Northwestern 76, Akron 74: John Shurna hit a tie-breaking 3-pointer with 1:34 remaining as the host Wildcats edged the Zips in the first round of the National Invitational Tournament.

Shurna posted his first double-double of the season with 23 points and 11 rebounds while Drew Crawford added a game-high 27 points for No. 4 seed Northwestern (19-13), which improved to 6-5 this season in games decided by less than five points.

JerShon Cobb scored 19 points for the Wildcats, who will face top-seeded Washington or eighth-seeded Texas-Arlington in the second round.

Trailing 42-27 with 1:34 left before the break, fifth-seeded Akron (22-12) stormed back with seven unanswered points going into intermission. Crawford temporarily halted the run with a 3-pointer to open the second half, but the Zips went on another 17-4 burst to take a 51-49 lead with 13:03 left.

From that point, the teams played within a five-point window the rest of the way. Akron knotted the game at 73 with three free throws from Brian Walsh with 1:49 left.

But Shurna drilled his fifth and final 3-pointer of the game on the subsequent possession and Akron missed each of its final four shots – including a 3-point attempt by Alex Abreu as time expired – allowing Northwestern to secure the victory.

Quincy Diggs poured in a team-high 18 points while Zeke Marshall added 17 for the Zips, who fell to 4-20 all-time against Big Ten opponents.

Game Notebook: Shurna became the 27th player in Big Ten history to surpass the 2,000-point mark with a pull-up jumper in the first half. … Only five players scored for Northwestern. … The Wildcats shot 10 of 27 from the 3-point line, the 12th time this season they've made at least 10.