Robbie Beran had 20 points and 12 rebounds, Chase Audige made several key plays and Northwestern rallied to defeat Prairie View A&M 61-51 on Sunday at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
Audige hit a 3-pointer and later a pair of free throws to give the Wildcats a 51-47 lead with 6:17 remaining. It was Northwestern’s first lead since the 14-minute mark of the second half. Audige made a layup with 3:48 remaining for a 56-49 lead, and the Wildcats extended their lead from there.
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Northwestern’s defense, 12th nationally with 54.5 points allowed per game and sixth with a 35.4% opponents field-goal percentage, held the Panthers scoreless over the final 3:26 and allowed just four points over the final 10 minutes. Prairie View finished at 29% shooting for the game, and Northwestern hit on 29.5%.
Audige finished with 11 points, six rebounds, three assists, three steals and four blocks. Beran had four 3-pointers and three blocks. Boo Buie had 12 points and seven assists for the Wildcats (7-2).
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Jeremiah Gambrell scored 16 points for Prairie View (4-5) but shot 6-for-22 overall and missed 11 3-pointers. Hegel Augustin had 10 points and 12 rebounds off the bench.
Northwestern finished the first half at 18.8% shooting, including 4-for-18 on 3-pointers. The Wildcats made only two 2-point field goals in the first half and trailed 29-24 at the break.
Northwestern’s struggles in the first half included 5-for-25 shooting over the first 16 minutes. At the four-minute timeout, Beran, who had 13 points and five rebounds at that point, was the only Wildcat who had scored more than two points.
The Wildcats improved to 14-1 all-time against Southwestern Athletic Conference schools, with a 14-0 record at home.
Northwestern plays the second game of a six-game homestand Saturday against DePaul.
