Northwestern struggled with the New Orleans Privateers for most of the game, but overcame a nine-point second-half deficit to pull out an 83-67 win and remain undefeated.
The Privateers' biggest lead came at 46-37 with 17:16 remaining in the game on a Derek St. Hilaire 3-point play. Northwestern responded with an 8-0 run and the game was back and forth until a Boo Buie floater gave NU the lead for good with 6:46 remaining.
Northwestern later went on 12-0 run 3-pointers from Robbie Beran, Ty Berry and Buie, along with an and-one, alley-oop slam from Pete Nance to put distance between themselves and UNO. The Wildcats outscored New Orleans 48-30 in the second half.
The Privateers were led by 27 points from St. Hilaire, while the Wildcats were paced by 18 from Nance. Buie also posted a career-high nine assists.
Here are our takeaways from Northwestern's third straight win to start the season:
Better late than never
For most of the game New Orleans was giving Northwestern all they could handle as the Wildcats looked out of sorts on both ends.
After falling down by nine, though, Northwestern locked in and outscored UNO 46-21 for the rest of the game. Sophomore guard Ty Berry scored 12 of his 17 points during the run, all coming on triples. Berry is seeing an increased role with Chase Audige sidelined by injury, and he took advantage of the Privateer defense collapsing down on drives from Buie.
Nance added two emphatic dunks during the run to cap his strong night of 18 points and eight rebounds.
Head coach Chris Collins said that his team has been a "slow-starting bunch" so far this season, and that's something that he hopes to change as the season goes on.
No answer for St. Hilaire in first half
No. 10 was everywhere for New Orleans. St. Hilaire finished with 27 points, but only shot 2-for-12 in the second half. Northwestern knew that they were going to be facing off against a score-first guard.
"I knew he was going to try to get 30," Buie said.
Buie was tasked with guarding the quick Privateer guard and said he tried to pressure the ball and force St. Hilaire into tough shots in the second frame.
Collins said guarding a player like St. Hilaire took a toll on Buie's offense because of the energy he expended on the defensive end. Collins also said being able to slow him down was good practice as NU will face plenty of good guards in Big Ten play.
Buie sets career high
The Cats' junior guard assisted on the first four Northwestern baskets and finished with a career-high nine helpers. Buie's own shooting numbers weren't quite there, as he finished 5-of-15 from the field and 1-of-7 from behind the arc.
He finished with 13 points and his lone triple capped NU's game-sealing 12-0 run. His most impressive assist came on the half-court alley oop to Nance.
"Basically, Pete is really big," Buie said. "If he has someone my size on him... I'm throwing it every time."
Collins said that New Orleans wanted to make Buie more of a passer than a scorer, and he liked how is point guard adapted to the defense and still helped his team.
NU wins hustle stats
Northwestern had 25 points off turnovers, compared to New Orleans' five. The Cats were +4 fast-break points and +16 in second-chance points.
NU had 12 offensive rebounds, led by freshmen Julian Roper II, Casey Simmons and the senior Nance, who had two apiece. Berry led the way with two steals.
In a game where Northwestern struggled to get going for a while, creating extra possessions was the boost they needed.
Nance admitted that UNO's physicality bothered the Cats at times during the game, but NU gathered themselves and were able to outmuscle the Privateers on the offensive glass and use aggressive defense to force them into mistakes and take over the game.
Still no timetable on Audige
Collins said he hopes Audige's injury is a "sooner rather than later" thing, but emphasized that NU it taking it day-by-day and doesn't want to rush him back into action since they need him to be 100% the whole season.
With Audige sidelined, Simmons has moved into the starting lineup. He played 19 minutes on Tuesday night and scored four points while grabbing three rebounds. His fellow freshman, Roper II, played 12:50 off the bench and added an identical four points and three boards.
Collins stressed that this time without Audige isn't an audition for the younger guys; NU is just focused on doing whatever it takes to win. Still, the extended playing time for the newest Cats will be helpful down the stretch if another injury pops up, or if NU faces foul trouble during a Big Ten game. Depth is always a good thing.
