The Romanian also had three blocks to lead Northwestern. Forward Vic Law had 13 points and seven rebounds while guard Bryant McIntosh added 12 points and six assists for the Wildcats of the Big Ten.

Ricmonds Vilde, a 6-11 center from Latvia, sparked the Huskies with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Anthony Odunsi had 11 points and four assists, while Marcel Smith added 11 off the bench for the Huskies of the Southland Conference.

Leading 42-41 after Smith's 3-pointer, the Huskies failed to score for the next 4:20 while the Wildcats turned two layups and a JerShon Cobb 3–pointer into a 48-42 lead and Northwestern never trailed. The Wildcats were able to hold their distance the rest of the way and two free throws by Olah gave them a 64-55 lead with 49 seconds left.

Houston Baptist opened the game with a 12-2 run, but Northwestern rallied to take its first lead at 27-25 with 2:43 remaining in the half. The Huskies scored the final four points on two free throws and a jumper by Smith to lead 31-28 at the half.

NOTEBOOK: It was a rough opener for Northwestern, which returned four starters but was outshot 41.2-38.3 percent and outrebounded 40-36. … Tre Demps was one of the highest-scoring players off the bench last season with 11 points per game, but was 0-of-7 from the floor as a reserve against the Huskies. … It was a tough night for shooting 3-pointers as Northwestern was 6-of-22 and Houston Baptist was 2-of-15.