Men’s Basketball

Coming off a post-Finals Week break from basketball, the Wildcats needed time to find their groove against Chicago State on Sunday night.

After around 4 and a half minutes of action without a field goal, senior guard Tre Demps’ three-pointer sparked a wave of momentum that Northwestern would ride to an eventual 77-35 home victory.

The basket opened the floodgates and was the first of five threes for the senior guard, who paced the Cats (8-1) with a career-tying 23 total points, 13 of which came in the opening half. For comparison, Chicago State (3-8) scored just 15 before the break.

“I thought the veteran guys really did a great job,” coach Chris Collins said after the game, later adding that Demps played like “a fifth year senior.”

Demps also contributed a career-high nine rebounds in the winning effort.

But even with the visiting Cougars in the rearview mirror by halftime, NU’s opening execution was hardly perfect, as the team shot just 5-of-18 from deep before the break and allowed 10 first-half offensive rebounds.

Defensively, though, there was no competition. Once the Cats found their collective stroke, they rode a stellar defensive effort to a 15-2 run to close the half and continued that dominance in the second period, killing any chance of a Chicago State comeback.

“It was tough to score the ball, but our defense kept it up,” junior forward Nathan Taphorn said. “Everybody in general was [playing great defense]. But in the second half, we really picked up the offense and we were really able to shoot the ball better.”

The Cougars shot just 25 percent on the night and went 1-of-19 from deep. With senior center Alex Olah — NU’s top impact player alongside Demps — patrolling the paint on defense, the Cats kept their opponents beyond the perimeter for much of the game.

“We limited dribble penetration without fouling and defended the three-point line,” Collins said.

Though Chicago State tried to do the same on the other end of the court, NU found more success from deep and still managed to funnel the ball to Olah after breaking apart the Cougars’ zone defense with high-octane ball movement.

The Cats’ big man only finished with 9 points, but kept Chicago State’s crumbling defense on its toes by working the ball to the Cats’ plethora of perimeter threats.

“You’ve got to see when [Olah] has that deep position,” Demps said in regards to the team’s conscious effort to get the center touches around the rim. “That’s something we’ll probably work on going into next game, because we’re definitely going to need him to post because he’s a great scorer and a great passer down there.”

Junior forward Sanjay Lumpkin was perfect on his two attempts from long range, finishing with 8 points on the night. Sophomore point guard Bryant McIntosh added 8 of his own — along with six assists — in what should go down as one of NU’s leading scorers’ quieter nights.

Freshman forward Aaron Falzon reprised his newly assigned sixth-man role but struggled to the tune of just 6 points, going 1-of-5 from deep.

Instead, it was Taphorn who added a second-unit scoring spark, finishing the night with 11 points — 9 of which came from the perimeter.

“I thought Taphorn tonight was really good,” Collins said. “I thought he made big shots, he made a big drive. I just thought his energy — he rebounded well. He gave us a boost when we really needed it.”

Freshman guard Jordan Ash scored 8 of his own in garbage time to add insult to injury.

Sophomore forward Gavin Skelly logged just one score but added six boards off the bench, taking the place of center Joey van Zegeren, who injured his foot, as Olah’s primary backup. Van Zegeren is set to miss “a couple weeks” per Collins, who aims to have the big man back by Big Ten play.

Only freshman walk-on Charlie Hall — who made an appearance in the final minute — didn’t score for the Cats, in what will go down as one of the team’s most balanced and dominant two-way efforts of the season.

“Obviously when you see 29 baskets with 24 assists on only eight turnovers, guys are really sharing the ball,” Collins said. “And I’ve said all along, that’s the kind of team we have to be.”

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Twitter: @GarrettJochnau