Rapid Reaction: Northwestern collapses down the stretch in 71-66 loss to Dayton

The Wildcats started off strong, but gave away the game in the second half.

It was a tough loss for Northwestern on Saturday night at UD Arena.

The Wildcats (1-1, 0-0 B1G) fell short to Dayton (2-0, 0-0 A-10) by a final score of 71-66, in a game in which the Flyers overcame an eight-point halftime deficit to emerge victorious. Northwestern led by as many as 13 and was up 10 with less than 11 minutes to go, but the Wildcats couldn’t hold onto the lead.

Nick Martinelli led the charge once again for the ‘Cats, with a career-high 32 points and 14 rebounds. Angelo Ciaravino added 12, and Justin Mullins and KJ Windham had three assists each.

For the Flyers, Nate Santos and Enoch Cheeks put up 16 apiece, and Cheeks added a whopping six steals. Dayton tallied 20 points off turnovers and 10 fast break points.

Matthew Nicholson won the tipoff for NU, and he immediately converted an opening putback off a missed layup from Ty Berry. On the opening defensive possession, a long review ensued, eventually upholding a common foul from Jalen Leach. From there, the ‘Cats held firm on defense until a shooting foul from KJ Windham sent Nate Santos to the line for a 1-of-2 trip. Jalen Leach immediately knocked down a three-ball, and the ‘Cats maintained an early 7-3 lead through the under-16 timeout, trading a Nick Martinelli basket with an acrobatic layup from Dayton junior Malachi Smith.

Out of the timeout, Luke Hunger’s baseline jumper rimmed out, but the Flyers couldn’t get anything going on offense until a big-time transition layup from Enoch Cheeks, who drew the foul but couldn’t convert the three-point play. Martinelli – coming off one of his best career performances with 26 points against Lehigh – picked up another bucket on a short lay-in to make it 9-5. Leach picked up another early foul with 13:03 to go in the first half, and Wildcat head coach Chris Collins quickly subbed him out in favor of Blake Smith. Amaël L’Etang responded with a layup, but Luke Hunger went to work in the paint shortly after with a nice finger-roll. The ‘Cats went into the under-12 timeout up 11-7 after another shooting foul from Windham.

L’Etang hit one of two free throws, and both teams went cold until a Nick Martinelli fadeaway jumper put the ‘Cats up by five. Malachi Smith knocked down an off-balance three to cut it to 13-11, but Martinelli was far too crafty on the following possession, hitting another mid-ranger. Nate Santos continued Dayton’s hot streak with a corner three, and UD Arena was making noise, especially after a deep miss from Ty Berry. The ‘Cats still scored next after a nice Hunger rebound and assist set up Angelo Ciaravino for a basket on a foul.

Ciaravino finished off his three-point play after the under-eight stoppage, giving Northwestern an 18-14 advantage. Ciaravino took another nice pass – that time from Justin Mullins – for two more, forcing a quick Flyers timeout with the lead at six. The Flyers went ice-cold on offense for nearly five minutes, and Ciaravino was heating up further with a near-side corner three to give the ‘Cats their largest lead. KJ Windham hit a heavily contested jumper on the next possession, and a key Ciaravino steal set up a big-time Martinelli dunk. In all, a 12-0 NU run drastically shifted the complexion of the game, resulting in a 27-14 lead heading into the final media timeout of the first half.

Following the break, Nate Santos swished a triple within seconds, finally ending Dayton’s scoring drought. The fans got louder off a Ty Berry turnover that was forced by Jacob Conner, and Luke Hunger’s foul sent Dayton into the bonus. Zed Key converted both attempts, cutting the Wildcat lead to eight. Jalen Leach succumbed to the press shortly after with a ten-second violation, and the energy picked up considerably until an errant pass from Malachi Smith made its way out of bounds. Hunger missed from the elbow, but the red-hot Martinelli cleaned things up inside to bring the ‘Cats’ lead to 10. Martinelli was swarmed and couldn’t convert on the next possession, and Santos went coast-to-coast for a fearless Flyer layup. Ciaravino turned the ball over for the first time, and Enoch Cheeks got a nice look that he converted for three with 1:04 to go in the first half, causing a subsequent timeout from Chris Collins with the score at 29-24.

Martinelli knocked down a massive three to quiet the crowd, and Dayton couldn’t convert anything on its following possession after a Conner miss from range. The Wildcats had one last chance before intermission, but they couldn’t get a shot off, heading into halftime with a 32-24 lead after a back-and-forth 20 minutes. Martinelli was unbelievable once again in the first half, putting up 15 points on 7-of-10 shooting with eight rebounds, and Justin Mullins played a key role in the offense with three assists. The Flyers were led by nine points from Nate Santos, who shot 2-of-3 from distance, and Amaël L’Etang added four rebounds. The ‘Cats out-rebounded Dayton 21-12 in the first frame, and they shot 44% from the field compared to 35% for the Flyers.

