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/ Men's BasketballMcIntosh Leads 'Cats Past Fairfield, 79-72
11/18/2015 10:02:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Sophomore posts 20 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 steals
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Bryant McIntosh scored a game-high 20 points, including 14 in the second half, and four Wildcats scored in double figures as Northwestern held off a second-half push by visiting Fairfield to secure a 79-72 victory on Wednesday night at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
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"I was very pleased with the win tonight," Northwestern head coach Chris Collins said. "In every game, there's going to be things, especially early in the season, that you have to do better...but the good thing is you want to learn from winning, and I thought we did a lot of good things to get to the 16-point lead."
McIntosh also added a career-best four steals, and the Wildcats forced 14 Fairfield turnovers, also outscoring the Stags 32-24 in the paint. Northwestern improved to 2-0 on the season with the win.
"I think I played a little more aggressive defensively," McIntosh said. "I was just trying to make a couple plays. Coach has been on me about playing a little more aggressive defensively, just getting in passing lanes and trying to read people's eyes a bit."
After falling behind on an early three, Northwestern went on a 10-0 run fueled by two early 3-pointers from Aaron Falzon. The freshman forward added another trey just before the 16-minute mark, giving him seven straight threes going back to the season-opener. By the first media timeout, the 'Cats held a 13-6 lead.
Coming out of the break, Northwestern continued to attack from outside, building on its lead with a 3-pointer from Scottie Lindsey. Fairfield tried mixing up its defense, switching between man, zone and an occasional press, but Northwestern's offense remained effective. Tre Demps, Alex Olah and McIntosh each earned trips to the line, where they were an efficient 6-of-7 to start the game.
A 3-pointer by McIntosh pushed Northwestern's advantage to 27-14, but Fairfield went on an 8-0 run to cut the lead to five. Demps stopped the bleeding with a long jumper from the wing, and minutes later Joey van Zegeren came up with a huge block on a layup attempt by Fairfield's Jerome Segura. On the other end, the Dutch big man slammed home a putback dunk and followed one possession later with a nice hook shot to give him six points in the half.
"I thought Joey was big," said head coach Chris Collins.. "I thought his energy was huge tonight, [especially with] those minutes he gave us in the first half...he had the tip-dunk, had a great post move."
Demps capped off the first period with a driving layup as the play clock expired, and Northwestern entered halftime with a 39-29 lead. Falzon's early threes gave him a team-high nine points, and the Wildcats had 10 assists on their 13 first-half baskets.
Northwestern converted two difficult shots to open the second half. Falzon started the scoring by hitting a contested floater off a McIntosh steal, and one possession later McIntosh himself made a tough driving layup to put the 'Cats up 43-29. The sophomore guard continued to make his presence felt on offense, nailing a short jumper near the top of the key and assisting on a pretty alley-oop layup to Olah on consecutive trips up the court.
After the under-16 timeout, McIntosh again nailed a three, putting him at a game-high 13 points, and Demps converted on a short floater soon after. The 'Cats began the half with six field goals in seven attempts. They stretched their lead to as much as 16 when Lindsey's 3-pointer pushed the score to 57-41, but a 17-4 Fairfield run closed the gap to three.
Falzon tipped in a missed layup by McIntosh to stop the run, and Lumpkin hit a tough and-one layup, converting on the free throw to give the 'Cats a six-point lead. Fairfield again closed the gap to three, but McIntosh responded with arguably the biggest play of the game. With just over a minute left, he stole the ball from Segura, then drove in and flipped the ball into the basket in heavy traffic, drawing a foul in the process. The three-point play gave Northwestern a seven-point lead it would hold to the end of the game.
"I saw a little opening to the right," McIntosh said. "We were wasting clock and the way they've been calling the game lately, I was just trying to create contact and get to the line, and i got all the way to the rim and was able to put enough english on it to finish."
"I thought we made some big plays," Collins said. "McIntosh was sensational. I thought he was a big-time player tonight. He made every play for us, obviously the 20 points...and only one turnover. And they pressed us the whole second half. For us to only have seven turnovers in the game, I thought was huge."
Northwestern hosts Columbia on Friday night at Welsh-Ryan Arena at 7 p.m., when the 'Cats will look to improve to 3-0 on the season. Tickets are available at NUsports.com or by calling 888-GO-PURPLE.
Northwestern vs. Fairfield Notes – Nov. 18, 2015
• This was the second all-time meeting between the schools. Northwestern's victory evened the series between the teams, 1-1.
• Northwestern is off to a 2-0 start for the second consecutive season and the fifth time in the last six years.
• After going 4-for-6 from 3-point range in his collegiate debut last Friday, Aaron Falzon knocked down three triples in as many attempts over the first four minutes of the game.
• Spanning NU's first two games, Falzon made seven consecutive 3-point field goal attempts. The NCAA record is 15 straight makes by Northwestern's own Todd Leslie in December of 1990.
• Northwestern forced 10 first-half turnovers which it converted into a 16-2 edge in points off turnovers at the intermission.
• Bryant McIntosh recorded a career-high 4 steals in the contest. His previous high was 2 vs. Mississippi Valley State on Dec. 14, 2014.
• McIntosh led all scorers with 20 points. It marks the third time in his career that he has scored 20 or more in a game. The total was two shy of his career-high of 22 achieved vs. UIC on Dec. 22, 2014.
