Northwestern added a non-conference feather to its cap early in the season with a 71-66 win over Dayton.
The Wildcats established a 35-25 lead but almost immediately went back to a neck-and-neck battle after Dayton opened the half with an 11-0 run in 1:50. Princeton transfer Ryan Langborg starred for the Wildcats and led all scorers with 19.
Boo Buie struggled with foul trouble again but still put up 15, including a pair of clutch free throws down the stretch. Brooks Barnhizer was third for the Cats with 13, and carried the offense when Buie sat after picking up his fourth.
DaRon Holmes was as advertised for Dayton and showcased his size and speed to tune of 17 points and a poster dunk on 7-foot Matt Nicholson.
But the Wildcats still earned a win with their characteristic defense, an uncharacteristic lead on the boards and plenty of points in the paint.
Here are our takeaways from Northwestern's non-conference win:
Welsh-Ryan answered Collins' call: After the win over Binghamton, head coach Chris Collins called on Northwestern's fans to show up for their big non-conference tilt with the Flyers, and the fans delivered, en masse. The reported attendance was 5,769, more than 1000 short of the listed capacity of 7,039, but it felt packed to the brim.
"I got a rush of energy when I walked out on the floor," Collins said. "They don't realize what they do for players, but also for old coaches.
"I got a bounce in my step, felt like I was back in the 90s. I thought I could go out there and get a dunk or something."
The Wildcats delivered one of their best November wins since the new Welsh-Ryan opened, and to do so in front of a stadium packed not just with students but with fans from the community meant a great deal to Collins. He continues to push the fan base to grow its support as his team pushes its on-court production to new heights.
"I want this to be the norm of what Welsh-Ryan is," he said. "It's a fun night...I tell you what, how could you not cheer for a group of guys like we have?
"It's a connected group that wants to do well, that wants to represent Northwestern. Hopefully we can make [tonight] the standard where it's not just a Big Ten game or Dayton coming to town. People know when they come to his building, it's going to be a really tough place to play."
Closing runs showed flashes of something special: Dayton took their first lead of the game at 25-24 with 4:53 left in the first half. That layup from Javon Bennett proved to be their last points of the half.
Northwestern rattled off an 11-0 run in the final four minutes of the first half and firmly put themselves back in the driver's seat, up 35-25. It showed incredibly impressive composure and execution, even after the first bucket of that run was wiped away by a shot-clock violation.
Langborg, Martinelli and Buie poured in buckets from all over the floor to combine for the 11. That trio had 27 in the first half alone and were the consistent engine of the offense.
In the second half, it wasn't nearly so dramatic or one-sided but it was even more consequential. Buie left the game at 9:12 with the game tied at 50 after picking up his fourth foul, and Welsh-Ryan held its breath as the game hung in the balance.
The Wildcats were able to not just keep the tie, but to extend their lead to 62-58 by the time Buie checked back in at 4:00 to close the Flyers out.
Their response to Dayton's lead in both halves, and the attempts of Flyer fans to worm their way into the Welsh-Ryan atmosphere, proved this team's mettle and proved they could have what it takes for another special run.
Guard trio stepped up for Buie's off night: Buie tacked on some free throws at the end, but struggled to reach his normal scoring form for much of this game. Not to fear, Langborg, Barnhizer and Ty Berry picked up the slack. Langborg, as aforementioned, was lights out.
He poured in 19 on 6-for-9 shooting from the field and and 5-for-6 from the line in 39 minutes. It wasn't just spot up work either, he made just two threes. He proved to be the exact kind of shot creator and ball handler this team needs next to Buie to excel.
Barnhizer gets second billing but played like the main event. He used his size and skill to bully smaller Dayton defenders into mid-range fallaways that were as dependable as the sunrise. He finished with his second double-double of the season in 38 minutes.
