Basketball Recap: Connor Binnion's Big Game Can't Quite Lead Northwestern over Western

It was a proper cat-fight when Northwestern duked it out withWestern on Friday. The Northwestern Tigers received a blow as they fell 51-36 to the Western Panthers. The result was an unpleasant reminder to the Tigers of the 59-45 loss they experienced in the pair's previous head-to-head fixture back in December of 2023.

Northwestern lost despite a true team effort on offense, the best among them being Connor Binnion, who posted ten points. Hayden Cook was another key player, putting up eight points and seven rebounds.

Even though they lost, Northwestern smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 12 offensive boards. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Western only pulled down four offensive rebounds.

Western was led to victory by Carter Biggs and Sam Thurston. Biggs put up seven points and four steals, while Thurston had eight points and five assists. Those four steals gave Biggs a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Eli Mast, who posted seven points and five boards.

Having lost for the first time this season, Northwestern fell to 2-1. As for Western, they now also have a winning record of 2-1.

Northwestern wasted no time getting back out on the court and has already played their next matchup, a 45-36 defeat against Taylor on the 13th. As for Western, they also didn't take long to hit the court again: they've already played their next contest, a 57-25 victory against Frankfort on the 7th.