EVANSTON, Ill. (AP) -- Cody Zeller could sense panic setting in. Then, just in time, Indiana regained its composure.
Zeller scored 21 points and grabbed 13 rebounds, and the No. 2 Hoosiers beat Northwestern 67-59 on Sunday.
Jordan Hulls added 15 points, Christian Watford scored 14 and the Hoosiers (16-2, 4-1 Big Ten) hung on after things got tense down the stretch.
They led by as many as 17 in the first half and were up 31-17 at the break. But Northwestern (11-8, 2-4) responded with a 1-3-1 trap in the second half, leading to rushed shots by Indiana. The Wildcats pulled within five three times, but the Hoosiers hit seven of eight free throws in the final 57 seconds to prevail after seeing a six-game win streak end with a loss to Wisconsin last week.
"They just kind of sped us up for a while," Zeller said. "We were kind of panicked for a while. That's what their defense kind of forces you to do. Once we started getting into the middle, getting to the baseline, then we started getting open shots."
Zeller, the Big Ten Preseason Player of the Year, hit nine of 10 free throws and dominated inside as Indiana pounded the Wildcats 36-24 on the glass.
"It just seemed like he was everywhere," Northwestern coach Bill Carmody said. "He gets to the line a lot and makes his foul shots."
Victor Oladipo scored seven points for Indiana, but hit a key 3-pointer late in the game after taking a blow to the right eye midway through the second half. That happened right before Northwestern's Dave Sobolewski made a 3, and he had a patch on his right eye after the game.
Oladipo said Sobolewski was "kind of doing a swim move" right before the shot and they collided.
"I couldn't see, so I went to the locker room for a little while," he said.
Oladipo said he would have the eye examined once the team returned home.
Reggie Hearn scored 22 for Northwestern, which refused to go away quietly in this one after beating No. 23 Illinois on Thursday.
Overmatched in the early going, the Wildcats scored eight straight to pull within 47-42, a free throw by Hearn with 6:34 left in the game capping that run.
Zeller than scored on a layup and got called for a foul on the play. After Sobolewski hit a free throw for Northwestern, Zeller tipped in a miss by Hulls. Oladipo hit a long 3 to make it 54-43 with 4:52 left, but Northwestern wasn't finished.
Three free throws by Hearn and a 3-pointer from the corner by Jared Swopshire (13 points) cut it to 56-51. Swopshire's layup made it 58-53 with just more than two minutes left, but the Hoosiers hung on from there.
"It took us a little bit to get the ball where we wanted it against their 1-3-1," coach Tom Crean said. "And I think they'll see on the film where we missed some opportunities and how we wanted to attack it, where we wanted to get the ball, but we reversed it. And that was the key. The other night against Wisconsin, it was almost two to one on balls being shot on the first side rather than the second and the third side."
TOP 25
NO. 14 NC STATE 66, CLEMSON 62
RALEIGH, N.C. -- Freshman T.J. Warren scored 21 points while Richard Howell scored the go-ahead basket with 1:56 left to lead North Carolina State.
Howell finished with 11 points and 12 rebounds for the Wolfpack (15-3, 4-1 Atlantic Coast Conference).
The Wolfpack held on, with Howell's three-point play breaking a tie and Scott Wood's 5-for-6 performance at the line in the final 28 seconds helping N.C. State keep its grip on the lead.
Devin Booker scored a career-high 27 points for the Tigers (10-7, 2-3).
WOMEN
No. 18 DAYTON 74, RHODE ISLAND 48
KINGSTON, R.I. -- Sam MacKay scored 16 points, including four-3-pointers, and added five assists and five steals as Dayton cruised to a win over Rhode Island.
The Flyers (15-1, 3-0), who have won three straight games after losing 65-40 to Bowling Green on Dec. 30, posted their 10th straight win in the series.
Ally Malott and Andrea Hoover added 11 points apiece for Dayton.
Tayra Melendez, with 13 points, was the only player in double figures for the Rams.
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