Cats pull away in second half to bury NIU
EVANSTON-For a half, this looked like a dogfight of a game for Northwestern on Monday night at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
Then Boo Buie and the Wildcats put on a clinic in the second half to quickly turn a 1-point deficit into a rout, outscoring Northern Illinois 48-25 after halftime to win going away, 89-67.
Buie scored 16 of his 23 points in the second half to lead the Wildcats, who rebounded from their first loss of the season last week to head into Big Ten play with a confidence-boosting win. Northwestern faces No. 1 Purdue on Friday to open its conference slate.
Northwestern established its inside game to grab an early lead. Consecutive dunks by big man Matt Nicholson pushed the Wildcat lead to 7-2. The advantage ballooned to 22-11, as 14 of Northwestern’s points came in the paint.
But Northern Illinois started chipping away behind a dominant first half from Xavier Amos. He got a friendly bounce on a 3-pointer from the wing, and then his tip-in gave the Huskies their first lead at 27-26. NIU went into the locker room at the half with a 42-41 lead on the back of Amos, who had 19 first-half points, 9 more than any other player, on 8-for-9 shooting.
“Offensively, we knew we had a good game plan,” said head coach Chris Collins. “It was going to be, could we get the stops?”
In the second half, they did. That 1-point Husky lead at the break didn’t last very long as the Big Ten big brother pulled away. Northwestern hit its first four 3-pointers of the second half and went on a 14-2 run to quickly erase the deficit. Things escalated quickly from there and turned into a rout.
Buie was the spark in his 100th career start for the Wildcats. He scored 7 points in less than three minutes on a pair of free throws, a driving layup and a deep 3 to give the Cats a 51-48 edge. Then Ty Berry and Ryan Langborg joined the 3-point party, and Buie hit another to give the Wildcats a 57-48 lead at the 15:56 mark and force an NIU timeout.
A Berry breakaway layup gave the Cats a 14-point lead, 66-52, at the 12-minute mark. The lead kept climbing until back-to-back Nicholson dunks off of lobs pushed the lead to 22, 83-61, with 4:48 left in the game, and the only drama after that was whether NIU would miss eight free throws to give the crowd free Chick-Fil-A (they didn’t).
Xavier Amos finished with 26 points to lead NIU, whose only loss coming into the game was to No. 3 Marquette, by 22 points.
Five players scored in double figures for the Wildcats.
Here are our takeaways from the win that lifted Northwestern’s record to 5-1:
Buie took over in the second half: Northwestern’s star point guard had 7 points and six assists at the break but knew he had to provide more scoring in the second half.
“We needed some energy so I was going to make it a point to be aggressive,” said Buie. “The play was to score.”
And score he did. He made 5-of-6 shots in the second half, including 3-of-4 from beyond the arc. NIU had no answer for him, whether he was getting downhill to drive to the basket, or using screens to get open and bury a 3.
Collins called himself fortunate for having former star (and current assistant) Bryant McIntosh as his starting point guard for four years, and Buie for five.
“Boo is a fantastic player,” said Collins, noting that the fifth-year senior didn’t feel good about his performance in last week’s loss to Mississippi State. “He’s learned what the game is calling for.”
Nicholson and Berry both made big contributions: Collins lauded the play of both Nicholson and Berry.
Nicholson, Collins noted, not only had 15 points on 6-of-7 shooting and six rebounds, but he also had six assists without a turnover.
“Matt is such a good passer, and we play through him a lot,” said Collins. Nicholson had two big dunks in the second half to push Northwestern’s lead over 20. “His little burst in the second half got us what we needed.”
Berry finished with 14 points, four rebounds, two assists and a game-high five steals.
Collins thought Berry’s defense on David Coit, Northern Illinois’ leading scorer averaging 20.8 points per game, was instrumental. Coit finished with 12 points on 13 shots and committed four turnovers.
“Ty was fantastic,” said Collins. “He’s an X-factor for us.”
Martinelli gave the Cats a boost off the bench: Collins felt that foul trouble got his team “disjointed” in the first half. Buie and Ryan Langborg both picked up two fouls and had to sit more than usual.
So Nick Martinelli’s offense off the bench was key. He scored 9 of his 11 points in the first half, when the Wildcats needed to have them.
“Nick’s offense in the first half was huge,” said Collins.
Martinelli went 4-for-4 shooting in the first half. He hit a trio of floaters from the paint, and also drained a big 3-pointer from the corner to keep the Wildcats in the game until the starters got back on track.
In the first half, Buie, Berry and Langborg combined for 12 points. In the second, they went for 30.
Cats will be ready for Purdue on Friday: No. 1 Purdue comes into Welsh-Ryan on Friday in the Big Ten opener for both teams. You might remember that last season, the Boilermakers were also atop the polls when the Wildcats beat them for what was probably the biggest win in school history.
So Collins said that he won’t need any “Knute Rockne” speeches to get his team ready to take on player of the year Zach Edey & Co. They know what they’re up against.
“I’m not sure I’ve seen a team as well rounded (as Purdue) at this point in the season,” said Collins. “Edey, I’m not sure I’ve played a more dominant player” – and that’s saying something, as Collins reminded everyone that he played against Tim Duncan, Rasheed Wallace and Joe Smith in college.
Buie said he he’s confident the team will be ready to take on Purdue again, so they won’t need any locker room pep talks.
“We’ve got a lot of guys who have been there before,” he said. “We just need to be ourselves.”
Collins added that the Wildcats will need fan support on Friday, and a whole lot more.
“We’re going to need all hands on deck, with coaches, players, fans, media, everybody.”