EVANSTON-Northwestern head coach Chris Collins spoke after Monday night's season-opening 72-61 win over Binghamton about the importance of Northwestern students and fans packing Welsh-Ryan Arena for Friday night's matchup with Dayton.
The Wildcats know that Dayton, coming off of a curtain-raising 63-47 win of their own over SIU-Edwardsville, will be a test.
"Our guys are excited about the opportunity," Collins said. "There's no question they've been able to see some of the hype [for Dayton]. They're coming into the season as [Atlantic 10] favorites, the kind of player that [DaRon] Holmes is, our guys are going to be excited about that."
The Flyers announced that junior point guard Malachi Smith would miss the rest of the season with a knee injury. But they still have Holmes, a 6-foot-10 forward who averaged 18.4 points and 8.1 rebounds per game last season.
Northwestern faced two talented teams in last year's non-conference slate, Auburn and Liberty, when they traveled to Cancun for their tournament. This season, they have the front end of a home-and-home with the Flyers in Evanston; next year, they'll get a chance to test themselves against a tough non-conference opponent in a true road game in Dayton.
Depending on your opinion of various Pittsburgh teams through the years, Friday night's contest could be the biggest non-conference game Welsh-Ryan has hosted since it reopened.
"I hope that's the case," Collins said. "We really need our fans. It's something we want to be where it's not 'Oh, let's just wait until Big Ten season to come out and watch the games.' We want our students and our fans to come out every night."
Collins said he expects the game to be a sellout.
Dayton was a 22-win team last season, and although they graduated NBA player Toumani Camara and have now lost Smith to injury, they are still an excellent early-season test.
"That's the reason we scheduled this game," Collins said. "We aren't in the Gavitt [Games] this year and we lost the [ACC--Big Ten Challenge] game we would normally play one or two of early on. It was really important for us to find a really high-caliber opponent in the first week of the season to see where we're at."
Junior center Matt Nicholson recalled how important last season's clash with Auburn was. The Wildcats lost a hard-fought 43-42 battle to the then-No. 13Tigers, but discovered their defensive identity.
"It reminds me of when we went down to Cancun to play against Auburn," he said. "It was a great game and I thought it was a big pivotal moment for how our team was the rest of the year.
"It was a defining moment for how we played defense and [Dayton] is going to be a great test for us, and I feel like it's going to go well."
Injury updates for Martinelli and Clayton: Collins provided updates on forward Nick Martinelli and guard Jordan Clayton, two players who are working through injuries.
Martinelli was limited to just eight minutes against Binghamton, but Collins said that the sophomore's minutes limit is "short-term." He expects him to be back to full health in the not-too-distant future.
"With each game it's hopefully a little bit more," Collins said. "Anytime you're dealing with lower body you have to look at the long term. It's just working with our medical team, he's doing well... I think it'll be very short-term before we're at an unlimited restriction."
Clayton didn't play in the exhibition against McKendree but played 17 minutes against the Bearcats. He didn't score but contributed two rebounds, one assist and a steal.
Collins said that the freshman point guard had a minor injury to the knee "a couple weeks ago" but has made an almost complete comeback and will be available for Dayton.
Wildcats plan to start with second-half intensity: Northwestern went into halftime down three to Binghamton on Monday, and still won the game by 11. They turned up the intensity out of the break to such an extent that Nicholson said they barely paid attention to that half in film review.
"I feel like that second half really showed us what we have to be like and how we have to play to be productive in our league," Nicholson said. "It was a big first step for us to take...
"We watched the first half, we didn't watch the second half. We know that the first half is what we have to change."
Point guard Boo Buie also identified the game as a jumping off point.
"I think it's the first game, there's some excitement," he said. "We're just going to continue to get better and progress... Dayton is going to be a game of communication defensively but I think that's one of our strengths."
Collins praises 'gym rat' signee Ciaravino: Angelo Ciaravino, a 6-foot-6 guard from nearby Chicago Mt. Carmel, put pen to paper and became the first official member of Northwestern's Class of 2024 on Wednesday.
"I’m super excited about Angelo, I think he has a chance to be a great player," Collins said. "He just fits us. He’s a local guy, tough-minded, from a blue-collar family, a gym rat. He works extremely hard but he’s also 6’6” with extreme athleticism…He’s just scratching the surface of what he can be."
Collins went on to compare Ciaravino to recent program stars who were similarly underrecruited.
"Those are the guys who have been great for us," he added. "You look at a guy like Boo, [Bryant McIntosh], Scottie Lindsey or Dererk Pardon. Guys who were a little undervalued but we saw what they could become.
“You get them in our environment and they get really good. I think Angelo is going to have that kind of career.”
