Following Wednesday’s shocking home defeat to Chicago State, graduate student guard Boo Buie repeatedly mentioned his team’s need to be more connected.
Hoping to bounce back, No. 25 Northwestern traveled to Chicagoland foe DePaul for a Saturday afternoon matchup.
As a result of a resilient second-half defensive performance, the Wildcats (8-2, 1-0 Big Ten) got back to their winning ways, defeating the Blue Demons (2-8, 0-0 Big East), 56-46.
Both teams started off slow offensively, combining for five points in the game’s first three minutes. Buie’s driving layup opened the scoring for the ‘Cats. Minutes later, graduate student guard Ryan Langborg’s 3-pointer snapped a two-minute scoring drought.
While NU’s starting backcourt got on the board immediately after the tip, its offense struggled mightily throughout the first half.
Coming off the bench, sophomore forward Nick Martinelli’s 12 first-half points provided instant scoring relief. His hook shot snapped a near-three minute scoring drought, leveling the scores at nine, with 13 minutes remaining in the first half. A minute later, Martinelli added a second-chance layup, reclaiming the lead for the ‘Cats.
“Nick can score in a variety of ways,” coach Chris Collins said. “Being a lefty, he’s got all of those little hooks and floaters and push shots. He was getting some damage done in the paint, and that’s what we needed when we couldn’t make threes and our open shots.”
Down the stretch of the first half, neither team could find any semblance of offense, combining for nearly four scoreless minutes. Buie’s reverse layup and Martinelli’s 3-pointer broke a five-minute scoring drought for NU, extending the lead to seven — its highest of the first frame — with four minutes to play.
Martinelli finished the afternoon with a game-high 16 points, earning the Fisher-McGrath MVP trophy.
“(In) a lot of our games, the other team traps and tries to stop (Buie),” Martinelli said. “I was trying to play off of him, and he was finding me early. I tried being involved on the offensive glass and that is (an area) I take pride in.”
However, in spite of Martinelli’s efforts, the ‘Cats failed to muster much offensive production in the first frame. Outside of Langborg and Martinelli — who combined for 18 of NU’s 25 first-half points — the rest of the offense struggled from the field.
Junior guard Brooks Barnhizer couldn’t get the proverbial lid on the rim to lift — he missed all seven of his attempts from the field — and the ‘Cats shot at a dismal 3-of-17 clip from beyond the arc. The Blue Demons capitalized on NU’s shooting woes, utilizing a 9-2 scoring run to level the score at 25-all entering the intermission.
“We were positive that we were still going to win the game,” Collins said. “We wanted to stay poised offensively and (continue) defending. We knew if we kept defending like (the first half) and making it hard for them to score, then we’ll have a great chance to win the game.”
Out of the locker room, Barnhizer canned his first field goal of the contest to open the scoring for NU. The ‘Cats recorded twelve points in the second half’s first five minutes, courtesy of two Langborg 3-pointers.
After both teams exchanged baskets midway through the second half, Barnhizer initiated a 13-4 scoring run, spanning nearly seven minutes. As a result of a corner 3-pointer and a driving layup off of a steal, the Indiana native scored NU’s first five points of the stretch.
“It was about trusting my work,” Barnhizer said. “I played with confidence and knew I could impact the game in more ways than just making my shots. As long as I focus on rebounding and defending, my shots will fall regardless.”
Minutes later, Barnhizer capped off the ‘Cats scoring run with a corner triple, extending the lead to 12, with nearly six minutes remaining.
He finished Saturday’s matchup with 11 points and was one of four ‘Cats to score double digits in the game.
“You could see it on (Barnhizer’s) face,” Collins said. “He had some great looks in the first half and couldn’t hit them. When he made that first one to start the second half, you could see the air let out of the balloon. I thought he played a great second-half.”
After claiming an 11-point advantage midway through the half, NU did not look back. The ‘Cats limited the Blue Demons to just five made field goals in the second half, holding DePaul without a bucket in a near-13 minute stretch to close the second half.
While NU will all but surely lose its top-25 billing Monday, Collins stressed the importance of looking at the larger picture — acknowledging the benefits this week can have on his team’s perspective entering conference play.
“We’re a together group, and we’re playing hard,” Collins said. “We have guys that really care (and) play for each other along the way. There’s going to be bumps on the road and ups and downs. It’s how we manage them (and) bounce back to keep ourselves moving forward.
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