If you can say one thing about Northwestern under head coach Chris Collins, it is that the Wildcats usually get off to fast starts.
For the sixth time in his 10 seasons as head coach, Northwestern is off to a 3-0 start following a 75-63 win at Georgetown on Tuesday in the Gavitt Tipoff Games.
The Wildcats will try tp make it 4-0 on Friday when they host Purdue Fort Wayne in Evanston, Ill. While the game is on Northwestern’s home court, it will be the first game of the Cancun Challenge for each team. Both teams are set to play at Mexico on Tuesday.
“Obviously it’s early the season and we have a lot we need to get better at,” Collins said. “A lot of games ahead of us, but you always want to learn through winning.”
Leading the way for Northwestern has been its senior trio of Robbie Beran, Boo Buie and Chase Audige.
Beran is averaging 15.3 points and 6.3 rebounds, Buie is at 13.7 points, 6.3 assists and 4.7 rebounds, while Audige is averaging 12.0 points to start the season for Northwestern, The Wildcats are shooting 38.2 percent from 3-point range.
“With Buie and Audige, those are guys we have (developed) a package of things,” Collins said. “When they get going, those are guys we want to play through. They are going to have the ball in their hands to make decisions, whether it’s scoring or finding somebody else.”
Purdue Fort Wayne will face its second Big Ten opponent. The Mastodons (2-1) opened the season with a 75-56 loss at Michigan before winning home games 81-76 against Southern Illinois-Edwardsville and 111-31 over Division III Manchester.
So far this year, four players are averaging in double figures for Purdue Fort Wayne: Quinton Morton-Robertson (14.7 points), Deonte Billups (14.0), Jarred Godfrey (13.5) and Bobby Planutis (13.3).
The Mastodons have thus far been a good shooting team, going 41.7 percent on 3-point shots through their first three games.
“I think we’re going to be able to get good shots quickly,” Mastadons head coach Jon Coffman said, according to the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette. “The first seven seconds of the shot clock is the most efficient time to score. We gave some of that up last year because we weren’t playing fast enough.”
–Field Level Media