Northwestern's undefeated start to the season continued with a 66-52 win over Liberty in the first round of the Cancun Challenge on Tuesday night.

The Wildcat policy of steadily building an offensive rhythm on the back of swarming defense delivered a fifth straight victory.

Liberty led 27-15 with five minutes left in the first half after the Wildcats were held scoreless for the first 5:13 of play. Northwestern shook off the slow start and responded to the 12-point deficit with a 51-25 run where they more than doubled Liberty's scoring and secured a 14-point win.

In the Wildcats’ last game against Purdue-Fort Wayne, Boo Buie's scoring heroics led the way. This game, it was the dynamic duo of Chase Audige and Ty Berry.

Liberty guard Darius McGhee led all scorers with 23 points, but the tandem of Audige and Berry combined for 39. Audige finished with 20 to lead the Wildcats, Berry chipped in 19.

The victory earned Northwestern a matchup with Auburn in the final of the Challenge on Wednesday night.

Here are our takeaways from the latest installment of Northwestern's undefeated start:

Berry and Audige cannot be lauded enough for their efforts against Liberty. After an ice-cold start from the team, they were the ones who pushed the pace, made tough shots and got Northwestern's offense going. They accounted for 39 of Northwestern's 66 points, and shot a combined 12-for-21 from the field and 5-for-8 from three-point range.

Audige deserves special recognition for a highly efficient night. He has been an oft-maligned, streaky shooter whose 2021-22 splits were a far cry from his first season in Evanston. Tonight, we saw the best version of Audige.

A nightmarish defender with length and athleticism who forces turnovers that not only fuel his game, but the team's identity, and a rangy guard who can rise above defenders to find and sink shots from almost anywhere on the court. Head coach Chris Collins will take 20 points on 7-for-11 from the field, 3-for-5 beyond the arc, five assists and two steals from Audige any time that he can get it.

Berry deserves his flowers too. Typically, it's Audige living in the passing lanes and hounding ball handlers, but it was Berry who came away with four steals in the Cancun Challenge opener. It was apparent early that Buie was not going to capture the flow he had against Fort Wayne. He had a tough start, ran into foul trouble and finished with just five points on 1-for-8 shooting.

But that didn't matter because Berry was a flamethrower. Similar to Audige, he fulfilled his potential. It was far from a perfect game, but he was perfect in the role Northwestern needed from him. He created shots, found openings and had a hair-trigger without getting overzealous.

He finished with 19 points on 5-for-10 shooting from the field, 2-for-3 from three, seven rebounds, three assists and four steals. Again, Collins and the Wildcats will take that every time.

With Buie going cold, Northwestern needed Audige and Berry to step up if they had a chance to win. They delivered a 14-point victory.

In the past, Collins has used the early parts of the season to develop and test the depth of his roster. That's not the case this time around, as an injury to Julian Roper forced Collins to play just eight players. Those eight were really seven; freshman guard Nick Martinelli only played a minute or two over the course of the night.

Audige was asked to almost go the distance with 39 minutes, Berry and Robbie Beran played 35 and 34 minutes, respectively. Collins is riding his guys, and asking for them to deliver. Paradoxically, the Wildcats have been a better second-half team so far, with only two or three players spelling the starters.

The minutes split at center continues to lean towards Matt Nicholson as the season has gone on. Tydus Verhoeven got the start but finished with just 17 minutes to Nicholson's 21. Neither had production that leapt off the page, but Collins seems to prefer the size and defensive presence that Nicholson provides.

There are plenty of nitpicks and concerns from Northwestern so far. The half-court offense has often gone stagnant early, and relies too much on hoists or isolations late in the shot clock from Buie, Berry or Audige.

The center position looks incredibly shallow with neither Verhoeven or Nicholson making the scoring or defensive impact that will likely be required to survive Big Ten play. Northwestern's defense has thrived off a physical advantage that wull not persist much longer into their schedule.

Collins is a presumed lame duck this season, and the mettle and the flaws of this team will probably get stretched to their breaking point by No. 13 Auburn.

But this is still a 5-0 start from a team that has had the chance to pack it in, chalk it up to any of a million factors to why they don't want to fight and claw their way back, and take a loss in almost every matchup they have had.

When one player or position or group has gone cold, the others have picked them up. The defense has swarmed, allowing an average of just 53.4 points per game. Their opponents won't strike fear in many teams’ hearts, but they aren't cupcakes, either. Northwestern took care of business against a reeling Georgetown team, and has now beaten two conference title contenders in Purdue-Fort Wayne and Liberty.

I had a thought for the first time in a long time when Berry finished through contact to draw an and-one, flexed on his opponent, turned and chest bumped an ecstatic Audige: this is fun.

People can qualify this team's success six ways to Sunday. The time to acknowledge that will come later this season, maybe even on Wednesday night.

But until then, I'll give one piece of advice: enjoy it.