Wildcats Cruise to 92-49 Win in Season-Opener

12/2/2020 10:31:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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EVANSTON, Ill – The Northwestern Wildcats opened their 2020-21 season in style against Arkansas-Pine Bluff, cruising to an emphatic 92-49 win at Welsh-Ryan Arena on Wednesday night.

The Wildcats jumped out to a 10-point lead in the first 20 minutes of action before catching fire in the second half, outscoring Arkansas-Pine Bluff 53-20 in the second frame en route to their largest margin of victory since December of 2017 vs. Chicago State.

Miller Kopp kicked off the scoring for the 2020-21 Northwestern campaign. Kopp scored the first six points of the game with back-to-back threes. The junior has scored Northwestern's first point of the season in all three of his years at Northwestern.

The 'Cats were hot from beyond the arc, shooting 14-of-29 from beyond the arc. Their 14 three point buckets are the most made by the Wildcats since hitting 17 threes against Rutgers in February of 2016. Seven different Northwestern players made a three-point basket in the game with Ty Berry, Chase Audige, and Kopp each notching three or more triples.

Five Wildcats finished with double-digit scoring. Kopp paced the 'Cats with 18 points. He was joined by Audige (16), Berry (15), Pete Nance (11), and Ryan Young (10).

Ryan Greer made his first-career start for the Wildcats and distributed a career-high eight assists in the contest, matching the season-high set by Pat Spencer twice last season. Boo Buie matched his career-high in assists in the contest as well, finishing the game with seven assists.

Three 'Cats recorded their first minutes and points for Northwestern in the contest. Redshirt-sophomore Audige put together a substantial first performance stringing together 16 points and five rebounds, while first-year Berry made a strong first impression with 15 points and six rebounds. First-year Matt Nicholson also saw some action in the game recording two points and two rebounds in five minutes.

After scoring 13 points in the first ten minutes of the game, the 'Cats surged in the last ten minutes of the first half, outscoring Arkansas-Pine Bluff 26-15 to finish the half ahead 39-29.

Junior Kopp and redshirt-sophomore Audige led the scoring brigade in the first half with 13 and 11 points respectively. They combined for almost two-thirds of Northwestern's first half points.

Northwestern carried its momentum into the second half, starting the half on a 22-4 run with Audige and Pete Nance each contributing five points during the run. The Wildcats posted 53 points in the second half, marking the first time Northwestern has scored more than 50 in a half since facing Brown on December 30, 2017.

Chicago's Big Ten Team is back in action on Saturday when they are slated to play Chicago State at Welsh-Ryan Arena. Game time and broadcast will be announced at a later date on NUSports.com.

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