars turned it over again and Northwestern came up with a rare five-point possession. 

Crawford earned an and-1 opportunity on a drive down the right side, but missed the free throw. However, 7-foot sophomore Alex Olah went over the top of Patton for the offensive rebound and fired a pass out to Tre Demps, who swished an open three. Northwestern eventually went in front 52-51 on an Olah hook shot, but the Jaguars counterpunched with four straight points. Patton put IUPUI back ahead with two free throws with just under six minutes to play and Chiles hit a tough jumper with 5:11 left. 

Every time Northwestern tried to hide, the Jaguars had an immediate answer. 

Leading 56-55, Sobolewski was fouled by Najee while attempting a trey with 2:29 to play. The junior hit all three tries, giving its first two-possession lead since the score was 4-0. However, Chiles swished a three at the other end with 2:10 left, cutting the lead back to one. Crawford made it a three-point game when he flushed home a Cobb missed jumper, but the Jaguars got a point back when Gibbs split a two shot foul with 1:13 left. 

The Jaguars got a key defensive stand when Sobolewski missed a contested three and Gibbs dug out a rebound underneath the basket. After a timeout, Barksdale made a slick pass to Patton off penetration and the Jaguars' center was fouled on his layup attempt. Patton just missed getting a three-point play opportunity as the ball fell just off the rim. 

"That's one that Mitch probably finishes most of the time, but the ball just didn't get up and over the rim," Howard said. "It was just one of those things. In a game like this, you can point to a million different things, and that was just one of them."

Patton hit both free throws to tie the game at 61 all prior to Cobb's game-winner. 

Crawford, who was held scoreless in the first half, finished with 12 points, 10 boards and four assists, and Sobolewski added 10 on just 2-of-11 shooting. Chiles and Barksdale combined to block eight shots as IUPUI finished with a season-high nine rejections. 

"Those two were everywhere at both ends of the floor," Howard said. "They're both really good defenders and they showed it tonight. They challenge shooters and they do it without fouling. That's really tough to do and they're two of the best at it."

However, Northwestern's offense was opportunistic, outscoring IUPUI 21-4 on second chance points and 18-8 off turnovers.

"They made the most of their opportunities," Howard said. "We didn't always keep them off the glass like we should have and they took advantage of it. We only turn it over 10 times, but they turn it in to 18 points. That's what they're supposed to do. 

"It's a Big Ten team on their home floor and they did the things they needed to do to win the game."

IUPUI finished the game having made 51.1 percent from the field, while limiting NU to just 41 percent shooting. Chiles was 8-of-12 and Najee hit 5-of-10 shots. Patton closed at 7-of-16 and tied his career-high with four assists. 

After the two teams traded baskets early, IUPUI stormed out to a 21-10 lead, using a 10-0 run to turn an 11-10 advantage into an 11-point lead. Patton began the run with a bucket and Gibbs kept the momentum going with a three-point play in transition. After Chiles and Najee scored in succession, Northwestern called timeout to try and break the Jaguars' momentum.

NU's Kale Abrahamson finally stopped the run by swishing a wing three, but the Jaguars maintained the lead for virtually the entire first half.  

The loss dropped the Jaguars to 1-1 all-time against Northwestern, having defeated the Wildcats during the NCAA Tournament season in 2002-03. IUPUI was vying for just its second win ever against a Big Ten foe on Friday night. 

The Jaguars will continue play in the 2013 Continental Tires Las Vegas Invitational on Monday (Nov. 25) when they head west to take on RV/RV Missouri in Columbia, Mo. That game is slated to tip at 8:00 p.m. Eastern and will be broadcast on ESPN3. IUPUI's radio broadcast can be heard on WNDE 1260 AM that night, and on the free iHeartRadio app, available on smartphones. Will Flemming (pxp) will be on the call for the Jaguars. Monday's matchup will be the first-ever meeting between IUPUI and Mizzou on the hardwood.