Looking to follow up its upset victory over No. 10 Illinois earlier in the week, Northwestern closed out its two-game homestand in a Saturday night matchup against Ohio State.
Undefeated in conference play at home, the Wildcats (15-5, 6-3 Big Ten) displayed their Welsh-Ryan prowess with a dominant 25-point victory over the Buckeyes (13-7, 3-6 Big Ten).
Defense dictated the game from the start. By the first media timeout, the score remained 5-4 with NU in the lead as both teams combined for 3-of-11 from the field.
Midway through the first half, the ‘Cats turned it up on the offensive end, riding a 10-3 run that included two consecutive baskets from graduate student guard Ryan Langborg. Sophomore forward Luke Hunger’s 3-pointer capped the scoring run to extend NU’s lead to eight points.
Ohio State threatened the ‘Cats’ lead by cutting it to three, but Langborg knocked down his third and fourth 3-pointers of the game to regain the momentum.
Through the rest of the first half, NU continued its excellent shooting night and finished the period with a 41-30 lead, having converted 54% of its field goal attempts.
Leading the ‘Cats’ scoring efforts was Langborg, who entered the break with a game-leading 14 points and four 3-pointers. On the other end, NU held the Buckeyes to a mere 7-of-20 shooting clip.
The second half brought more of the same as the ‘Cats exerted their offensive dominance while continuing to hold the Buckeyes to a cold shooting performance.
The hosts jumped out to an 11-3 run over the first five minutes of play, highlighted by graduate student guard Boo Buie’s six consecutive points.
Coach Chris Collins’ squad kept its foot on the gas pedal down the stretch, culminating in a 19-1 run in which five different NU players contributed to the point total. The ‘Cats’ lead reached a high of 35 when Hunger’s layup put the score at 81-46 with nearly four minutes of play remaining.
It was a balanced scoring effort with six NU players hitting double digits, led by Buie with 19 points.
Here are three takeaways from NU’s victory over Ohio State.
1. A physical battle from the start
Neither team took control of the game through the first handful of possessions.
The squads combined for a staggering eight personal fouls within the first eight minutes, making for a slow-paced flow as stars from both teams continued to search for a rhythm.
With players beginning to sit due to foul trouble, the drought of momentum-changing plays ended when NU took a 20-12 lead with nine minutes remaining in the period.
2. Langborg, ‘Cats catch fire from three
It was all Langborg in the first half. The graduate transfer started his night missing two straight shots early, but kept his composure to convert on five of his next six field goal attempts.
Langborg’s 14 points, along with momentum-building 3-pointers from Hunger and sophomore forward Nick Martinelli, the ‘Cats were able to pull away with a double digit lead entering intermission.
With a 7-of-13 clip from deep, NU had clearly not lost its shooting touch from Wednesday’s overtime victory over Illinois where the hosts shot a season-high 61.1% from beyond the arc.
3. Buckeyes have no answer for NU
The second half proved to be the definition of a one-sided matchup. The ‘Cats commanded nearly every facet of the game, looking as hot as they have been all season.
As per usual, Buie led the offensive charge with 19 points on 4-of-6 shooting after being held to only four points in the first period. The guard fouled out with 3:31 left to play Saturday.
Defensively, NU held Ohio State to just 33.3% from the field over the last 20 minutes while shooting 62.5% on the other end. With rebounding and turnover numbers relatively level, it was the shooting that took the ‘Cats over the top.
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