Center Alex Olah scored 21 points and freshman forward Aaron Falzon came off the bench to add 17 points as the Northwestern Wildcats defeated the SIU Edwardsville Cougars 81-56 Saturday afternoon at Welsh-Ryan Arena in Evanston, Ill.

Olah went 9-for-15 from the field and Falzon went 5-for-10, all from 3-point range, as the Wildcats (7-1) overcame a sluggish start to build a 14-point first-half lead. Olah's dunk at the 13:39 mark in the first half gave the Wildcats a 12-8 and ignited the Northwestern offense.

Moments later, Falzon's 3-point jumper gave Northwestern its largest lead of the first half at 29-15.

Guard Bryant McIntosh also came off the bench to toss in 11 points for Northwestern.

The Wildcats took a 36-25 lead into halftime and it didn't take Olah and Falzon to push that lead back up to a comfortable double-digit margin.

Northwestern extended its lead to 43-28 when Olah made a layup and the Wildcats cruised from there. The lead swelled to 25 points at 73-48 when reserve forward Gavin Skelly dunked with four minutes left in the game.

The Cougars (1-7) were led by guard Burak Eslik with 13 points. Center Grant Fiorentinos, who also averaged 13.0 points per game for the Cougars coming into the contest, was held to eight points.

Northwestern, whose only loss was to No. 9 North Carolina, has a week to rest up before playing Chicago State on Dec. 13. The Cougars host Portland State on Dec. 12.