Following a week spent idle as players took finals, Northwestern men’s basketball took on Georgia Tech in the MKE Tip-Off Sunday.
At the neutral site Fiserv Forum, home of the NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks, the Wildcats (8-3, 1-1 Big Ten) made short work of the Yellow Jackets (4-6, 0-1 ACC), securing a wire-to-wire 71-60 win.
Senior guard Brooks Barnhizer notched a double-double, scoring 20 points while adding 10 rebounds, three assists, three blocks and three steals. Graduate student guard Jalen Leach and junior forward Nick Martinelli both poured in 16 points.
Martinelli, the team’s leading scorer so far this season, set the pace of the contest. The forward drained a corner three-pointer before adding another bucket to extend the ’Cats lead to 5-0 with just a minute elapsed. NU leapt to an 11-0 run before Georgia Tech made its first shot, a three-pointer by Javian McCollum, six minutes into the game.
The Yellow Jackets trimmed the lead to seven points with 10 minutes left in the first half, but a pair of free throws from senior guard Brooks Barnhizer and a triple from Leach extended NU’s grip to 21-9.
But Georgia Tech capitalized on poor first-half shooting from NU, which went on a nearly four-minute scoring drought. The Yellow Jackets clawed back to a 26-23 deficit with just under two minutes left in the first period. A three-pointer by graduate student guard Ty Berry and a fallaway jumper from Barnhizer as seconds ticked down sent the two teams to the locker room with a 31-26 ’Cats lead.
NU began the second half with a 12-4 run bolstered by five points from Leach as it pulled away from Georgia Tech, which continued its shooting struggles. The ’Cats did not yield their lead as they sailed to the comfortable 11-point victory.
Here are three takeaways from Sunday’s contest.
1. Defense fumigates Yellow Jackets
NU’s defense was the difference in the contest, as Georgia Tech only shot 39.3% from the field and committed 16 turnovers.
The Yellow Jackets committed self-inflicted wounds in addition to its poor shooting. Georgia Tech’s Lance Terry stepped out of bounds three times in the first half as the team notched ten first-half turnovers.
As a whole, the ’Cats made nine steals and blocked four shots. Its ability to stop Georgia Tech from scoring in spurts proved critical in the win.
2. ’Cats share the love
Four players –– Barnhizer, Berry, Leach and Martinelli –– finished with double-digit scoring in the win as NU put together a balanced stat sheet.
The ’Cats scored 26 field goals Sunday. Eighteen of their shots featured an assist. Four NU players contributed three or more assists Sunday, led by redshirt sophomore forward Luke Hunger’s five.
An unselfish style of play contributed well to NU’s dominant win.
3. Sunday’s contest a blueprint for Big Ten success
Through 11 games this season, it appears there is a framework for NU to return to the NCAA tournament for the third straight year. Sunday’s game exemplified that blueprint.
The ’Cats’ three-headed monster of scoring, which includes the Barnhizer-Martinelli duo and a three-point threat in Leach, fired on all cylinders on Sunday. NU’s tenacious defense forced countless errors by the Yellow Jackets.
Playing through Martinelli and Barnhizer has demonstrated success so far this season. Assistant coach Chris Lowery’s defensive scheme, which has given opposing offenses nightmares for the past three seasons, is clicking.
If NU can play its brand of basketball –– slow-paced, gritty and midrange-dominant –– it will find success against whoever it matches up against.
The ’Cats will return to Evanston to take on DePaul on Saturday, Dec. 21. Tip-off is slated for 3 p.m.
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