Northwestern men’s basketball (3-0, 0-0 B1G) defeated Boston University (2-1, 0-0 Patriot) Monday night, 72-55, to keep its season perfect through three games.
A concussion protocol kept Jack Karasinski out for the second straight game, but some tenacious defense and transition play were enough to keep the Wildcats afloat, despite some second-half lulls.
The Wildcats’ key players were Jake West and LA Pratt, who had 21 and 20 points, respectively. Both were perfect from the free-throw line and made
eight field goals. Angelo Ciaravino also had a stand out performance with 14 points and a team-high six rebounds. These key offensive performances led the team to a commanding win over the then-unbeaten Terriers. For Boston, Azmar Abdullah led the team with 11 points on 4-for-8 shooting.
The Terriers won the tip-off but were stopped quickly with a travel call, giving the ‘Cats a swing of momentum early. Angelo Ciaravino would sink a jumper in the paint before Jake West followed with a steal and score, converting an and-one in the process, putting the ‘Cats up 5-0 early.
The Terriers answered with a bucket of their own before the Wildcats brought it back down, and Collin Smith hit a three. Back-to-back turnovers would plague Boston early, with the Wildcats forcing three in as many minutes. West would add on to the lead with another fastbreak layup, putting the ‘Cats up 12-2 before a Boston timeout. An open three for the Terriers ended the 7-0 run by the ‘Cats before the first media timeout with 15:51 remaining.
Another Northwestern stop quickly turned into offense as a string of passes fell into the hands of LA Pratt for his first points of the game off a clean three. Ciaravino made a driving layup heading into the second media timeout of the half with the ‘Cats up 20-9 with 12:32 remaining.
The Terriers turned it around on a 6-0 run with just over 12 minutes remaining to rein the ‘Cats in to just a nine-point lead, 26-17. Pratt then continued his hot night with his fifth made shot in the paint to subdue the mini run.
Phoenix Gill took a hard foul on a fast-break opportunity, but jumped right back up for free throws to put the Wildcats up 12. The Terriers continued to struggle with the Wildcat defense, falling into a three-minute scoring drought with seven minutes left in the half.
After a break in the action, Gill sank a jumper that brought the crowd to their feet with under five minutes remaining in the half. Two missed shots gave NU the ball back, and West sank a jumper to take a commanding 35-19 lead with 3:58 remaining.
As the Wildcats looked to extend their lead into the half, they fell into a lull and went scoreless for two minutes. The ‘Cats would head to the locker room on a high note, leading 39-24 off two made free throws from Pratt.
At the half, Pratt led with 15 points on 6-for-12 shooting, while West was close behind with nine, despite playing with two fouls.
Boston’s Michelangelo Oberti opened the second half with a free throw, drawing West’s third foul of the game. He remained unbothered, running up the court moments later with a layup-and-one to add three for the ‘Cats.
Both teams struggled after that sequence. It would take four minutes before points were scored again, with a layup by BU’s Hughes (add first). Northwestern’s scoreless drought would continue for two and a half more minutes before a West field goal and a crowd-erupting dunk by Pratt.
Pratt continued to make an impact, sinking a three to extend the lead to 17 and reaching a team-high 20 points with 15:27 remaining. A foul on Gill led to two more points for the ‘Cats, bringing their lead to 51-35 with just over 12 minutes remaining.
A Ciaravino jumper pushed the ‘Cats to 53, which would be the last point on the board for the ‘Cats for almost two minutes. A Boston run, topped off by a three from Bhesania, cut the deficit to nine before the nearly three-minute drought ended with a Ciaravino layup.
After another three for Boston, West tried to keep his team afloat with a pull-up three up for the ‘Cats, putting himself at 19 for the night and expanding the NU lead to 60-49 with 6:28 remaining.
Now within the final five minutes of the game, the Terriers looked to get back within single digits of the ‘Cats, but missed free-throw attempts by Oberti, and a foul on Federiko allowed Northwestern to hold steady.
The final minutes were ugly, with both teams struggling to score and turning it into a defensive battle to the end. A Ciaravino jumper ended the drought for the ‘Cats with less than 3 minutes, while two free throws from Alexander brought a nearly five-minute scoreless stretch to an end for the Terriers.
In the final minutes, the Terriers scored only six points, all from the line. The team huddled in the final minute to try to get more points on the board as they looked up at a 14-point deficit.
A three-pointer by Gill would add to the commanding lead and put the Wildcats at 70 with under a minute remaining.
The ‘Cats would end up winning the game 72-55 in a commanding win over Boston. Though the Terriers only scored two fewer points than the ‘Cats in the second half, a 39-point first half from the Wildcats allowed Northwestern to build a lead that Boston would not be able to come back from.
The Wildcats take on an undefeated DePaul Friday night at home, hoping to continue their hot 3-0 start. The game tips off at 8 p.m. CST at Welsh-Ryan Arena and will air on Big Ten Network.
