INDIANAPOLIS – As Northwestern took the court against Minnesota in front of a sparse Gainbridge Fieldhouse crowd Wednesday, the fate of a season defined by adaptability rested in the game’s outcome.
Behind junior forward Nick Martinelli’s 17th 20-plus point game of the season and bolstered by a hodgepodge effort from young contributors, the Wildcats (17-15, 8-13 Big Ten) triumphed 72-64 over the Golden Gophers (15-17, 7-14 Big Ten) to keep their campaign alive.
The win marks NU’s first Big Ten Tournament win since 2022, after dropping conference tournament openers in its last two seasons despite earning double byes in those editions.
Martinelli picked up where he left off from a 28-point showing against Maryland, scoring the game’s first points and draining a contested fadeaway jumper in the opening three minutes.
With 13:31 left to play in the opening half, NU had amassed a then game-high six-point lead before graduate student guard Ty Berry launched errant passes on consecutive possessions, allowing the Golden Gophers to cut the lead to 13-12.
Fortunately for the ’Cats, Minnesota had its own early struggles with ball security, committing five turnovers within the first nine minutes.
Coach Chris Collins’s squad opened up a 32-23 lead with just over a minute to play before halftime, but six unanswered Golden Gopher points after two NU fouls and a turnover in the final 42 seconds meant it only took a three-point advantage to the locker room.
The ’Cats started the second half strong, going on a 10-0 run punctuated by an acrobatic finish at the rim by junior guard Justin Mullins which put NU ahead 44-32 with 15:49 remaining. NU kept Minnesota at arms-length the rest of the half, never leading by fewer than seven points from that moment on.
Here are three takeaways from NU’s first-round Big Ten Tournament win over Minnesota.
1. Martinelli out-duels Garcia, eclipses 1000 points
At a Tuesday morning press conference ahead of the team’s departure for Indianapolis, coach Chris Collins discussed NU and Minnesota’s mirrored season trajectories, with both squads rallying around one dominant leading scorer to grind out conference tournament bids.
When the ’Cats travelled to Minneapolis on Feb. 25, Martinelli had 29 points, while no other NU player reached double digit scoring. Meanwhile, Minnesota guard Dawson Garcia posted 26 points.
By intermission, Martinelli had already racked up 16 points, while Garcia was held to just nine. No other player for either side had more than six points.
While the 6-foot-7 forward carried his consistently ascendent form into the second half, increased contributions from all over the floor alleviated some of the pressure on his performance.
Berry, sophomore guard Jordan Clayton and freshman guard K.J. Windham each broke into double-digit scoring in the final 20 minutes. For Minnesota, Garcia ultimately ended up with 22 points, but no other Golden Gopher had more than 11.
With 7:44 left to play, Martinelli drove to the basket and knocked down a layup to surpass 1,000 career points and put the ’Cats up 15.
Martinelli finished with 28 points, his second consecutive contest scoring over 25 and ninth such game this season.
Despite leading the conference in regular-season scoring with 20.2 average points per game and delivering one of the best single seasons in NU program history, Martinelli was not named as an All Big Ten First Team selection.
2. Clayton breaks out
When graduate student guard Jalen Leach — NU’s third top scorer — went down for the season with a torn ACL, Clayton scrapped his plans to redshirt the season and stepped into a starting role.
Clayton struggled in a deputizing role his freshman year, shooting just 17.4% from the field and averaging more personal fouls per game than points, rebounds or assists.
The Medford, Massachusetts native has looked more confident as a floor general this season, but has remained an inconsistent shooter — his field goal percentage coming to the Minnesota game was only marginally better, at 28.6% on 4.4 attempts per game.
Yet, on Wednesday, Clayton’s patience and selflessness finally reaped rewards. Clayton scored a career-high 11 points on 5-for-7 shooting, adding four assists and four rebounds. He also played a career-high 34 minutes, usurping the leading point guard role that had been played by Windham for the previous five games.
Though Clayton’s performance was not without its blunders, including a turnover and costly off-the-ball foul in the final minute of the first half that helped fuel a 6-0 Minnesota run, his resiliency after the break offered an optimistic glimpse for what his future could hold.
Clayton bounced back emphatically in the embryonic stages of the second half, grabbing a rebound, notching a steal and knocking down a baseline jumper within the opening minute.
With NU looking to pull away, Clayton showed heads-up court awareness, upping the tempo on a transition and finding Berry in the corner for an open three that gave the ’Cats a 54-39 lead.
Clayton then drained a late-shot-clock, pull-up three from the top of the key on NU’s next possession, displaying newfound confidence.
3. Not done yet
With all hopes of an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament dashed following a Senior Night defeat to UCLA, NU’s only path to a third consecutive March Madness appearance is through the Big Ten Tournament.
On Wednesday, the ’Cats leapt over their first of five necessary hurdles. As each Big Ten Tournament game could potentially spell NU’s final contest of the season, the team played with the same do-or-die attitude that reinvigorated its campaign following a 4-11 start to conference play.
“Let’s just approach every game like how hard would you prepare if it was an NCAA Tournament game,” Collins said of the ’Cats’ mindset since the nadir of squandering a 20-point lead at home against Nebraska.
Collins’ squad will return early tomorrow afternoon to face fifth-seeded Wisconsin. The ’Cats lost 75-69 at Welsh-Ryan Arena in the two sides’ one previous meeting this season, their first game after senior guard Brooks Barnhizer was shut down for the season due to injury.
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