Boo Buie got his senior season off to a fast start, scoring 27 points in Northwestern’s 72-61 season-opening victory over Binghamton on Monday night.
Brooks Barnhizer, one of last season’s top reserves, added 18 points, 13 rebounds and four steals for the Wildcats. He made all 10 of his free throws. Ryan Langborg scored 13 points.
Northwestern trailed 39-36 at halftime but held the Bearcats to 22 points in the second half. A jumper by Langborg gave Northwestern its first lead of the second half, 48-47, near the 11-minute mark. The lead was only 52-50 before Binghamton went 4-plus minutes without scoring.
With returning starters Buie, Ty Berry and Matthew Nicholson, the Wildcats return 61.7% of their scoring from last season’s team that won 22 games and earned the program’s second NCAA Tournament berth.
