‘Cats Fall to Cavaliers in Back-and-Forth Affair, 83-78

Friday, November 21

White Sulphur Springs, W.Va.

4 p.m. CT

Northwestern

4-1,0-0Big Ten

Virginia

5-0,0-0ACC

Northwestern

Virginia

‘Cats Fall to Cavaliers in Back-and-Forth Affair, 83-78

11/21/2025 8:02:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va. — In a contest that featured 12 lead changes and six ties, Northwestern fell to Virginia, 83-78, to open The Greenbrier Tip-Off on Friday.

The Wildcats (4-1) led for nearly 22 minutes of game time in the back-and-forth affair, but the Cavaliers (5-0) took the lead with fewer than four minutes remaining. Neither team led by more than eight points.

"It's a tough loss," Sullivan-Ubben Head Men's Basketball Coach Chris Collins said. "Obviously, we're not a moral victory program at this point. We were here to win. It was a really high-level game with two good teams, and I was just disappointed we didn't come out on top."

Junior guard Jayden Reid came up just one point short of his career-high with 25 points. The 5-foot-11 floor general added four rebounds, five assists, and two steals, while converting a career-high 11 free throws. He became the first Northwestern player to post 25+ points and 5+ assists since Boo Buie on March 2, 2024.

Gallery: (11-21-2025) Men's Basketball vs. Virginia

Junior forward Arrinten Page logged 20 points, a team-high six rebounds, and two assists on 8-of-14 shooting from the floor. Page has notched 20+ points and 5+ rebounds in two straight games.

"Jayden, I thought he did a great job. Arrinten continued to play really well. I thought we got really good minutes out of [senior guard] Justin Mullins [and sophomore guard] Angelo Ciaravino," Collins said.

The Wildcats forced Virginia to shoot 37.3% (24-of-64) from the floor and 20.8% (5-of-21) from three-point range. In each of Northwestern's five games this season, it has held its opponent to shoot worse than 43% from the field.

The Wildcats shot 46.6% (27-of-58) from the field and 43.8% (7-of-16) from beyond the arc.

Sophomore guard Angelo Ciaravino opened the scoring for Northwestern with a fast break dunk, jump-starting a 7-0 run that would give the Wildcats an early lead.

Virginia managed to stay within striking distance to take a narrow 40-36 lead at halftime. Page led the team with 13 points on 6-of-9 shooting, while Reid contributed nine points and four assists.

The Wildcats found their groove to open the second half, putting up 17 points in four minutes to take a five-point lead. Northwestern made its first seven field goal attempts to open the second half.

"We had a spurt to start the game. They kind of fought back. It was a two-possession game at halftime. We came out of the break and played really well," Collins said.

Despite leading by as many as seven points early in the second half, Northwestern suffered its first defeat of the season.

"We knew it was going to be a back-and-forth game. It's a really good team you're playing," Collins said.

The Wildcats close out play at The Greenbrier Tip-Off on Sunday, Nov. 23 at 4 p.m. CT against South Carolina. The game will air on CBS Sports Network and Varsity Network.