Entering the halftime break, Northwestern found itself down two points against New Orleans, with the threat of an upset to a mid-major looming.

The Cats missed their last five shots over nearly the last five minutes, rummaging up only two points from senior point guard Ryan Greer’s free throws with 2:35 left in the half. Not to mention, the Privateers were feeling themselves — shooting 5-8 from the field during the Wildcats’ offensive woes.

However, NU (3-0, 0-0 Big Ten) clawed its way back into the matchup against New Orleans (1-2, 0-0 Southland) and won 83-67 not only by its typical hustle and defensive efforts, but by fixing its late first half problem: shooting.

“We were a little bit sharper,” coach Chris Collins said. “We finally got the stops we needed and we saw the ball go in the basket.”

Knocking 37% of its attempts in the first half, the Cats shifted into a different gear for the second 20-minute half, shooting 54.8% from the field. 

Although the Cats’ first half shot percentage wasn’t terrible, a large reason behind the two-point deficit was New Orleans’ hot offense, which shot 50% from the field. NU’s defense was able to slow the opposing offense down — especially Derek St. Hilaire, who scored 18 in the first half. But in the second frame, the group decided to have fun and spread the love on the offensive end themselves. All but one Wildcat scored after the halftime break.

“To start the game, their quickness, their physicality, kind of knocked us back a little bit,” Collins said. “In the second half, we had a little more pop to us, we cut a little bit harder, we were moving a little bit quicker.”

A large reason behind the Cats’ ball movement that led to buckets was junior guard Boo Buie’s passing ability. While dishing out nine assists during the game, a career-high, the floor general struggled to find his groove in the first half, scoring only two points. However, Buie tapped back into his bucket-getting ways after the break, picking up 11 points.

While mentioning his role at the point guard position for the Cats’, Buie expressed his “win every single game” mentality, whether that be facilitating the offense or driving to the basket.

“(I) do whatever the team needs me to do,” Buie said. “Whatever the read is, whether I come off a ball screen if I have a shot or my teammate’s open on a roll or a shake, I’m just trying to always make the right read.”

By game’s end, Buie joined fellow double-digit scorers sophomore guard Ty Berry with 17 points and senior forward Pete Nance with 18. Out of the team’s three contests, this was the group’s first game where each of the Cats that touched the court stepped into the score column, demonstrating NU’s depth.

Along with turning the shooting average around overall, the Cats shot 40% behind the arc in the second, versus 27.8% in the first. Nance credited New Orleans defense for its aggressive play out the gate, but expressed his love for the Cats’ fight and passion after its first half woes, leading to its second half comeback.

“That was the key for sure,” Nance said. “We attacked them, I felt even stronger and I felt like we got our ball movement going really well and luckily shots were starting to fall.”

NU is still without one of its top scoring threats in junior guard Chase Audige, who led the team in the points category last year. Audige is currently out with a hip injury, and his return is expected to bolster the Cats’ offensive dynamic.

Although his missing presence is noteworthy, Collins expressed the group’s “next man up mentality” and the importance of taking good shots and getting good looks going forward, similar to today.

“You’ve got to find a way to win,” Collins said. “We were up against it, down nine with 17 minutes to go, and I was really proud of our resolve.”  

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