Northwestern holds off tough challenge from Dayton

Ryan Langborg scored 19 points on 6-for-9 shooting and Northwestern held on for a 71-66 win over Dayton on Friday night in Evanston, Ill.

Boo Buie finished with 15 points for Northwestern, which has won back-to-back games to open the season. Brooks Barnhizer notched 13 points and 10 rebounds.

DaRon Holmes II led Dayton (1-1) with 17 points, seven rebounds and six assists. Koby Brea tallied 15 points off the bench for the Flyers, who lost their first road game of the season.

Northwestern finished with a 38-18 advantage in points on the paint. The Wildcats had seven turnovers, compared with 15 turnovers for Dayton.

The Flyers pulled within 67-65 with 23.1 seconds left. From the top of the key, Javon Bennett found Nate Santos open beneath the basket, and Santos fired a pass to him for an easy layup.

Buie made both free throws on the next possession to put Northwestern ahead 69-65.

Bennett drove to the layup and drew a foul with 9.3 seconds left. He made the front end but missed his second attempt, and Langborg grabbed the rebound.

Langborg made two free throws on the other end of the court to finish the scoring.

Dayton fell behind by 11 points in the first minute of the second half. The Flyers responded with an 11-0 run to even the score at 38-38 with 16:33 remaining. Holmes scored eight straight points to lead the rally. Bennett followed up with a 3-pointer that set up a competitive remainder of the second half.

The Flyers held a 51-50 lead just past the midway mark of the second half before Northwestern responded. The Wildcats went on a 9-2 run to pull ahead by six with 5:27 to go.

A 3-pointer by Ty Berry made it 62-55 for Northwestern with 4:29 left.

Northwestern closed the first half on an 11-0 run to grab a 35-25 lead entering the break. Nick Martinelli made two layups and one free throw during the run, which also included two layups by Buie and a jump shot by Langborg.

—Field Level Media