Northwestern, fresh off an overtime win over Eastern Illinois, will continue its homestand Tuesday night when it welcomes Montana State to Evanston, Ill.
Against Eastern Illinois, the Wildcats (3-1) were led in their 67-58 win by Fairfield graduate transfer Jalen Leach, who finished with 27 points. Seven of those came in overtime, when Northwestern held the Panthers scoreless.
Nick Martinelli added 16 points.
Coach Chris Collins was pleased with his team’s showing. The Wildcats have a relatively new-look group that is still adapting to life without their former leader, Boo Buie.
“Really, really proud to be able to dig that win out tonight,” Collins said after the game. “You know you have a winning culture when you win a game like that.”
Leach said he is embracing the Wildcats’ culture despite playing for the Big Ten program for less than a month.
“(Coach Collins) kind of talked to me about that before I even came here — that I was going to have a big role this year,” Leach said. “I’m just confident in my abilities, the work that I put in.”
The Wildcats’ focus will shift to the Bobcats (1-3), who will play their second Big Ten opponent this season. They lost their season opener to Wisconsin 79-67, and their lone win came against Northwest Indian College on Nov. 11 — a 93-35 drubbing.
It is a quick turnaround for the Bobcats after playing at Denver on Sunday. They nearly erased a 19-point deficit in the final nine minutes before losing 79-78 as a B.J. Kolly shot attempt rolled off the rim.
The Bobcats had 13 turnovers and shot just 10 percent (1 of 10) from 3-point range, and coach Matt Logie — unlike Collins — was dismayed by his team’s effort for much of the game.
“I’m very disappointed in the way that we came out and competed for a large sector of the game today,” Logie said. “We found a group that was successful at the end because of their energy and their spirit and their toughness, but ultimately as a group what I thought would translate today was our experience and our maturity, and it didn’t happen.
“It’s a very tough lesson to learn, but one that could be our most valuable lesson if it gets our edge where it needs to be moving forward.”
