EVANSTON, Ill. -- Nathan Taphorn has a bigger role for Northwestern after injuries have limited the Wildcats depth.The senior forward came off the bench and showed what he can do on offense Sunday night against New Orleans -- and maybe even surprised some people.Taphorn grabbed a rebound and dunked it for a 19-point lead before halftime as the crowd cheered.Guys were telling me they didnt know I had it in me, Taphorn said.Taphorn scored a career-high 18 points as Northwestern routed New Orleans 83-49.Wildcats coach Chris Collins said the team has witnessed Taphorns athleticism in practice.He can be a real weapon for us coming off the bench, Collins said. We almost won the Notre Dame game because of him. Hes a big part of what were doing, especially now were down a couple guys.Scottie Lindsey added 16 points, Gavin Skelly 14 and Vic Law 11 for the Wildcats (7-2), who led by as much as 41 and have won four straight.Erik Thomas had 17 points and 10 rebounds and Travin Thibodeaux added 10 points for New Orleans (4-4), whose three-game winning streak was snapped.Northwestern shot 44 percent from the field to the Privateers 37 percent, including 3 for 12 from beyond the arc.Taphorn went 7 for 11 from the field -- including 3 for 7 on 3s. He also had 12 points and five points in a 70-66 loss to No. 23 Notre Dame.Its a big booster, Taphorn said about his confidence. It shouldnt be the case -- every game should be the game I come out knowing Im confident and able to do this and able to do that and make an impact on the game and for my team. Going into the next game, seeing the ball go in really helps, as it would with anybody.The Wildcats made 9 of 25 3-pointers and scored 23 points off New Orleans 21 turnovers.You cant win any games when you turn the ball over at the rate we did, New Orleans coach Mark Slessinger said.After the Privateers scored the first two points of the second half, the Wildcats went on a 22-0 run to command a 65-24 lead.The Wildcats led 43-22 at halftime after shooting 46 percent from the field to New Orleans 32 percent.We didnt execute offensively and didnt play well at all in any facet, Slessinger said.INJURY UPDATENorthwestern sophomore forward Aaron Falzon underwent season-ending knee surgery after he played just 20 minutes in three games this season. He is expected to seek a medical redshirt and would have three seasons of eligibility remaining. Falzon averaged 8.4 points and 3.4 rebounds in 32 games last season. He also made 63 3-pointers, second-most in program history by a freshman.Taphorn will help replace Falzon, Collins said.The team is also without center Dererk Pardon, who is expected to miss the rest of the non-conference schedule after undergoing hand surgery.STAT OF THE NIGHTNorthwesterns bench outscored New Orleans reserves 41-10.BIG PICTURENew Orleans was coming off a 70-54 victory at Washington State. Half of the Privateers victories have been against non-Division I foes, LaGrange College and Florida College.Northwestern improved to 6-0 at home. The Wildcats are in the middle of playing eight straight games in the Chicago area before beginning Big Ten play on Dec. 27 at Penn State.UP NEXTNew Orleans will host Louisiana-Lafayette on Saturday.Northwestern will face visiting Chicago State on Wednesday.Cheap Jerseys 2020 . After taking two big hits this week -- losing at home and dropping back-to-back games for the first time all season -- Indiana struck back by playing its most complete game of the year. NFL Jerseys 2020 . The Lightning are 2-0 so far on a four-game road trip, giving the club five straight wins as the guest and improving Tampas away record this season to 11-8-2. https://www.nfljerseys2020.com/ . Hazard cut in from the left and scored with a swerving right-footed shot for ninth goal of the season, which proved to be enough for the victory despite Chelseas forwards again lacking a cutting edge up front. Cheap NFL Jerseys China .B. -- The Baie-Comeau Drakkar took over sole possession of first place atop the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League on Thursday with their sixth straight win. Discount NFL Jerseys 2020 .Y. -- Buffalo Bills coach Doug Marrone has drawn on his Syracuse connections once again by hiring Rob Moore to take over as receivers coach.Burnley manager Sean Dyche is relishing the battle for promotion and has revealed he will not be distracted by their rivals results.The Clarets are locked in a three-way tussle to seal an automatic return to the Premier League but can secure promotion on Monday if they beat QPR and Brighton fail to beat Derby during a Sky Sports double-header. FL72 Podcast Listen to this weeks edition here! But, speaking on the FL72 Podcast, Dyche claimed one of the tightest promotions races in recent seasons was the driving force behind his sides recent form rather than a hindrance.Its really good, he said. Weve earned the right to be where we are. Sky Bet Championship Team Played Goal difference Points 1 Burnley 44 33 87 2 Middlesbrough 44 32 87 3 Brighton 44 30 87 We are working very hard at our game to make sure we deliver the performances to get us results.dddddddddddd But we are certainly enjoying the challenge and have been all season.QPR head to Turf Moor on Monday looking to derail Burnleys hopes of an immediate return to Englands top-flight. Not for the first time this season, the Clarets find themselves playing after their promotion rivals, with Boro travelling to Birmingham on Friday and Brighton hosting derby on Monday afternoon.Burnley could find themselves as low as third by the time they entertain Jimmy Floyd Hasselbainks side, but, having played catch-up for the majority of the season, Dyche was adamant his sides approach would remain unchanged. Weve made a good show of looking after ourselves and not really overthinking everyone else, he added. That has been an important factor of what weve so far and we can continue to do so.I explain to the team all the time with clarity what we need to focus on and thats the next performance so its for other people to debate the ins and outs. Its been slightly different for us because weve come from quite a considerable distance behind - on Boxing Day we were eight points and a game in hand behind the teams above us.Weve come a long way over those games to be where we are and the others have been setting the pace most of the season. Whatever the thoughts on the top of the table, and the points situation, are we just want to get the points that are needed and let everyone else worry about themselves.Our focus is on us performing and weve shown great signs of that, whether that be when we played first or last weve kept our eye on what we need to do and delivered the performances that have allowed us to do what we are doing. That is the focus. 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