NU Welcomes Stony Brook to Welsh-Ryan Arena on Friday Night

EVANSTON, Ill. — Fresh off a season-opening victory, Northwestern continues its homestand on Friday, Nov. 6, hosting Stony Brook inside Welsh-Ryan Arena at 7 p.m. CT. The game will air on B1G+ with Sammy Krimstein (play-by-play), Eliav Brooks-Rubin (analyst) and Anna Watson (sideline) on the call, and it can be listened to on WGN Radio 720 and SiriusXM App Channel 994 with Dave Eanet (play-by-play) and Billy McKinney (analyst) calling the action.

LAST TIME OUT

Behind a 51-point first half, the Wildcats (1-0) defeated Binghamton (0-1), 86-60, on Monday, Nov. 2. The win moved Sullivan-Ubben Head Men’s Basketball Coach Chris Collins to 13-1 in season openers. Northwestern shot 55.8% from the field (29-of-52) and 40.0% from three-point range (12-of-30).

Second-year guard Jake West led the way with 20 points, five rebounds and 12 assists, becoming the first Wildcat to post 20+ points and 10+ assists in a game since Bryant McIntosh in 2017. Fifth-year forward Jack Karasinski scored a game-high 24 points, drilling 7-of-11 of his three-point attempts, marking the most threes by a Northwestern player in a season opener since John Shurna in 2010 at Northern Illinois (7). Third-year guard Angelo Ciaravino notched the first double-double of his career, logging 13 points and 10 rebounds, while fifth-year guard LA Pratt tallied 19 points, three rebounds and four assists.

NUMBERS TO KNOW

3: The Wildcats rank tied for the third-best record among Big Ten Conference teams against regular-season nonconference opponents over the last five seasons, posting a 36-9 (.800) mark. During that stretch, Northwestern is 27-2 in nonconference home games.

5: Northwestern opens up the season with five straight home games, its longest homestand to open a season since 2020-21 (5) and longest in a non-COVID year since 1998-99 (6). The Wildcats have opened their season at home every year since 2010.

8.5: Since the start of last season, Northwestern is averaging 8.5 turnovers per game, the second-best mark nationally behind only Houston (8.4). In the season opener against Binghamton, the Wildcats tallied just eight turnovers.

65: Since the start of the 2022-23 season, Northwestern has held its opponent to 65 or fewer points 56 times, which ranks fourth in the Big Ten during that span, with the Wildcats going 51-5 in such games. Northwestern's .911 win percentage is the 17th-best in the country in such games (min. 55 games).

NOTES TO KNOW

Jake West

• His 12 assists are the most in a game by any player in the country this season.
• West’s 12 assists against Binghamton are tied for the sixth-most in a single game in program history.
• West is the first Big Ten underclassman to notch 20+ points, 5+ rebounds and 12+ assists in a game since Michigan State’s Tony Carr on Feb. 1, 2017, against Indiana.
• West is the first second-year to be named captain at Northwestern since 1991-92, when Pat Baldwin was selected as a captain.

Jack Karasinski

• Karasinski’s 24 points in the season opener marked the most points by a Northwestern newcomer in a season opener since at least 2004.
• The forward’s seven threes on Monday are tied for the most by any player in a game this season.
• He is the fifth-leading scorer returning to college basketball after averaging 21.7 points per game last season at Bellarmine.

Angelo Ciaravino

• Ciaravino’s 13-point, 10-rebound performance against Binghamton made him the first Northwestern guard to record a double-double since Brooks Barnhizer on Jan. 16, 2025, against Maryland.
• Ciaravino is the first Wildcat third-year to be named a captain since Brooks Barnhizer in the 2023-24 season.
• Ciaravino is Northwestern’s returning leading scorer after averaging 6.3 points per game last season.
• Against Penn State last season, Ciaravino scored 20 points on 75% shooting from the floor (9-of-12), becoming the first Wildcat underclassman to score 20+ points on at least 75% shooting in a conference game since Dererk Pardon in 2015.

LA Pratt

• Pratt became the first Wildcat newcomer to register 15+ points, 3+ rebounds and 3+ assists in a season opener since Michael Thompson on Nov. 15, 2007 against Stanford.
• Pratt was named preseason All-CAA Second Team ahead of the 2025-26 season while at Northeastern, but after averaging 17.0 points per game through three contests, he suffered a season-ending injury.

WHAT COLLINS IS SAYING

On Jake West’s improvement…

• “His confidence is at an all-time high. I thought those last 10 games, when he really made a jump and played well down the stretch, really set the tone for his offseason. He’s added some strength. He got five rebounds [on Monday.] He’s playing better defense and leading. Jake’s pretty quiet by nature, and I’ve really challenged him over the summer, especially with all these new players to really step up in leadership. From day one, he’s been the vocal leader. Him and Angelo have taken the reins of this team from day one, starting in the summer. When you have a really good point guard, it gives you a chance.”

On LA Pratt’s impact…

• “He’s huge. We brought him in to be an impact guard. We thought he complemented Jake really well, as we looked into the portal and [thought] who could be a running mate with Jake — someone who could play on and off the ball, someone who can guard the ball well where you can get Jake off the ball defensively a little bit more. What people don’t understand is that those two exhibition games were his first live action since this time last year. He broke his foot in the third game, and he was out the rest of the season. He had surgery, he’s coming off a broken foot, and he hadn’t had any live action. There’s going to be rust there, and that’s why I wanted to continue to boost him up because I know how important he is.”

On Okku Federiko starting at center…

• “As we looked at our team and how we were playing, Okku had a lot of success last year playing at that five spot. I just thought his energy, his athleticism [were the deciding factors.] Obviously, we have great hopes for Symon as someone that his best basketball is going to be ahead of him, but he’s a freshman. It’s not time to throw him in there right now. Okku’s a veteran. He’s played a lot. He played in the Missouri Valley last year. He gives great defense at that position, hand activity. I think we’ll continue to be able to find him on some rolls and some things offensively where he can continue to help in that area. I was really proud of him. He hadn’t played any five since he’d been here. With Luke and Symon and Ryan, we primarily have been playing him mostly as a forward. We asked him, knowing we weren’t going to have Luke, we asked him to slide over and go back. I’m really proud of the way he approached it. I thought he did a lot of good things.”

SCOUTING STONY BROOK

The Seawolves (1-0) opened their season with a 97-47 victory over Division III opponent SUNY Old Westbury on Monday, Nov. 2. Coach Geno Ford’s squad is coming off a 17-15 season last year and finished with a 9-9 record in conference action.

Stony Brook is led by Second Team Preseason All-CAA honoree forward Jaden Daughtry. In addition, guard Collin O'Connor earned a Preseason All-CAA Honorable Mention nod. Forward Bryan Ndjonga led the Seawolves to their season-opening victory, posting 18 points and seven rebounds.

SERIES HISTORY

Friday’s contest will be the second meeting between Northwestern and the Seawolves. The only prior matchup came on Nov. 25, 2011, a 63-58 Wildcats victory inside Welsh-Ryan Arena. John Shurna logged 20 points and six rebounds, Dave Sobolewski had 16 points and four assists, and Drew Crawford contributed 12 points and seven rebounds.

Northwestern holds an 8-3 all-time record against teams in the CAA. The Wildcats have won their two most recent games against CAA teams, with the latest matchup being an 85-60 win over Northeastern on Dec. 29, 2024.

UP NEXT

Northwestern welcomes Boston University to Welsh-Ryan Arena for the second consecutive season on Monday, Nov. 9. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. CT on Big Ten Network and WGN Radio 720.