DAYTON, Ohio — During last week’s post-game press conference, coach Chris Collins said Northwestern had a challenge in front of itself in Dayton, Ohio, which he called “one of the most hostile environments in the country” for an on-the-road game.
His prediction rang true as a sea of fans dressed in red and blue at University of Dayton Arena shook the ’Cats’ confidence in the second half of a Saturday battle against the Flyers (2-0, 0-0 Atlantic 10).
Northwestern (1-1, 0-0 Big Ten) started the game strong, displaying offensive dominance in the first half. Junior forward Nick Martinelli scored 15 points in the first half, en route to a career-high 32-point outing.
Saturday’s contest was Martinelli’s third straight game with over 25 points. He is the first player in the Big Ten to start the season with back-to-back games of 25+ points and 10+ rebounds since at least 1996. Martinelli was the most dominant player on the floor, logging a game-high 14 rebounds for the ’Cats on top of his scoring presence.
Freshman guard Angelo Ciaravino came off the bench explosively midway through the first half, dropping two jumpers and a three-pointer before halftime.
While Dayton’s Enoch Cheeks, Nate Santos and Malachi Smith were able to find the back of the rim consistently in the first 20 minutes of play, the Flyers struggled to build an offensive flow throughout most of the game. The ’Cats exited the first half leading 32-24.
But nine minutes into the second half, the winds began to change in the Flyers’ favor. The ’Cats allowed nine unanswered points, bringing the score to 51-50. With just under eight minutes to go, the Flyers tied the score at 52 and took off on a scoring frenzy led by Cheeks, Javon Bennett and Zed Key.
The ’Cats defense fell apart in the latter part of the second half, cracking under the pressure of the deafening Dayton crowd. Martinelli alone had three turnovers in the final eight minutes of the game.
Graduate student center Matthew Nicholson and redshirt sophomore forward Luke Hunger were noticeably quiet on the scoreboard, with the former scoring only one bucket and the latter scoring two. Graduate student guard Ty Berry, coming off a season-ending meniscus injury, had no points on 0-for-5 shooting.
On top of the squad’s struggling defense, NU couldn’t connect on offense when it needed to, either. Hunger, graduate student guard Jalen Leach and freshman guard K.J. Windham all missed key shots in the last six minutes of the game.
Ultimately, the ’Cats could not ground the Flyers as Dayton soared to a 71-66 win, mirroring — NU’s 71-66 win over Dayton last year at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
The ’Cats have just a few days to regroup before their next contest. NU will take on UIC at Welsh-Ryan Arena on Nov. 12 as its nonconference slate continues.
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