The second half started with a difficult layup from Nate Santos, but Martinelli immediately smothered the flames with an effortless triple. The 6-7 junior appeared unstoppable at that point with 18 on the night, but Dayton managed to respond with a one-handed throwdown from Cheeks. Santos inched closer to Martinelli with a clutch three-ball, and suddenly, Dayton was within four. However, Martinelli continued his one-man show with a physical two under the basket, pushing the lead to 37-31. After that, Dayton’s Javon Bennett immediately got on the board from downtown, cutting NU’s advantage in half. Matthew Nicholson’s offensive rebound on the ensuing possession was stripped away, leading to a foul from Nick Martinelli on the other end. Ciaravino committed another foul on the floor, and the ‘Cats went into the media timeout clinging to a three-point edge.

Northwestern forced a backcourt violation with good perimeter defense following the inbound, and Luke Hunger continued his midrange presence with a swish, bringing the lead to five. Mullins got a steal a couple of possessions later, eventually leading to a free-throw-line trip from Martinelli, who hit both shots. Unbelievably, Martinelli had scored 22 of NU’s 41 points at that moment, but Nate Santos picked up a nice two underneath in response. Ciaravino retaliated with a layup to make it 43-36, and Mullins picked up his second foul on the defensive end, bringing Malachi Smith to the charity stripe. Smith only made one of his two shots, and UD Arena was showered in boos after a possible over-and-back from Martinelli was not called. A Windham jumper and a Martinelli two put Northwestern up by 10, but Jacob Conner picked up a potential three-point play for Dayton on Windham’s third foul, although he missed the free throw. Windham bounced back with a speedy drive to make it 49-39, and a missed three eventually deflected off Dayton to send both teams into the media timeout after a chaotic sequence.

Zed Key, who had been relatively quiet to that point, made two free throws for Dayton to cut the lead to eight. Ciaravino followed that up with a quick layup off a feed from Leach, putting the ‘Cats up 10 once again. Cheeks knocked down a hook shot for Dayton, and Nicholson got whistled for an offensive foul in the paint, giving the ball to the Flyers once again. Smith drove all the way inside for a layup to make the score 51-45, and Javon Bennett banged home a three shortly thereafter, with the ‘Cats calling a timeout amid an uproar from the Flyer crowd. Northwestern needed to get some offense going, but a tough layup from Malachi Smith came first to cut things to 51-50. Smith sent KJ Windham to the line heading into the under-eight pause.

Windham made 1-of-2 shots at the stripe, but Smith drew a foul from Luke Hunger on the next possession, draining both free throws to tie the game for the Flyers at last. The Dayton fans were louder than ever at that point, and Enoch Cheeks’ steal and dunk caused the crowd to erupt as the Flyers took the lead. The dunk extended Dayton’s scoring run to 13-1, but Northwestern’s defense stayed strong after that. Martinelli committed a turnover by running the baseline after a dead ball, but the Flyers gave Cheeks a look that he couldn’t convert. The ‘Cats couldn’t get points on the offensive end, and Cheeks made an impressive layup to cement Dayton’s largest lead to that point at 56-52. Martinelli quieted the crowd with a determined drive to cut the advantage to two, getting up to 26 points on the night. However, Zed Key was not to be denied for the Flyers, drawing a foul on a fantastic finish inside to initiate the game’s final media timeout.

Key gave Dayton a five-point edge by finishing his three-point play, putting the score at 59-54. Dayton was playing with full-court pressure, and the Flyers forced a tie-up and takeaway on the floor, managing to call a timeout and thus allowing Enoch Cheeks to secure his sixth steal of the night. Coming out of the break, Javon Bennett did a 360 in the lane for a massive bucket, extending Dayton’s run to a whopping 20-3. Bennett committed a foul on Jalen Leach, and with the ‘Cats entering the bonus, Leach made both free throws to bring it back to a five-point game. However, Cheeks was money from downtown, and Windham couldn’t respond from three, giving Dayton possession with an eight-point lead and under 90 seconds to play. An alley-oop from Malachi Smith to Zed Key was a near-dagger, putting the Flyers up 66-56 after an unbelievable second half for Dayton overall.

Leach got to the line and made two free throws with 56.5 seconds to go, and the ‘Cats forced a turnover from Smith to keep hope alive late. Martinelli went to the rack and drew the foul from Dayton, making 1-of-2 free throws to tie his career-high with 27 points. Smith was fouled as well, converting 1-of-2 at the line to make it a 67-59 game. Leach’s deep three was off the mark, and Dayton ran off several seconds before a Ciaravino foul sent Jacob Conner to the line. Conner split the free throws, and Windham converted a tough layup to cut the deficit to 68-61 with 20.9 seconds to go, although the freshman went down hard following the basket. Malachi Smith went back to the line again, making his first free throw but missing the second. From there, Martinelli got fouled again and made both free throws to set his new career watermark at 29. Dayton’s lead sat at six as Zed Key was sent to the stripe, and Key converted both free throws, but Martinelli wasn’t done even as all appeared lost, hitting a three-ball to reach an absurd 32 points on the night. Ciaravino sent Smith back to the line once more, and he did miss both free throws, but a last-second heave from Leach came up short, and Northwestern fell short as well by a final score of 71-66.

The ‘Cats will be back at home on Tuesday at 6 PM CST to face UIC.