Northwestern hangs on for 72-63 win over Providence

EVANSTON, Ill. (AP) — Ryan Young had 16 points and Anthony Gaines added 14 points as Northwestern raced to a big lead and hung on for a 72-63 victory over Providence Wednesday night as part of the Gavitt Tipoff Games.

Miller Kopp had 12 points and Pat Spencer 11 as Northwestern bounced back from a stunning 71-61 loss to Merrimack in its opener last week.

Alpha Diallo had 15 points and 14 rebounds and David Duke added 14 points as Providence dropped to 2-1.

Northwestern (1-1) led by 20 points in the second half before Providence closed within three points.

The Wildcats closed the first half with a 12-2 run — seven points by Kopp — to take a 40-29 halftime lead. They were 12 for 20 from the field overall, including 5-for-8 shooting on 3-pointers.

The Wildcats continued their surge after the intermission, opening the second half with a 10-2 run for a 50-31 advantage.

A few minutes later, Young, a redshirt frehman, converted a 3-point play with 12:37 remaining for a 55-35 lead, NU’s biggest of the game.

Providence, though, answered with a run of 14 straight points to pull within 55-49. Luwane Pipkins had a pair of 3-pointers and Maliek White added five points during the run.

The Wildcats went scoreless for 4:06 before Pete Nance hit an 18-footer with 8:31 to play.

The Friars continued to disrupt Northwestern with pressure and trimmed the deficit to 62-59 with a little more than two minutes to go. But Young answered with a basket down low and Gaines added a pair of free throws on the next possession for a 66-59 lead with 1:07 to play.

The Gavitt Tipoff Games is an annual eight-game series played between the Big Ten Conference and the Big East Conference to tip-off the college basketball season.

BIG PICTURE

Providence: After opening with blowout wins over Sacred Heart and NJIT, the Friars struggled in stepping up to face a team from a Power 5 conference. They rallied late, but the deficit was too large to overcome.

Northwestern: Making shots cures most ills, so the Wildcats looked like a much different (and improved) team than in last week’s opener before the basket tightened up down the stretch. One area of concern is defensive rebounding. Providence crashed the boards for 20 offensive rebounds.

UP NEXT

Providence hosts Saint Peter’s Saturday.

Northwestern hosts Radford Tuesday night.

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