Northwestern kicked off its season without its arguably greatest asset: senior guard Brooks Barnhizer. Significant departures from the past season further emphasized the importance of the Wildcats’ newer, younger talent.
In NU’s 89-62 victory in an exhibition match against Lewis on Wednesday night, new stars rose to the occasion. Every player on the ’Cats’ roster besides the injured Barnhizer played in a reflection of head coach Chris Collins’ first game with the program: an exhibition with the Flyers in 2013.
Eleven years ago, Naperville, Illinois, native Drew Crawford led NU to victory over Lewis. It was junior forward Nick Martinelli, from Glenview, Illinois, who answered the call Wednesday.
Martinelli scored NU’s first points of the game off a three-pointer, but Lewis demonstrated tenacity early on.
The Flyers went on a 9-0 scoring run before midway in the first half to take a five-point lead. Before NU broke the scoring drought, the ’Cats had two turnovers and five missed field goals.
“It wasn’t going so well early in terms of finishing and seeing the ball go in,” coach Collins said. “Give Lewis a lot of credit. I thought they did a great job coming in.”
Martinelli got the ‘Cats going, though. A two-point jumper broke Lewis’ scoring streak, and he followed it up with a fastbreak layup after a Flyers turnover. Two possessions later, graduate student guard Ty Berry got in on the action with a three-pointer, his first points of the evening. A Martinelli three-pointer and a free throw by redshirt sophomore forward Luke Hunger extended the scoring run to 7-0 with under seven minutes remaining in the first half.
After retaking the lead, the ’Cats never let it go. A layup and a dunk by graduate student center Matthew Nicholson were NU’s last points of the first twenty minutes, and the Wildcats went into the half with a 37-30 lead.
Both Berry and Nicholson took the court for their first in-game action since both suffered season-ending injuries last season.
“We’re trying to integrate two guys that have been out for nine months,” Collins said. “Since February they’ve been practicing, but, as you guys know, it’s a whole lot different when the lights go on.”
NU came out of the break firing as Jalen Leach got the ’Cats’ first points of the final twenty minutes with a three-pointer. Leach shot 5-of-6 from the field and 3-of-4 from beyond the arc in the second half after shooting 2-of-6 in the first half.
“Anytime you kind of get out there the first time, there’s some jitters, and it comes from a good place,” Collins said of Leach. “I just thought that first half was a kind of feeling out process for him. I thought you saw in the second half a little bit more of kind of hopefully what we expect.”
First-year guard K.J. Windham scored his first points as a Wildcat in the second half. After two misses by Berry and Justin Mullins, Windham knocked down a three-pointer to make the score 49-42. Windham started the game for the Wildcats and scored nine points.
Collins’s decision to start the guard was based on the team’s scouting report of Lewis.
“We kind of erred towards having a little bit more ball handling. We knew Lewis was going to be scrappy and kind of get after us a little bit,” Collins said. “We wanted another smaller ball-handling guard in there.”
A three-pointer from Leach followed Windham’s three-pointer, capping off a 6-0 scoring run that saw the ’Cats take a 10-point, 52-42 lead.
It was Martinelli, though, who put the game out of reach. The forward scored 11 points from that moment on. Martinelli led NU with 25 points and six rebounds, as well as a co-team high five assists.
Collins said Martinelli is going to be a big part of the team this season.
“His next step is to be a guy you count on for major production every night,” Collins said. “We’re expecting Nick to have a chance to be an all-conference player. That’s how highly I feel about him.”
Collins was particularly impressed by Mullins’ performance, he said. The guard scored eight points, all of which came in the second half, and was +30 on the floor.
“I thought the unsung hero of the game, though, was Justin Mullins,” Collins said. “I couldn’t take him out of the game. He ended up playing most of the second half, just because he was doing so many good things.”
Mullins played 98 minutes last season, with his best performance coming from a loss at Rutgers, where he played 26 minutes and went 3-of-3 from the field.
There are still things the team needs to polish before opening night Monday, but Collins was pleased with the second-half performance.
“I was proud of our guys to kind of get through some of that adversity when the game in the second half was still very much in the balance,” Collins said. “We gotta get a lot better, but this is a good night for us.”
The Wildcats will open their nonconference slate on Monday, Nov. 4, when they take on Lehigh in Welsh-Ryan Arena.
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