It is not a secret that Northwestern’s freshmen are more talented than its returning players. That was evident Friday in the Wildcats’ season opener against Houston Baptist.

But coach Chris Collins said he thinks the veterans will be the key to NU’s success this season, and he believes the second half of the 65-58 win showed why.

“Opening night, you get some jitters,” Collins said. “You have a tendency to get really tight. For our veterans to rally the troops, it was a good win.”

Despite impressive performances from freshmen Bryant McIntosh and Vic Law, NU trailed the Huskies with 15 minutes remaining.

Then, junior center Alex Olah put a rough first half behind him with a fourth-chance layup to give the Cats a lead. Sophomore forward Sanjay Lumpkin followed that with a bucket. Then senior guard JerShon Cobb drilled an open 3-pointer.

Veterans’ names continued to pop up during the final 10 minutes as the Cats extended their lead, all the way through a free throw by junior guard Tre Demps with 15 seconds to go.

When the final buzzer sounded, returning players had scored 20 of the team’s final 24 points. Law scored the other four, and two of them came on an Olah assist.

“Their leadership is a key for this team,” McIntosh said. “We’re very young, and that’s what we need from them.”

Olah finished as the game’s leading scorer and NU’s leading rebounder with 21 points and 10 boards. He struggled in the first half and was visibly frustrated. In the first period he was held to 3 points on 1-for-5 shooting.

NU’s non-freshmen struggled as a whole early on, scoring just 8 points on 3-for-16 shooting.

Olah said the Cats’ success will depend on the players who have already been tested at the Division I level.

“Us as the veterans, we have to show the way,” Olah said.

Email: jessekramer2017@u.northwestern.edu
Twitter: @Jesse_Kramer