When Buie went into foul trouble, Barnhizer immediately stepped up. He scored five points over the next three possessions and Langborg assumed the point guard role with barley a hiccup. Collins cut straight to the chase in his assessment of those five minutes.
"Boo can't save us right now," he said on what he told his team. "We have to do this together. Ryan Langborg took a step forward today."
Despite a physical press from Dayton, the Wildcats turned the ball over just seven times.
Ty Berry, the fourth member of Northwestern's many-headed backcourt monster, chipped in with two huge threes down the stretch to shore up the lead and galvanize the team.
"When he hit those shots, our whole team lit up," Langborg said. "So great to see him get that confidence back, he's a killer in practice."
Collins fell back on one of his favorite sayings to compliment Berry, a team captain, on his performance.
"I was really proud of Ty Berry," Collins said. "It wasn't going great for him most of the game. I always preach to all these guys about throwing yourself into other things and then the shots will happen.
"I'm a big believer that there are basketball gods out there and the basketball gods reward you when you do things right and throw yourself into winning. The basketball gods punish you when you don't."
The basketball gods looked favorably on the Wildcats tonight.
Collins gave a good look at his early rotation: Collins' rotation is coming into focus, and he did not sell Nick Martinelli's role short. Martinelli's minutes restriction seemed to be thrown out the window, and the sophomore forward shone. He provided instant offense off the bench with seven first-half points, nine in the game, and led the game in plus-minus.
"Our two best post players are Brooks and Nick," Collins said. "When they play together we try to take advantage of the mismatch."
The Wildcats went eight deep, but freshman guard Jordan Clayton played only six minutes. In a game this close, and his key players with the necessary endurance, Collins deemed the waters too deep to mix the freshman in any further.
"We have young guys we really like but at the end of the day we're trying to win," he said. "The guys that were out there tonight are going to carry the load for most of this year."
Notably absent from the rotation was Denver transfer Justin Mullins, who was the first man off the bench against Binghamton. Don't expect Mullins to be on the bench the rest of the way or anything nearly that extreme, but this game seemed to indicate that between Collins' faith in Buie, Berry and Langborg, combined with Mullins still finding his footing in the Wildcats defensive system, he's not ready for crunch time minutes just yet.
Keep in mind that Collins is no stranger to mid or late season flexibility. The two players he lauded the most tonight, Barnhizer and Martinelli, both saw their roles change seismically over the course of last year's tournament run.
Northwestern gave Dayton the arc, took the paint: The old, simple adage says three is worth more than two, but the Wildcats went against the grain. To shift to boxing, they leaned on Dayton for a win. The Flyers made 12 threes to Northwestern's five, but the Wildcats almost evened that margin by outscoring Dayton 38-18 in the paint.
Not only did the Wildcats press a scoring advantage, they delivered a rare rebounding advantage as well. Even though Holmes hauled in seven, the Wildcats snagged 27 rebounds to Dayton's 21, including a 12-to-3 advantage in offensive rebounds.
While the rebounding was out of the norm, the turnover battle was right in Northwestern's wheelhouse. After a first half where the Wildcats coughed up the ball six times to Dayton's five, they would lose the ball just once in the second half while tripling Dayton's tally.
Through two games, the Wildcats have turned their opponent over 34 times to their 19.
Wildcats made a non-conference statement: It wasn't easy, but Northwestern delivered on an early-season, high-profile, non-conference game. Depending on your opinion of Providence in the 2019-20 season, this was the biggest win in November at the new Welsh-Ryan Arena. This is a Flyers team dealing with an injury to Malachi Smith, but also one that remains a favorite to win the Atlantic-10 and has won 20 games in five of their last six seasons.
Collins has said the team was looking for a statement game after losing out on the Gavitt Games draw and the end of the Big Ten-ACC Challenge. He got it, in spades. The Wildcats delivered a huge win on their home court by keeping Dayton in check with an almost wire-to-wire victory. There's a long, long way to go this year but 2-0 is a good place to start.
