With 35 seconds remaining and Northwestern clinging to a 74-71 lead, graduate student center Matthew Nicholson was fouled on the defensive end of the court with his team in the shooting bonus. Had he converted both free throws, the game would have been all but decided. But after missing the first attempt — clanking it off the rim — the Trojan bench seemed to breathe a collective sigh of relief before he knocked down the second.
USC guard Clark Slajchert responded by pushing the ball up the court off the inbound pass and drilling a three-pointer. As he released the shot, the whistle blew. Junior guard Blake Smith had fouled Slajchert, sending him to the line for a four-point play that tied the game at 75-75.
With overtime looming as the clock ticked down, junior forward Nick Martinelli became the hero, draining a game-winning floater to solidify the Wildcats’ (13-10, 4-8 Big Ten) 77-75 win over the Trojans (13-9, 5-6 Big Ten).
“Just really proud of our team tonight,” coach Chris Collins said postgame. “This was a game we had to really dig down and get.”
Adjusting to a new rotation after its second-leading scorer senior guard Brooks Barnhizer was ruled out with a season-ending injury, Collins’ group looked to unexpected contributors to fill the void.
When junior guard Justin Mullins pulled up from the top of the key with 11:46 remaining in the first half, it took seven shots and contributions from four different players before Martinelli finally earned a trip to the free-throw line. The ball bounced from Mullins’ fingertips to graduate student guard Ty Berry, then to Martinelli, and even to graduate student center Keenan Fitzmorris under the basket.
After USC jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead and freshman guard Angelo Ciaravino committed an early foul and turnover, coach Chris Collins decided to bring Mullins off the bench less than two minutes into the game.
The change paid immediate dividends: Mullins drained a three-pointer within 30 seconds of entering.
“He was bringing the energy,” Collins said postgame. “You felt it right away.”
On the following possession, Berry answered with a similar shot, using a quick duck to avoid a Trojan defender and create an open look.
But those were two of only three shots NU made on its 12 attempts from beyond the arc in the game’s opening 20 minutes.
As both the ’Cats and their opponents struggled to create offensive momentum, each squad turned to small bursts of production to stay alive.
Fitzmorris, who typically adds no more than one or two points per game in 11 appearances this season, stepped up with a first-half hook shot and tied his season high of eight points in the win.
By halftime, NU held a narrow 33-31 lead, despite shooting just 13-of-38 from the field.
But the ‘Cats made up for their early shooting struggles with a dominant rebounding effort, outrebounding the Trojans 43-27, including a season-high 23 offensive boards.
Coming out of the break, Nicholson helped the ’Cats gain early traction, throwing down consecutive alley-oop dunks.
While Mullins had been limited to just one 3-pointer in the first half, he erupted after the break, scoring 11 second-half points, including three more treys. Mullins played all but three minutes Tuesday — his most in two seasons at NU.
Mullins’ scoring output was second only to Martinelli, who led all players with 27 points, marking his sixth 25-plus point game of the season.
In addition to his shooting, Martinelli grabbed 13 rebounds, 10 of which came on the offensive glass.
Collins said that after the team’s loss to No. 17 Wisconsin Saturday, Martinelli felt like he had let his team down without Barnhizer on the floor.
“And, I just told him, I said, ‘Nick, man, you didn’t let us down,’” Collins said. “We need you to be aggressive.”
Joining the huddle in the team’s timeout with 12 seconds on the clock, Barnhizer’s advice to Martinelli was simple: “You got to go win it for us,” he said.
Martinelli did.
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