​Northwestern men’s basketball (3-0, 0-0 B1G) defeated Boston University (2-1, 0-0 Patriot) Monday night, 72-55, to keep its season perfect through three games. A concussion protocol kept Jack Karasinski out for the second straight game, but some tenacious defense and transition play were enough to keep the Wildcats afloat, despite some second-half lulls. The Wildcats’ key players were Jake West and LA Pratt, who had 21 and 20 points, respectively. Both were perfect from the free-throw line and made eight field goals. Angelo Ciaravino also had a stand out performance with 14 points and a team-high six rebounds. These key offensive performances led the team to a commanding win over the then-unbeaten Terriers. For Boston, Azmar Abdullah led the team with 11 points on 4-for-8 shooting.The Terriers won the tip-off but were stopped quickly with a travel call, giving the ‘Cats a swing of momentum early. Angelo Ciaravino would sink a jumper in the paint before Jake West followed with a steal and score, converting an and-one in the process, putting the ‘Cats up 5-0 early.The Terriers answered with a bucket of their own before the Wildcats brought it back down, and Collin Smith hit a three. Back-to-back turnovers would plague Boston early, with the Wildcats forcing three in as many minutes. West would add on to the lead with another fastbreak layup, putting the ‘Cats up 12-2 before a Boston timeout. An open three for the Terriers ended the 7-0 run by the ‘Cats before the first media timeout with 15:51 remaining. Another Northwestern stop quickly turned into offense as a string of passes fell into the hands of LA Pratt for his first points of the game off a clean three. Ciaravino made a driving layup heading into the second media timeout of the half with the ‘Cats up 20-9 with 12:32 remaining.The Terriers turned it around on a 6-0 run with just over 12 minutes remaining to rein the ‘Cats in to just a nine-point lead, 26-17. Pratt then continued his hot night with his fifth made shot in the paint to subdue the mini run.Phoenix Gill took a hard foul on a fast-break opportunity, but jumped right back up for free throws to put the Wildcats up 12. The Terriers continued to struggle with the Wildcat defense, falling into a three-minute scoring drought with seven minutes left in the half.After a break in the action, Gill sank a jumper that brought the crowd to their feet with under five minutes remaining in the half. Two missed shots gave NU the ball back, and West sank a jumper to take a commanding 35-19 lead with 3:58 remaining. As the Wildcats looked to extend their lead into the half, they fell into a lull and went scoreless for two minutes. The ‘Cats would head to the locker room on a high note, leading 39-24 off two made free throws from Pratt.At the half, Pratt led with 15 points on 6-for-12 shooting, while West was close behind with nine, despite playing with two fouls. Boston’s Michelangelo Oberti opened the second half with a fre