p>After the first day of competition in Tucson, Ariz., the No. 14 Northwestern men’s swimming team led No. 5 Arizona by nearly 40 points.

Hoping for an upset, NU set the tone in the first event, beating Arizona’s 200-yard freestyle relay — the nation’s fastest in the event.

NU’s lead widened after the next event, with sophomore Mike Alexandrov, junior Brian Davis and senior Mike Gustafson sweeping the top three spots in the 400-yard individual medley.

NU swimmers claimed the top spot in every Friday event except the 100-yard butterfly.

“We knew they’d come out the second day and be a lot better,” NU coach Bob Groseth said. “We told the kids to be ready for it, but they weren’t.”

The Arizona Wildcats came back with a vengeance Saturday, taking the first and second spots in the 200-yard medley relay and the 1650-yard freestyle — events in which Groseth believed his swimmers could win.

Arizona’s Lyndon Ferns out-touched sophomore Matt Grevers in the 200-yard freestyle, beating him by .08 seconds.

A slow second length put Grevers a body length behind Ferns at the halfway point.

“I saw him first at 100 meters and saw he had a big lead,” Grevers said. “I tried to catch up to him, but I guess I tried too late.”

Groseth added : “We weren’t ready to swim fast at the beginning of the second day. The first three events went by without putting our best foot forward.”

Arizona continued its solid performance, placing 14 swimmers in the top three throughout the day and finally edged the Cats, 176-165.

“Realistically, it wasn’t a meet we expected to win,” Groseth said. “The lead at the end of the first day was somewhat surprising.”

NU led Washington, its other opponent in the weekend’s double dual meet, 109-39 after the first day of competition.

Unlike Arizona, the Huskies had no answer Saturday, eventually falling, 253-79.

Despite barely losing the 200-yard freestyle, Grevers won four other events: the 100-yard freestyle and the 200-yard backstroke on Friday, in addition to the 100-yard backstroke and the 50-yard freestyle on Saturday.

In the 50-yard freestyle, Grevers beat Arizona’s Simon Burnett, who competed for Great Britain in the 2004 Olympic Games.

Grevers, along with freshmen David Kormushoff and Kyle Bubolz, and senior Matt Wever, also captured the 400-yard freestyle relay on Saturday.

Usually guided by the grids on the ceilings of indoor pools during his backstroke events, Grevers admitted sometimes he has trouble in outdoor pools, where the clouds are his only guides.

“This was the first time I didn’t have trouble,” Grevers said. “I’ve been known to crack my hand on the lane line and slow myself down.”

He added: “Not hitting the lane line was an accomplishment in itself.”

Groseth said he thinks the team’s performance against Arizona could help the Cats gain more national attention.

“They’re going to go, ‘Whoa, that’s a pretty good team,’ ” he said.

Reach David Morrison at [email protected].