Northwestern took comfort inside Welsh-Ryan Arena on a brisk Tuesday night and finished off its three-game homestand with a 86-70 win over Valparaiso.
The Wildcats (7-4, 0-2 Big Ten) followed up their thumping of Jackson State on Saturday with a takedown of the Beacons (6-5, 0-0 MVC). NU was led by senior forward Nick Martinelli and junior center Arrinten Page, who scored 29 and 18, respectively.
“Winning is huge,” coach Chris Collins said. “We have a little stretch where it’s not going well, so it’s important to find winning again.”
After winning the opening tip-off, the ’Cats ventured on a 7-0 scoring run to open the contest. Valparaiso did nab its first points of the game, but NU followed it up with an 8-0 run, giving it a 17-5 lead after seven minutes of play.
During the middle of the period, the teams traded baskets until the ’Cats had a streak of seven straight misses. The Beacons took advantage and went on a 6-0 run to cut their deficit to just five. NU worked its lead back up toward double digits, and the first half came to a close with the ’Cats leading 39-30.
The ’Cats and Valparaiso traded points before the hosts ventured on an 11-0 run. NU conceded a few points, but quickly went on another run, this time outscoring its opponent 10-0 over a three-minute span.
The ’Cats maintained control for the remainder of the game, though the Beacons did cut the lead to 13 at multiple points.
Here are three takeaways from Tuesday’s win over Valparaiso:
1. Fiery all-around start gives NU the early advantage
When the game reached the 10-minute mark of the first half, NU had shot 10-of-13 from the field. At one point, the ’Cats extended their lead to 13.
NU worked almost exclusively inside the arc during this stretch, attempting just two shots from long range. During the first half, the ’Cats scored 22 of their 39 points in the paint.
Two of those points came during the hot stretch on the fastbreak after senior guard Justin Mullins forced a turnover. Junior guard Jayden Reid picked up the ball and sprinted down the court, finding Mullins, who drove into the paint and slammed home a dunk.
“I thought his energy was great,” Collins said of Mullins. “He’s doing a really good job getting out on the break, he had some really good finishes in transition, he’s confident.”
The ’Cats also showcased their ability to spread the floor, with six different players scoring during those 10 minutes.
On top of their offensive success, the ’Cats showed strength on the defensive side of the floor, just as they had done in their previous contest. NU held Valparaiso to 2-of-10 shooting to open the game.
2. Second-unit ’Cats step up
After some inconsistencies with bench production throughout the first few games, NU has developed some trust in some players in the second unit.
During the first half, Mullins, freshman forward Tre Singleton and sophomore guard Max Green combined for 11 points on 5-of-7 shooting. They also tallied three rebounds, three assists and one steal.
Singleton finished the contest with a stuffed stat sheet, tallying 10 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 block and 1 steal.
“I was really waiting for (Singleton) to have a breakout game,” Collins said. “I thought he made his impact felt out there tonight.”
During the second half, Mullins missed the second of two free throws, but Singleton pulled in the rebound and put up a second-chance layup.
Mullins played starter minutes in the contest due to sophomore guard Angelo Ciaravino picking up multiple early fouls. Collins has looked to the veteran as a strong perimeter defender off the bench, but Mullins has also been making notable contributions on the offensive end.
On Tuesday, he notched his second-straight game and fourth game of the season with at least six points.
After running a relatively consistent 11-man rotation, Collins has trimmed the number of bench contributors. What might come as a surprise to some is the lack of playtime that sophomore guard K.J. Windham has seen. Over the past two games, the budding scorer has seen less than one minute on the floor.
3. ’Cats overcome up-and-down shooting
Despite the lights-out offensive start for NU, things weren’t so green for the whole contest.
The ’Cats followed up their 77% shooting to open the game with seven straight misses. During the remainder of the first half, NU attempted eight shots, sinking four in a row before missing three of the final four.
Though the streaks of missed shots didn’t end up costing the ’Cats, whose lead didn’t fall below five points, they can seldom afford such barren runs moving forward.
In the second half, NU missed no more than two shots in a row in the first 10 minutes, but it did see some players find a hot hand of sorts. Early in the half, Martinelli drilled three straight shots, and just two minutes later, Page knocked down four consecutive attempts.
“The strength of our team is those two guys,” Collins said of Martinelli and Page. “They didn’t really double-team tonight, so it allowed those guys to go for big numbers.”
NU looks to extend its win streak to three games as it heads to Indianapolis, where it will face Butler on Saturday.
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