Northwestern (2-0, 0-0 B1G) jumped out to an early lead and never looked back in a 78-65 Friday night win over Stony Brook (1-1, 0-0 CAA) as the Wildcats moved to 2-0 on the season.
Concussion protocol ruled out Jack Karasinski — NU’s leading scorer against Binghampton — but Northwestern had no problem on offense without him. The ‘Cats shot a smoldering 52.2% from the field, while finishing 12-for-23 from the perimeter. They made 10 threes in the first half alone, its most in any half since 2022.
Jake West paced all players with six assists and 23 points in his absence, his second consecutive night setting a career high in scoring. Pratt added 16 on 5-for-11 shooting, while Gill had a career-high 14, making four threes. Jaden Daguhtry ripped down seven boards to lead all players while Bryan Ndjonga led the Seawolves in scoring with 19. Quin Gorman and Morris Ugusuk added two assists each.
Without Karasinski, NU opened the game with a starting lineup of West, Pratt, Colin Smith, Angelo Ciaravino and Okku Federiko.
Stony Brook won the opening tip, but Northwestern would dominate the early proceedings. Pratt and West combined to take and make NU’s first four field goals of the evening, with both of West’s coming from beyond the arc. Meanwhile, the ‘Cats turned over the Seawolves twice and recorded a block, en route to a game-opening 12-2 run that forced a Stony Brook timeout after just over three minutes of game time.
The ’Cats kept firing on both sides of the ball after the break. Colin Smith cashed in NU’s third three-pointer on as many attempts. A drawn charge on the next possession, Stony Brook’s third in the opening five minutes, led to another timeout on the floor.
Both teams would struggle offensively after the timeout. Morris Ugusuk would put an end to NU’s 11-0 run, and Bryan Ndjonga split a pair of free throws shortly after, but Stony Brook went empty on its next three trips down the floor. West put an end to a three-minute dry spell for the ’Cats with two consecutive drives to the basket. Shortly after, an Ethan Simmon jumper made it a 19-8 lead for NU going into another media timeout.
Simmon made it two consecutive makes from beyond the arc on the Seawolves’ first possession after the break. Meanwhile, NU remained in an offensive rut, going 0-for-3 and committing a turnover on its next four possessions. But Stony Brook again failed to capitalize on the Wildcat FG drought, hoisting up four three-pointers without a make.
An LA Pratt stepback three put an end to the ’Cats’ near three-minute wait for a field goal, but the score didn’t mark an end to the ’Cats’ struggles from the field. Northwestern would go another two minutes without scoring, while the Seawolves finally opted to take a shot from inside the arc and were rewarded, as Ugusuk drew a foul and converted both free throws to leave the score at 22-12 with 7:47 left in the half.
West’s third three-point make on four attempts pushed NU to 25 points. A Tomas Valentiny putback ended an 0-for-6 shooting spell from the field for Stony Brook. The two teams combined for three three-pointers on the next three possessions — with Phoenix Gill making two — and Stony Brook found success on multiple paint trips to make it a 33-24 NU lead heading into the final media timeout of the half.
Stony Brook’s poor free-throw shooting continued as Ndjonga split a pair after a Ryan Soulis floater. Soon after, Gill hit his third three— NU’s eighth of the evening — which was answered by Ndjonga before Pratt’s second and Gill’s fourth threes of the night put NU back up 44-30, and the score stayed there going into half.
The Wildcats shot 57.7% from the field and 10-of-14 from beyond the arc in the first 30 minutes, making the most threes they have in any half of a game since 2022. West led all players with 13 points and four assists. Ugusuk’s eight points and Quin Gorman’s two assists paced the Seawolves.
The second half opened with an old-fashioned three-point play and a split free throw trip for Jaden Daughtry and the Seawolves. A Ndjonga layup made it a quick 6-0 run for Stony Brook, but a Smith three-pointer and two Angelo Ciaravino free throws put NU on the board in the half.
Ndjonga kept Stony Brook’s offense afloat single-handedly, hitting another layup and forcing a trip to the line where he sank both free throws. Into the first media break, he had already logged six points in the half.
The Seawolves earned and made two more free throws once play resumed before a spell of empty possessions occurred for both squads. Stony Brook finally got back on the board thanks to Ugusuk and Ndjonga layups, only to be matched by a Soulis floater. Ciaravino drew contact on a trip to the line and had two free throws waiting for him on the other side of the sub-12 media timeout.
Ciaravino sank those free throws, but NU had to wait until the 8:45 mark to see another field goal fall through. In that time, Cengiz sank a three to bring NU’s lead down to single digits. Valentiny rose up for a potentially momentum-altering slam, only for Ciaravino to meet him at the sumit. The junior stayed active on the other end, hitting the fall-away jumper that broke NU’s field goal drought on the next possession. West’s fourth three pushed the Wildcats back to a 65-51 lead with 7:52 to play.
With time running out for a comeback, Stony Brook rattled off five quick points after the timeout. But NU quickly recovered its double-digit lead, scoring three points on two trips to the charity stripe and two more on a crafty layup by West. The sophomore inbounded the ball off the back of a distracted Seawolf defender, got it back and then scored a point-blank layup.
West’s heroics would not stop there. On the following possession, with the crowd chanting his name, West drove inside and earned two more NU free throws. The sophomore then drove to the rim and hit an up-and-under layup, which Pratt followed with a layup of his own, putting NU up 76-60 with 3:05 on the clock.
Ndjonga continued his impressive scoring night with another layup, but Ciaravino took the wind out of Stony Brook’s sails with a block — his fourth — and a bucket as the clock sank under a minute. His make was the final one of the night as NU clinched the 78-65 win.
The Wildcats are back in action on Monday against Boston University at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
