WACO, Texas – Down by a sizeable margin early and facing a sizeable difference in height in its season opener at Baylor, the Northwestern State men’s basketball team did what fourth-year head coach Rick Cabrera asks.
The Demons fought against a Baylor team that notched exhibition victories over preseason national No. 1 Florida and No. 3 Illinois.
Northwestern cut into a large Baylor lead a couple of times in the second half before ultimately falling to the Bears, 87-65, at Foster Pavilion in the season opener for both teams.
“That’s our identity – to fight and compete,” Cabrera said. “That’s one thing I don’t have to worry about with this group. I don’t like the mistakes we made defensive, but it’s our first game under the big lights. Some of the guys haven’t played in this type of atmosphere. I’m proud of them. I’m upset we lost. There are not moral victories, but that’s a team (Baylor) that can be playing in April. They’re really good, and we’re really good, too. I’m proud of where we’re at.”
Baylor (1-0) stung the Demons (0-1) with a sizzling offensive start that saw the Bears sink eight straight shots after missing their initial attempt of the game.
That hot start helped the Bears build a 19-point lead less than seven minutes into the game. The lead grew to 21 before Northwestern began to find itself offensively.
Doyle Brown, one of the 11 newcomers on the Demon roster, came off the bench and knocked down 3-pointers on consecutive possessions to slice the lead to 13 with 10:40 to play in the first half.
While Baylor took an 18-point lead into the halftime break, the Demons regathered themselves on the defensive end.
After the Bears shot 60 percent from the field in the first half (18-for-30), Northwestern ratcheted up the defensive pressure and held Baylor to 37.1-percent shooting in the second half.
The Demons limited Baylor to 4-for-19 aim from beyond the arc in the second half after the Bears sank five of 10 first-half 3-pointers. The majority of the long-range damage came from Liberty transfer Brett Decker Jr., who hit all three of his first-half 3-pointers and was a perfect 4-for-4 from the field.
“Decker is arguably the best shooter in the country,” Cabrera said. “We lost him a couple of times, and the margin for error is so small on shooters. You can’t lose them. He gets open, and he makes them. He shot 47 percent last year (from 3). We need to do better on that, but I’m proud of our guys.”
The Demons were able to close with 15 on three different occasions in the second half – the last coming on a Nathan Ojukwu runner with 8:05 to play.
Ojukwu (13 points), Kai Simpson (17 points) and Isaiah Vick (12 points) carried the Demon offense – a group that saw all 65 of its points come from players who were not wearing a Northwestern uniform a season ago.
“In the recruiting process, we wanted guys who had a personality that wanted to compete and step on the biggest stage against the best,” Cabrera said. “All summer and all fall, we competed and we defended. We didn’t rebound today, and that’s normally what we do. Kai was feeling good. Nathan played well. Isaiah Vick played well. Antoine was a defensive demon. Doyle shot the ball well. I’m really proud of those guys.”
The Demons return to action Thursday night at Mississippi State. Tipoff is set for 6:30 p.m. inside Humphrey Coliseum.