Chase Audige didn’t get off to a good start in his debut on Wednesday night. Neither did Northwestern.

The sophomore transfer from William & Mary missed his first shot as a Wildcat, a 3-pointer from the wing. He then drove into the lane and Arkansas-Pine Bluff’s Dequan Morris blocked his shot so violently it knocked Audige to the floor. He missed another triple and then was called for charging on another drive to the basket.

In all, he missed his first four shots from the floor as Northwestern found itself trailing 0-3 UAPB 14-13 midway through the first half of its season-opener.

Then, just like the Wildcats, Audige heated up. He wound up hitting six of his next seven shots and finished with 16 points as Northwestern shook off a sluggish start to wallop the overmatched Golden Lions, 92-49.

Audige was one of five Wildcats who finished in double figures. Miller Kopp led Northwestern with a game-high 18 points that included four 3-pointers, while freshman Ty Berry, another player making his NU debut, scored all 15 of his points in the second half, including three 3s. Pete Nance tallied 11 points and tied with Robbie Beran with a team-high seven rebounds.

But it was Audige, who started at shooting guard for the Wildcats, who made the biggest splash with his playmaking and shooting. He wound up hitting 6 of 12 shots, including 3 of 8 from long distance.

Head coach Chris Collins attributed his team’s rough start to nerves that built up from not playing against another team since last March.

For Audige, however, the wait was much, much longer. A year longer. It was his first game action since March of 2019, the end of his freshman campaign at William & Mary.

Audige said that he couldn’t even sleep last night he was so excited to get back out on the floor and compete against another team after sitting out last season as a transfer and then waiting through the COVID pandemic.

Collins says that Audige adds a dimension to his team that wasn’t there last season, when the Wildcats struggled to an 8-23 record.

“He’s an aggressive, hungry player,” said Collins. “He gives us another guy who can get his own shot, get out in transition and get to the basket. He shoots 3s and he can get to the foul line.”

All those things were on display against UAPB. After missing his first four shots, Audige found his groove.

His first basket came on a tip-in. Then he drained a 3 and delivered a vicious dunk on a fast-break that was instantly made into a tweet.

The Wildcats took a 39-29 lead into halftime and then blew the game open in the second half, shooting a blistering 64.3% to outscore the Golden Lions 53-20. The Cats wound up with a 28-3 advantage in fast-break points and a 50-30 edge in rebounding over the much smaller Lions lineup.

Audige showed some veteran savvy on his two baskets in the second half. On the first, he made some contact with the defender to give himself some room before rising to hit a jumper over him.

On another possession, he got the ball on the wing and called to Nance to set him a pick. "Set it! Set it!" he yelled. Nance picked the defender and Audige dribbled to his left and calmly drilled a 3.

The one area he may have to work on is free throws; he drained just 1 of 4 shots from the stripe.

Audige can do a lot of things for a Northwestern team that finished last in the Big Ten in scoring last season and looks to have considerably more scoring punch this season. But he says his role is simply to do what’s necessary to win.

“My role is to do whatever is needed: rebound, defend, if I need to score, if I need to pass,” he said. “Just to be that Swiss army knife and just to do everything that’s needed of me.”

Collins thinks that Audige’s greatest value may be his ability to create his own shot. That was something that Northwestern was sorely lacking last year, when they often faltered down the stretch in close games. The Wildcats finished just 1-7 in games decided by five points or fewer last season, often because they didn’t have a guy who could make a play in crunch time.

“When you play in the Big Ten against really good defenses, you need guy that can create when things break down,” he said.

Audige, he hopes, can be that guy.

Wednesday night’s opener was the first time that Northwestern fans got to see Audige in action after hearing whispers about his performances in practice. BTN broadcaster Dave Revsine called him “a revelation.”

But for Collins and his teammates, they were already well aware what Audige could do.

“We wanted to have him last year,” said Collins. “We knew. We saw it in practice. He was always the best player on the (scout team in scrimmages).

“You can see the talent is there. He’s an athlete. He’s going to be a great player for us. Not a good one. He’s going to have a great career.”