Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
1-0
Houston Baptist
0-1
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| Houston Baptist | 31 | 27 | 58 |
| Northwestern | 28 | 37 | 65 |
Team Stats
Game Leaders
Players Mentioned
Northwestern Defeats Houston Baptist in Season-Opener, 65-58
11/14/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
By Jasper Scherer
Northwestern Athletic Communications
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Alex Olah's 18 second-half points and Northwestern's freshman duo of Vic Law and Bryant McIntosh led Northwestern to a 65-58 win over Houston Baptist, marking the Wildcats' seventh straight season-opening victory.
Law and McIntosh combined for 25 points, with the latter putting forth another all-around effort behind six assists and four rebounds. Redshirt sophomore Sanjay Lumpkin added seven points on 3-of-4 shooting, and seven different players had multiple rebounds for the Wildcats.
"The two freshmen were fantastic," said head coach Chris Collins, noting McIntosh not commiting a turnover despite playing 35 minutes. "I thought [McIntosh] played a brilliant game, and I thought Vic was very active, and he played well."
After Houston Baptist grabbed 12 of the game's first 14 points, Law scored each of Northwestern's next five, and Lumpkin knocked down a wide-open three-pointer--his first shot of the season--to bring the deficit down to four.
With just over three minutes remaining in the half, freshman guard Scottie Lindsey hit a trey of his own to tie the game, and Nathan Taphorn followed up with a go-ahead layup off his offensive rebound to give the Wildcats their first lead of the game, 27-25.
With Northwestern trailing 31-28 at the half, McIntosh led all players with nine points and four assists.
"We had to dig down for this one," Collins said. "We had to adjust in the second half, and I thought we did a great job of that. We played much better defense."
Coming out of the break, the teams alternated leads with five switches in the first six minutes of the period. With Houston Baptist leading 42-41, Olah put the Wildcats ahead for good with a layup to cap off a Northwestern possession that featured three offensive rebounds.
"Alex was tremendous on the offensive end. In the second half, he finished stronger," Collins said. "I thought for him at halftime to regroup and come back with 18 big ones in the second half...we don't win without that production."
The Huskies kept it close after Olah's go-ahead score, but the Romanian big man hit on his only three-point attempt of the night to put Northwestern ahead 54-49 minutes later. He then hit an and-one layup, his 13th and 14th points of the half, giving the Wildcats a seven-point advantage they would hold through the end of the game.
"We worked through some stuff and we found a way to win," Collins said. "And now we get to regroup and get ourselves ready to hit the road and play Brown on Monday night."
The contest between Northwestern and Brown is set for a 6 p.m. Central time tip in Providence, R.I.
?••••••
Be the first to know what's going on with the 'Cats -- Follow @NU_Sports on Twitter and Instagram, become a fan of Northwestern Athletics on Facebook and sign up to receive promotional text alerts for the latest news, schedule updates and video and to interact with NU. For more information on following specific Northwestern teams online, visit our Social Media page!
