Cats notch first win at new Welsh-Ryan

Northwestern christened the new Welsh-Ryan Arena with a victory.

The Wildcats, playing their season opener in their newly renovated arena, pulled away in the second half to beat outmanned New Orleans 82-52.

Ryan Taylor scored 20 points – 18 of them on 3-pointers – and Vic Law pumped in 18 to lead the Wildcats, who saw their lead cut to four points early in the second half before outscoring the Privateers 43-18 over the last 15 minutes.

Law stuffed the stat sheet, adding six rebounds, five assists, two blocks and two steals. He also scored his 1,000th point as a Wildcat in the first half.

Freshman Gerrale Gates paced New Orleans with 10 points. He was the only Privateer in double figures as UNO never led.

Here are our takeaways from NU’s first win in Evanston since March of 2017 (they played last season at Allstate Arena in Rosemont while Welsh-Ryan was being remodeled):

The offense may struggle at times: The names and faces were new, but Northwestern’s offense against New Orleans looked a lot like last year’s – and that’s not a good thing. The Wildcats, as they often did a season ago, endured some scoring droughts, particularly early in the second half when the Privateers cut NU's lead to 36-32. Their half-court sets were sometimes sloppy, particularly in the first half when they were outscored 18-4 in points in the paint. It looks like the Wildcats will rely a lot on 3-pointers – the problem on Thursday night was that only two guys were hitting them with any consistency. Taylor was lights-out, hitting 6-of-11 and Law was 3-for-6. The rest of the team, however, was 2-for-13, and both of those came late in the game in garbage time. Northwestern needs to do a better job of getting the ball into Dererk Pardon, who finished with 13 points and a game-high 11 rebounds but had just one field goal in the first half.

NU will use a point guard-by-committee approach: One concern coming into the season was who would be the primary ballhandler. After all, it’s the first time in four years the Wildcats are playing without Bryant McIntosh, the leading assist man in school history. It looks like NU will rotate the point position, and they have quite a few options. Jordan Ash is the starter at point guard, but he played far fewer minutes (14) than Anthony Gaines (25), the man who came in to replace him. Law handled the ball the most and turned the ball over just once, and A.J. Turner and Gaines also took turns running the offense. Freshman Ryan Greer played just three minutes, but he will be another ballhandling option. Head coach Chris Collins had to happy with his team committing just nine turnovers after New Orleans pressured the Wildcats throughout the game.

Taylor can shoot the rock: Fans who were wondering if Northwestern would be able to replace Scottie Lindsey’s scoring were happy to see Taylor’s performance. A grad transfer from Evansville with as pretty a stroke as you’ll see in college basketball, Taylor drained six 3s, and a couple of them came from Skokie (well, five feet from beyond the arc, anyway). He is clearly at his best as a catch-and-shoot player, but he did put the ball on the floor a couple times. He hit only one shot inside the arc on the night. Northwestern needs a marksman like Taylor on the perimeter to open things up for them on the inside.

Northwestern’s defense will be the team’s strength: The offense may come and go, but the Wildcats will be able to lean on their long, athletic and active defense. Northwestern harassed the Privateers early as they struggled to get good shots amid the jungle of long arms inside the 3-point line. Northwestern wound up with six blocks and seven steals, and Gaines was the team’s leading blocker with three. Law was the defensive star, however, completely locking down UNO leading scorer Ezekiel Charles, who had just four points on 1-of-5 shooting. The Privateers had trouble getting Charles touches as Law denied him the ball all over the court, and he blocked two of his shots.