EVANSTON, Ill. – Visiting Binghamton men’s basketball led for more than half the game and pushed Big Ten member Northwestern to the closing minutes in a 72-61 season-opening loss Monday night at the Welsh-Ryan Arena.
The Bearcats (0-1) were bidding for the program’s first-ever win over a Big Ten foe and stood toe-to-toe with the Wildcats (1-0) until the final minute. Binghamton didn’t relinquish its lead until there were less than 11 minutes remaining in the game and remained within striking distance until NU tacked on late free throws in the final 48 seconds.
A grind-it-out defensive second half finally turned to the hosts after the Under-12 timeout. Binghamton led 47-44 with 12:36 remaining but Northwestern used an 14-3 run to grab its first lead since early in the game and stretch it to eight, 58-50, with 3:58 left. The Bearcats nailed three 3-pointers in a one-minute span (by Dan Petcash, Tymu Chenery and Armon Harried) to pull within four, 63-59, with 2:40 left. But NU closed the game with a 9-2 run fueled by seven free throws.
“Our team played extremely hard and we are very proud of them … they kept fighting,” associate head coach Brian Johnson said. “We didn’t get the result we wanted but it’s something we can build off. We took the lead into half but in the second half, they neutralized us getting in the paint and used their physicality on the offensive end and we turned it over too much. But we did a decent job guarding them and we will continue to get better and learn from this.”
Senior guard Tymu Chenery led five BU players in double figures with a team-high 13 points. Graduate guard Symir Torrence went for 12 points with six assists and three blocks in an exhausting 40 minutes. Graduate forward Armon Harried had 11 points and seven rebounds and the tandem of graduate forward Dan Petcash and senior forward Nehemiah Benson added 10 points apiece.
Each team shot 42 percent but the hosts enjoyed a wide margin from the free throw line, where they sank 17-of-21, including 14-of-18 in the pivotal second half.
Binghamton used a 13-2 run midway through the first half to build a double-digit lead. Six different Bearcats tallied points and BU turned a 14-14 tie into a 27-16 lead halfway through the first period. Binghamton hit 8-of-13 shots to start (62%), including 4-of-7 from 3-point range. Torrence scored eight of those early points and also took two charges on the defensive end to spark the team in his BU debut.
Northwestern, with three starters and plenty of firepower back from a 22-win NCAA tournament team, closed the gap but BU stood firm in the closing minutes and led 39-36 at intermission. The Bearcats shot 46 percent, outrebounded the Wildcats and forced eight turnovers. They led for nearly 14 minutes in the half to the assured surprise of the Big Ten members and their home crowd.
Binghamton continues its Power 5 gauntlet to open the season when the Bearcats travel to Pittsburgh for a Friday night tilt at ACC member Pitt – another NCAA tournament team from a year ago.