Enoch Cheeks had 16 points and six steals and Nate Santos added 16 points and six rebounds to help host Dayton rally past Northwestern for a 71-66 win on Saturday in Dayton, Ohio.
After trailing by as many as 13, including 10 in the second half, the Flyers outscored the Wildcats 47-34 after halftime.
Dayton (2-0) shot 69.6 percent in the second half en route to stretching its home winning streak to 18 games.
Nick Martinelli contributed 32 points and 14 rebounds for Northwestern (1-1), both career highs. Angelo Ciaravino added 12 points and K.J. Windham had nine for the undermanned Wildcats.
Brooks Barnhizer, a preseason All-Big Ten pick and the Wildcats’ second-leading scorer last season, missed his second straight game with a foot injury.
Dayton grabbed its first lead when Cheeks converted a fastbreak dunk with 7:22 to go.
The Wildcats had 16 turnovers compared to 14 for the Flyers.
Malachi Smith (14 points, game-high six assists) and Zed Key (11) also scored in double figures for Dayton.
Dayton trimmed the deficit to three early in the second half but committed three straight turnovers to help the Wildcats create distance again.
Ciaravino’s layup with 10:50 to play stretched the Northwestern lead to 10, but the Flyers capitalized on the Wildcats’ own shaky ball security to score the next nine points.
Dayton didn’t notch its first field goal until the 16:08 mark of the first half.
Successive treys from Smith and Santos brought the Flyers to within 18-14 with 8:40 left in the first half. Northwestern responded with a 12-0 run over the next 4:17, with Ciaravino contributing eight points during the surge.
Martinelli went 7-for-10 from the floor and scored 15 points in the first 20 minutes to help Northwestern take a 32-24 lead to the break. He was 12-for-16 from the floor overall, including 3-for-3 from 3-point land.
Dayton evened the all-time series between the schools at 3-3.
–Field Level Media
