Northwestern found itself back in the win column after taking down UIC 83-74 in a Tuesday night matchup.
Junior forward Nick Martinelli got up to his usual antics, leading the Wildcats (2-1, 0-0 Big Ten) with 27 points and shooting 10-14 from the field as NU extinguished the Flames (2-1, 0-0 MVC).
“He’s such a warrior,” coach Chris Collins said. “What’s great about Nick is he’s so immersed in the game. He doesn’t know about stats or points. He’s just trying to win.”
The ’Cats got off to a hot start. An alley-oop and dunk from graduate student guard Ty Berry to graduate student center Matthew Nicholson broke the opening deadlock, and Nicholson followed it up with a layup on the next possession.
“I just love being able to start off with the energy,” Nicholson said. “It gets me going.”
The ’Cats cooled off, though. UIC knocked down back-to-back three-pointers during a NU five-minute and 24-second scoring drought. A layup by Martinelli broke the stretch, but not before the Flames had taken a lead.
The ’Cats were down 12-8 heading into the under 12-minute timeout before a couple of free-throws by freshman guard Angelo Ciaravino with under 10 minutes remaining in the half gave NU a short-lived one-point lead.
After both teams faced considerable scoring droughts, a Martinelli jumper gave NU a 24-23 lead.
“(Martinelli) just doesn’t miss easy shots,” UIC coach Rob Ehsan said. “A couple of them, I’m thinking to myself, that’s a good defense, and he makes it. And that’s the mark of a great player.”
The ’Cats proceeded to go on a long scoring drought from the field. The only bucket following Martinelli’s score came by way of a Ciaravino layup with 14 seconds remaining in the half, five minutes and 21 seconds later. NU went into the locker room after the first 20 minutes with a 31-29 lead.
“It’s just one of those games that happens,” Collins said. “We had to kind of rely on our defense there in the first half.”
The ’Cats found what they were missing during halftime, coming out of the gates to take their largest lead of the day so far.
“We were super fired up to play that second half,” Martinelli said. “(Brooks Barnhizer) gave us a great speech about how you got to play every game like it’s your last. … We were ready to go in the first half.”
A layup by UIC forward Saša Ciani opened up the half, but the ’Cats responded with a Martinelli layup and a Jalen Leach three-pointer. Leach went 1-of-2 on free throws on the following possession, and NU was suddenly leading 37-31.
The Flames were not going down without a fight, but the ’Cats kept firing. Just before the under 12-minute timeout in the final half, Berry hit a three-point shot, delivering the ’Cats a 52-42 lead into the break. Just over a minute later, redshirt sophomore forward Luke Hunger’s jumper capped off a 7-0 scoring run.
A 6-0 run later in the half by the Flames put them within single digits again, but a triple from Martinelli extended the lead back to 10. Two possessions later, Leach knocked down his second three-point shot of the game. Leach finished with 16 points and shot 5-of-8 from the field.
The ’Cats maintained a double-digit lead for most of the game, but the Flames clawed back. They got as close as four points behind NU, but the ’Cats ultimately held on. NU went on a 7-0 scoring run thanks to Martinelli and Berry, and it never looked back.
Martinelli’s 27-point outing Tuesday marks his third straight game with 25 or more points. He was a perfect two-of-two from beyond the arc.
“I’d be hard-pressed to see across the country someone who’s playing any better,” Collins said. “He’s just a matchup nightmare, and I’m just glad he’s on my team because he keeps getting better and better.”
NU looks to build on its performance on Friday when it takes on Eastern Illinois at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
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