Graduate student guard Ty Berry was trapped in the backcourt.
Four Montana State players surrounded him after he had stolen the ball, up 69-67 with 36.7 seconds left. With a turnover, the visitors would have a golden opportunity to win or tie the game.
But then senior guard Brooks Barnhizer called timeout.
The Wildcats (4-1, 0-0 Big Ten) were able to inbound, successfully play the free throw game and worm their way out of Welsh-Ryan Arena with a 72-69 win over the Bobcats (1-4, 0-0 Big Sky) Tuesday.
“We repeat in every timeout how many timeouts we have and what the possession arrow is, so that the guys know, if they’re trapped in the corners, they know what their timeout situation is, and they know if they’re wrapped up, if it’s going to be our ball or not,” NU coach Chris Collins said. “It was a heads-up play by Brooks when Ty was trapped in the corner there.”
Barnhizer made his season debut against Montana State and immediately made an impact. The senior scored 20 points on 9-for-15 shooting, snagging 10 rebounds and adding four assists. Defensively, he notched three steals.
Barnhizer was cleared for takeoff after missing the first four games of the year. His coach said having the veteran leader running the court was critical.
“He’s the leader of this team, and he impacts the game in so many ways,” Collins said. “I mean, there’s not many guys in the country that have that kind of an impact on the game, on both ends of the floor.”
Like last Friday’s matchup with Eastern Illinois, Tuesday’s tilt was a back-and-forth matchup.
Montana State, known as a primarily 3-point shooting team, found success in the key early. The Bobcats scored 22 points in the paint in the first half. They only snared eight in the second half.
After graduate student guard Jalen Leach drained a triple, NU huddled for the under-16 timeout up 11-8.
The offense stalled, and the ’Cats trailed for most of the first half. Montana State ratcheted up its defensive intensity, holding the ’Cats to just 14-for-35 and 2-for-11 from three, and entered halftime with a 39-34 lead.
A perfect time for junior forward Nick Martinelli to get going.
Martinelli, NU’s leading scorer, scored 16 of his 22 points Tuesday in the final half. Ten of NU’s 12 points in the first five minutes of the second half were from the Glenview, Illinois, native.
“We need Nick’s scoring,” Collins said. “Nick’s ability to put the ball in the basket, we need that, we need his aggressiveness.”
The ’Cats took the lead at 44-41 following Martinelli’s flurry of buckets, but Montana State didn’t go down without a fight. The 3-point shooting team began to deliver from beyond the arc, punching in four bombs through seven minutes of game action.
Through that stretch, however, Berry heated up, making two 3-pointers to extend NU’s lead to 52-46 at one point. Montana State buried two triples themselves before a Martinelli layup tied the game at 54-all.
“This was not a game that we just played in order to play the game and get a win. We knew this was going to be a tough game,” Collins said. “We feel like they’re going to probably have a great chance to win their league and be in the NCAA tournament, and you’ve got to prove your mettle against those types of teams.”
The teams traded buckets down the stretch as strong defensive performances from both sides kept the contest neck-and-neck.
Barnhizer made two key baskets down the stretch to preserve NU’s lead, though the Bobcats recovered and tied the contest at 67-67 with 47 seconds left.
On the ensuing possession, Barnhizer drove to the basket. He tossed a lob to graduate student center Matthew Nicholson, who slammed home the game-winning dunk. Berry got the steal on Montana State’s attempt to tie the game, and the ’Cats escaped the close game with the win.
“I missed it a lot, just to be out there with the guys, being able to go to war with them,” Barnhizer said. “It was really sweet to be back out there.”
NU will next play Pepperdine, a Friday night matchup at Welsh-Ryan Arena, in one of the last games at home before students leave for Thanksgiving.
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