Northwestern (2-0, 0-0 B1G) came to play Friday night, with both the offense and defense headlining as the Wildcats beat the Boston Terriers (1-1, 0-0 Patriot) 76-52.
Northwestern never trailed in the contest
and led by as much as 30, winning the turnover battle 14-5. The Wildcats were led by stellar play from Jayden Reid, who put up 17 points on 8-for-14 shooting and dished out a game-high 8 assists, and Nick Martinelli, who put up 20 points and grabbed 9 boards.
For Boston, Michael McNair looked like he couldn’t miss from deep in certain stretches, scoring 20 points and going 6-for-10 from long range. No other player for Boston scored double-digits, and the Terriers shot just 33% from the floor and scored just 16 points in the paint.
Even with the tip going in Boston’s favor, Arrinten Page made his mark with a quick steal and a nice dish to a cutting Jayden Reid to give the ‘Cats a quick lead over Boston, forcing coach Joe Jones to take an early timeout. Northwestern didn’t stop there, coming out of the timeout with a 15-foot bank shot for Reid’s second bucket of the game.
The ‘Cats continued their strong play on both sides, forcing a turnover from the Terriers, leading to Nick Martinelli’s first points of the game with a midrange shot from the elbow. Just before the first media timeout of the game, Northwestern had another good defensive possession, forcing an air ball from Boston’s Chance Gladden. The Wildcats went into the timeout up 8-4.
Out of the break, Reid continued to score, sinking a deep three for his third straight field goal of the game. The defense continued to be an early storyline, with the ‘Cats forcing even more last-second shots that caught nothing but air for not one but two Terrier shooters. Then on the next possession, Northwestern forced Boston’s fifth turnover at the 13:32 mark, thanks to an errant pass from BU’s Azmar Abdullah.
Jake West got his first points of the game with a three from the left corner that extended Northwestern’s run to 13-0 starting from 16:50 to 10:18. In that span, the Wildcats held the Terriers to 10-straight missed field goals and extend hold a 17-4 lead with 11:36 remaining.
It was more of the same from both teams as the game passed over the 10 minute mark, with the ‘Cats’ defensive pressure forcing yet another errant pass that turned into a Page layup on the other end. All things do come to an end at some point, and the Terriers snapped their 8:22 field goal-less streak with a 26-foot three from Boston’s Michael McNair.
Page responded quickly with a three of his own at the 8:38 mark, only to once again be answered by McNair with two more big threes, sinking Northwestern’s lead from 15 down to just 9 points and fueling a 9-3 BU run. At the media timeout with 7:16 remaining in the half, McNair was responsible for all of Boston’s three-point makes.
Northwestern responded quickly, answering with a 24-foot Martinelli three and Page following that up with a nice spinning layup that forced a foul. However, he was unable to convert the and-one. Reid continued to use his speed in transition to create open looks, finding Martinelli for his patented floater and Ciaravino for a fastbreak layup, expanding the Wildcat lead back up to 14 with 4:29 remaining.
Reid continued to power the Northwestern offense with his speed, driving to the basket out of the timeout for a fastbreak layup giving him his ninth point of the game. Ciaravino showed his two-way capability, stealing an in bound pass and finding three points of his own on the other side. Singleton added to the madness, finding Martinelli in transition as the ’Cats found another fastbreak layup and-one for #2 in white. That bucket gave the Wildcats their largest lead of the game, leading 41-19 with 2:25 remaining powered by a 19-6 NU run.
Closing the half, Northwestern showed no mercy, with a block by Page on one end and a layup from Reid that somehow fell. At the half, Northwestern lead the Terriers 45-26 thanks in part to their 8 forced turnovers and holding Boston to just 10-for-30 from the field.
Opening the second, Jayden Reid continued to push the pace finding Nick Martinelli for a layup to open the half. Defense continued to apply pressure, forcing seven missed shots and two early turnovers from the Terriers in the early parts of the second frame.
Page took a hard fall and was a little slow to get up, but continued to play after a review of the play where he was fouled on a fastbreak layup from BU’s Abdullah, which was ruled to be just a common foul. Ciaravino matched the intensity at the 15:47 mark, getting his own rebound and going up with a BU defender for a tough layup that fell in his favor.
Out of a media timeout at the 15:22 mark, Northwestern’s defense continued to smother Boston for 94-feet and forcing the Terriers to put up two shots in the final seconds of the shot clock. KJ Windham showed life with 12:52 remaining, sinking Northwestern’s first three in 10:01 minutes of play and extending the ‘Cats lead to 30.
With the game entering the second half of the second half, the Wildcats continued applying pressure, forcing the Terriers to throw up some tough shots and make some dangerous passes out of double teams. Reid continued showing off with a comfortable lead, sinking a fadeaway two and snapping a 4:30 cold stretch where the ‘Cats were unable to make a field goal.
With 3:35 remaining, coach Chris Collins called a timeout after McNair sank his fifth three of the game, which brought the ‘Cats lead down to 22. Northwestern really got sloppy on both sides of the ball with the large lead, and Collins was visibly upset with the team after a miscommunication on the play prior.
But it was too little too late for the Terriers, as the Wildcats took home their second win of the season with a final score of 76-52. Northwestern will be back in action next Monday, November 10, when the team closes out its three-game homestand by taking on Cleveland State at 7:30 PM central.
