Northwestern
4-0,0-0Big Ten
Rhode Island
3-1,0-0Atlantic 10
Northwestern Races Past Rams, Advances to Championship of Hall of Fame Tip-Off
11/18/2023 4:16:00 PM | Men's Basketball
UNCASVILLE, Conn. - Brooks Barnhizer scored a team-high 18 points, powering Northwestern to a 72-61 win over Rhode Island in the semifinals of the Basketball Hall of Fame Tip-Off Tournament at Mohegan Sun Arena on Saturday evening. The Wildcats will face Mississippi State tomorrow at Noon CT in the championship game of the tournament on ESPN2.
The Wildcats (4-0) had three players score in double figures, led by Barnhizer's 18 points, nine rebounds and two blocks. Boo Buie tacked on 16 points and two steals and Ty Berry helped out with 13 points and three steals.
4-0 ?
— Northwestern Basketball (@NUMensBball) November 18, 2023
Headed to the Basketball Hall of Fame Tip-Off Tournament title game. pic.twitter.com/xPxkU1Etlj
Northwestern outrebounded Rhode Island 39-30, led by nine boards from Blake Preston and Barnhizer. The 'Cats tallied 18 offensive rebounds, their most in a game since January 2022.
Northwestern's defense held URI to 38.8 percent shooting from the field, and surrendered just two points in the game's first 12 minutes. The Wildcats never trailed in the game.
How It Happened
The 'Cats jumped out to a massive 22-2 lead in the first 12 minutes of the game thanks to a 16-0 run. URI crawled back in the remainder of the half, but NU still took a 33-26 lead into half time. Northwestern's Blake Preston hauled in nine rebounds in the first half.
Northwestern came out hot at the start of the second half as well, outscoring the Rams 13-7 over the first five minutes of the period. The Wildcats opened the lead up to 15 with 11:35 to play and held strong from there, only allowing the Rams to cut the lead single digits once in the half. Leading by nine with just over four minutes to play, the 'Cats put a dagger in URI with a Ty Berry 3-pointer and a Barnhizer jumper on consecutive possessions to extend the lead to 14 with three minutes remaining.
Game Notes
» Northwestern is 4-0 to start the season for the third-straight year.» NU recorded 17 total assists in the game, including assists on 14 of its first 17 field goals.
» Northwestern had a 39-30 edge on the boards in the win. The 'Cats have won 21 of their last 23 games when outrebounding their opponent.
» The Wildcats won the turnover battle 14-10 and have done so in every game this season.
» Northwestern got a game-high nine rebounds from both Blake Preston and Brooks Barnhizer.
» Jordan Clayton became the first NU first-year with 3+ assists and 3+ steals in a game since Boo Buie in 2019-20.
» Matthew Nicholson is the first Wildcat with two games of 4+ blocks in the first four contests of a season since at least 2010-11.
» Brooks Barnhizer is averaging 17.3 points and 9.8 rebounds through four games.
» Blake Preston set a career-high with five assists.
This article was created using technology provided by Data Skrive.
.png&width=84&height=84&quality=100&type=webp)
