Boo Buie scored 27 points and Brooks Barnhizer had 18 points and 13 rebounds to boost Northwestern to a come-from-behind 72-61 victory over Binghamton on Monday night in Evanston, Ill., in the season opener for both teams.

Binghamton held Northwestern to just five points for the first 4:54 of the second half. Trouble was, the Bearcats also struggled to score and were unable to build on their three-point halftime lead.

Ryan Langborg hit a turnaround jumper with 10:54 to play to put the Wildcats ahead 48-47, a lead they never relinquished. Northwestern shot 33.3 percent in the second half and 42.4 percent (25-for-59) for the game.

Playing with four fouls down the stretch, Buie drilled a trey with 3:21 left to give the Wildcats an eight-point cushion, effectively sealing the victory.

Langborg added 13 points for Northwestern, which forced 19 turnovers and held Binghamton to 22 points and 36 percent shooting after halftime.

Tymu Chenery scored 13 points to pace a balanced attack for the Bearcats. Symir Torrence (12 points), Armon Harried (11), Nehemiah Benson (10) and Dan Petcash (10) also finished in double figures.

Struggling to keep up with the Bearcats' breakneck pace, Northwestern trailed by as many as 11 points in the first half. Binghamton used a 17-4 run over a span of 5:01 to take a 29-18 lead with 8:49 remaining in the first half. Petcash and Torrence scored five points apiece during the surge.

Northwestern responded to score 10 of the next 12 points to get back in the game. The Wildcats twice drew to within one point of the Bearcats in the closing stages of the first half.

Benson made a putback layup just ahead of the first-half buzzer to put the Bearcats ahead 39-36 at intermission. Buie led all scorers with 14 first-half points on 6-for-12 shooting.

For the game, Harried grabbed seven rebounds. Barnhizer was 10-for-10 from the free-throw line.

--Field Level Media