• Wildcats committed only 7 turnovers in the contest after turning the ball over only 6 times in their season-opener against UMass Lowell last Friday. Northwestern has an impressive 2.7 assist-to-turnover ratio through its first two games.
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"I was very pleased with the win tonight," Northwestern head coach Chris Collins said. "In every game, there's going to be things, especially early in the season, that you have to do better...but the good thing is you want to learn from winning, and I thought we did a lot of good things to get to the 16-point lead."
McIntosh also added a career-best four steals, and the Wildcats forced 14 Fairfield turnovers, also outscoring the Stags 32-24 in the paint. Northwestern improved to 2-0 on the season with the win.
"I think I played a little more aggressive defensively," McIntosh said. "I was just trying to make a couple plays. Coach has been on me about playing a little more aggressive defensively, just getting in passing lanes and trying to read people's eyes a bit."
After falling behind on an early three, Northwestern went on a 10-0 run fueled by two early 3-pointers from Aaron Falzon. The freshman forward added another trey just before the 16-minute mark, giving him seven straight threes going back to the season-opener. By the first media timeout, the 'Cats held a 13-6 lead.
Coming out of the break, Northwestern continued to attack from outside, building on its lead with a 3-pointer from Scottie Lindsey. Fairfield tried mixing up its defense, switching between man, zone and an occasional press, but Northwestern's offense remained effective. Tre Demps, Alex Olah and McIntosh each earned trips to the line, where they were an efficient 6-of-7 to start the game.
A 3-pointer by McIntosh pushed Northwestern's advantage to 27-14, but Fairfield went on an 8-0 run to cut the lead to five. Demps stopped the bleeding with a long jumper from the wing, and minutes later Joey van Zegeren came up with a huge block on a layup attempt by Fairfield's Jerome Segura. On the other end, the Dutch big man slammed home a putback dunk and followed one possession later with a nice hook shot to give him six points in the half.
"I thought Joey was big," said head coach Chris Collins.. "I thought his energy was huge tonight, [especially with] those minutes he gave us in the first half...he had the tip-dunk, had a great post move."
Demps capped off the first period with a driving layup as the play clock expired, and Northwestern entered halftime with a 39-29 lead. Falzon's early threes gave him a team-high nine points, and the Wildcats had 10 assists on their 13 first-half baskets.
Northwestern converted two difficult shots to open the second half. Falzon started the scoring by hitting a contested floater off a McIntosh steal, and one possession later McIntosh himself made a tough driving layup to put the 'Cats up 43-29. The sophomore guard continued to make his presence felt on offense, nailing a short jumper near the top of the key and assisting on a pretty alley-oop layup to Olah on consecutive trips up the court.
After the under-16 timeout, McIntosh again nailed a three, putting him at a game-high 13 points, and Demps converted on a short floater soon after. The 'Cats began the half with six field goals in seven attempts. They stretched their lead to as much as 16 when Lindsey's 3-pointer pushed the score to 57-41, but a 17-4 Fairfield run closed the gap to three.
Falzon tipped in a missed layup by McIntosh to stop the run, and Lumpkin hit a tough and-one layup, converting on the free throw to give the 'Cats a six-point lead. Fairfield again closed the gap to three, but McIntosh responded with arguably the biggest play of the game. With just over a minute left, he stole the ball from Segura, then drove in and flipped the ball into the basket in heavy traffic, drawing a foul in the process. The three-point play gave Northwestern a seven-point lead it would hold to the end of the game.
"I saw a little opening to the right," McIntosh said. "We were wasting clock and the way they've been calling the game lately, I was just trying to create contact and get to the line, and i got all the way to the rim and was able to put enough english on it to finish."
"I thought we made some big plays," Collins said. "McIntosh was sensational. I thought he was a big-time player tonight. He made every play for us, obviously the 20 points...and only one turnover. And they pressed us the whole second half. For us to only have seven turnovers in the game, I thought was huge."
Northwestern hosts Columbia on Friday night at Welsh-Ryan Arena at 7 p.m., when the 'Cats will look to improve to 3-0 on the season. Tickets are available at NUsports.com or by calling 888-GO-PURPLE.
Northwestern vs. Fairfield Notes – Nov. 18, 2015
• This was the second all-time meeting between the schools. Northwestern's victory evened the series between the teams, 1-1.
• Northwestern is off to a 2-0 start for the second consecutive season and the fifth time in the last six years.
• After going 4-for-6 from 3-point range in his collegiate debut last Friday, Aaron Falzon knocked down three triples in as many attempts over the first four minutes of the game.
• Spanning NU's first two games, Falzon made seven consecutive 3-point field goal attempts. The NCAA record is 15 straight makes by Northwestern's own Todd Leslie in December of 1990.
• Northwestern forced 10 first-half turnovers which it converted into a 16-2 edge in points off turnovers at the intermission.
• Bryant McIntosh recorded a career-high 4 steals in the contest. His previous high was 2 vs. Mississippi Valley State on Dec. 14, 2014.
• McIntosh led all scorers with 20 points. It marks the third time in his career that he has scored 20 or more in a game. The total was two shy of his career-high of 22 achieved vs. UIC on Dec. 22, 2014.
• Wildcats committed only 7 turnovers in the contest after turning the ball over only 6 times in their season-opener against UMass Lowell last Friday. Northwestern has an impressive 2.7 assist-to-turnover ratio through its first two games.
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