The Big Ten had four games on Saturday. Two were buy games and two featured important resume building opportunities.
Let's take a look at what happened.
The Wildcats went on the road for the first time this season and faced off against a pretty solid Dayton squad. The Flyers were favored before tip, but Northwestern came out of the gates swinging, taking an early lead thanks to an incredible 32 points and 14 rebounds for Nick Martinelli. The team's defense also held up pretty well.
Unfortunately, things spiraled in the closing minutes, and Northwestern fell by a 71-66 final score after getting outscored 28-15 in the final 10 minutes of action. Four Flyers scored in double-digits, though Dayton finished with just 1.03 points per possession. One bright spot for Northwestern was 12 points from Angelo Ciaravino off the bench.
Northwestern fell to 1-1 with the loss. And while Saturday's loss will sting, the Wildcats actually performed relatively well. This was a game Northwestern was supposed to lose and the team easily could have pulled it out in the closing minutes. That's worth something this early in the season. Northwestern will now return home for four straight buy games, starting with Illinois Chicago at home on Tuesday.
The Gophers entered this one as massive favorites, hoping to add another win to the team's resume on Saturday. Unfortunately, things were too close for comfort in the second half, as Minnesota eeked out a four-point win against a dreadful Omaha squad. Dawson Garcia proved to be the difference, with 24 points and seven rebounds. The Gophers will need to hope for a better offensive showing moving forward, as Garcia was the only member of the team's starting lineup in double-digits.
Minnesota now sits at 2-0 overall and will prepare for a tricky North Texas team at home on Wednesday. Expect a battle. KenPom only has the Gophers favored by four.
This was another uncomfortable one, as Nebraska pulled out a five-point win against a team outside the top 300 on KenPom. Juwan Gary led the way with 11 points and nine rebounds, but the Huskers' offense limped to an underwhelming 0.85 points per possession. It was a frustrating performance, though the team survived with the win.
Nebraska now sits at 2-0 overall. The Huskers will now prepare for Fairleigh Dickinson at home on Wednesday. The team should win convincingly, but it will need a better effort than fans saw on Saturday to do so.
The Huskies entered this one as modest underdogs, heading on the road to face the Wolf Pack. However, fans were hoping for an upset and it looked like that might work out deep into the second half, as Washington's defense was slowing down Nevada considerably. Unfortunately for Huskie fans, things collapsed in the closing minutes, as the Wolf Pack went on a 23-11 run in the closing 10 minutes to grab the win.
Washington fell to 1-1 with the loss and Danny Sprinkle will need to return to the drawing table moving forward. The team's offense finished with just 0.80 points per possession, which should set off some alarm bells. Tyree Ihenacho was probably the team's only productive offensive player, which isn't going to be enough in Big Ten play. Washington will now prepare for Seattle Pacific at home on Wednesday.