Coming off an 88-56 win in an exhibition against D’Youville, the Binghamton men’s basketball team traveled to Evanston, Illinois for their season opener against Northwestern on Monday night. Ultimately, BU’s upset bid was denied by the Wildcats in a 72-61 loss. Binghamton controlled most of the first half through efficient playmaking and shooting, before foul trouble caught up to the Bearcats in the second half to cost them the game.

“At the end of the day, we got to finish,” said Binghamton associate head coach Brian Johnson, who filled in for Binghamton head coach Levell Sanders on Monday. “These guys on this program expect to win so it was good to see what we have worked on in the past months.”

After BU (0-1) gave up a quick three-pointer to the Wildcats (1-0), junior guard Tymu Chenery blocked Northwestern’s next shot into a fast break where he lobbed the ball off to graduate student guard Dan Petcash, who drove in a layup to get Binghamton on the board. Both squads would trade the lead from there, with Chenery punching in a three-pointer from the corner to put the Bearcats up 10-7.

“Every four minutes, there’s a media timeout,” Johnson said. “So we talked about winning the medias and we did that in the first half … We focus on four-minute stretches and just try to win the medias, to get as many stops as we can to limit their offensive possessions and offensive rebounds.”

Not long after, a three-pointer courtesy of graduate student guard Symir Torrence with a second left on the shot clock gave the visitors a 20-16 advantage. A pair of Chenery free throws, followed by a Petcash three-pointer from the left corner built up a 25-16 lead for Binghamton. The Bearcats extended their lead to as much as 11 after senior forward Nehemiah Benson drained two free throws.

Throughout the rest of the half, both teams would battle in the paint. BU would force eight Wildcat turnovers while holding the Wildcats to just three offensive rebounds to stay in front throughout the half. Then, after a Northwestern score cut the Bearcats lead to one, Benson got his hands on a putback layup to give the Bearcts 39-36 lead going into the half.

“We had some great stretches where we played great team basketball offensively and defensively,” Johnson said. “We were on a string and everybody on the same level. And then we had some down moments, which is natural, where we had a couple of bad closeouts or we gave up an offensive rebound in a tough possession. But I thought for the most part, we did a really good job of focusing on what we were trying to emphasize throughout the game.”

Torrence opened up the scoring for BU in the second half off a fast break pass from senior guard Armon Harried to make it 41-36. The Wildcats managed to tie things up from there, but Torrence gave BU the lead once again, floating one into the basket, off of the glass, to make it 43-41.

Eventually, Northwestern took a 48-47 lead, its first lead since the opening minutes. The Wildcats began to pull away after Binghamton found themselves in foul trouble as the clock winded down. While Harried managed to cut Northwestern’s lead to four at 63-59 after draining a three-pointer, this would be the closest BU would get the rest of the way. The Wildcats maintained their lead and captured a 72-61 win as BU suffered the loss in its opening match of the season.

“We have to take care of the basketball,” Johnson said. “It’s kind of hard to play defense when you’re back on your heels and they have three-on-two or four-on-three advantages. Now you’re playing down a man because you’re sprinting back in transition defense and you have a tendency to foul to slow down the possession. So we got to keep some of these guys out of foul trouble.”

Chenery led the way on offense for BU with 13 points in 25 minutes of play before fouling out. Going the distance for over 40 minutes for Binghamton was Torrence, with 12 points, six assists and three blocks. Lastly, Petcash finished with 10 points and four assists in the losing effort.

“A big part of our chemistry comes from our point guard on the court,” Johnson said. “Obviously [Torrence] was a new player for us, who is a pass-first point guard who loves getting his teammates involved and also is a great leader. So I think just his voice on the floor keeping these guys positive [really] ignites a fire under them.

BU will stay on the road to take on Pittsburgh on Friday, Nov. 10. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. at the Petersen Events Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.