Northwestern still owns Indiana.
The No-15-seeded Wildcats (15-18, 5-15 B1G) pulled off their second upset over the No. 10-seeded Hoosiers (18-14, 9-11 B1G) of the season, riding a 14-point advantage in the second half to a 74-61 victory.
For Northwestern, who else but Nick Martinelli to lead the way. The senior finished with 28 points on 10-of-18 shooting, and he had three steals as the Wildcats forced 11 turnovers. Jake West tied his career-high with 18 points, while also tallying four assists and three rebounds.
Despite shooting struggles, Jayden Reid made an impact with six assists and five rebounds
For Indiana, Lamar Wilkerson had 17 points on 7-of-16 shooting, while Tayton Conerway added 14 points off the bench. The Hoosiers struggled mightily in the second half, shooting 25% from the field after halftime.
Indiana entered tonight squarely on the NCAA tournament bubble, and the loss will deal a significant blow to the Hoosiers’ March Madness aspirations.
Dating back to 2022, Northwestern has won seven straight against Indiana.
The Hoosiers leaned heavily on Tucker DeVries and Wilkerson early, as he scored two consecutive baskets to maintain momentum, while the ‘Cats had more of a balanced attack. Wilkerson cashed in on a 3-pointer to put Indiana up 13-6 early, only for West to respond back with his own.
Out of the first media timeout, a sloppy turnover from Reid resulted in two points for the Hoosiers to extend their lead to six. Jordan Clayton hit a pullup jumper from the right elbow as his confidence continued to increase. Martinelli finally got on the board after starting out 0-of-2, but Indiana matched Northwestern’s scoring and then some. The Hoosiers led 21-13 at the second media timeout.
West continued to shine with a tough layup, but Indiana answered with a Nick Dorn three. The Hoosiers were shooting 66.7% compared to the Wildcats at 53.3%. West had an identical tough layup to bring his early total to nine, but it was again answered by an Indiana triple, this time from Conor Enright. Tre Singleton picked up his first foul with 7:29 remaining in the first half as Indiana led 28-19.
Singleton scored his second basket of the game, overpowering Wilkerson on the block. West forced a turnover that led to Martinelli scoring his fourth basket of the night, forcing an Indiana 30-second timeout as it led 30-25. West willed his way to another layup, bringing his points total to 11, his third time scoring in double-figures across his last five games.
Indiana held a 32-25 lead as the game resumed from the final media timeout of the first half. With Martinelli on the sidelines, West drained a triple to cut the IU lead to two, followed by Tyler Kropp draining a triple to take the lead. Dorn answered back with his second three of the night. NU called a 30-second timeout with 1:33 to go in the first after a Conerway basket.
With Martinelli back in the game, it was Reid who found Angelo Ciaravino for a highlight alley-oop dunk. Indiana was up 37-36 at the halftime break.
West led all players in scoring after pouring in 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting. Martinelli followed closely behind with nine points on 4-of-8 shooting. On the other side, Wilkerson was the only Hoosier in double-figures with his 10 points on 4-of-8 shooting. Both teams were shooting very well with Northwestern at 55.2% and Indiana at 60%.
As the second half began, the Indiana crowd noise only got louder. The noise didn’t deter West or Martinelli, as the pair combined for four quick points to give Northwestern a three-point lead. Martinelli tacked on five more quick points in the first three minutes of the second half before he contributed to a trap in the corner that forced an IU timeout.
Northwestern failed to score after the timeout, while Wilkerson used his impressive handles to cut the Indiana deficit to two. On the Hoosiers’ next possession, he was fouled on a layup attempt, bringing the game to the under-16 media timeout. Northwestern still led 45-43.
Northwestern remained cold, stuck in a scoring drought that would grow to 3:19, but Martinelli answered the call with a jumper off the inbounds. As the physicality ramped up, West was fouled hard by Dorn, who smacked him in the head as West attempted a layup in transition. After review, the referees assessed Dorn with a flagrant 1. West made both free throws to give NU a 49-44 lead as it retained possession.
Martinelli made a free throw to give the ‘Cats their largest lead of the game, which was expanded upon by Nicky Buckets with a huge and-1 that gave Northwestern a nine-point lead. The Wildcats continued to play suffocating defense, which was exemplified by an emphatic Kropp swat from behind
Wilkerson checked back into the game with 11:44 remaining after going back to the locker room at the 13:47 mark. Northwestern went on an 8-0 run when he was out.
The Hoosiers went to a full-court press that forced the Wildcats to take a timeout. Indiana picked up its seventh team foul of the half, sending Martinelli to the free throw line for a one-and-one with 10:11 to go. Martinelli made both to give Northwestern a 10-point lead. Reid would soon cash his first triple of the night after three misses to give the ‘Cats a 60-47 lead.
After Indiana used its second-to-last timeout, Wilkerson finally scored for the Hoosiers off a streak in which they had missed eight of their last nine field goals. Singleton made four free throws to extend Northwestern’s lead to 15 points as the clock ticked down to 7:32 remaining.
Clayton extended NU’s lead with a corner trey out of the media stoppage, but Conerway answered with a triple of his own to end a 12-2 Wildcats run. Indiana continued to be ice cold from the field as Northwestern’s lead grew to 18. Long, drawn-out possessions for the Wildcats fueled by offensive rebounds kept the momentum with Chris Collins’ squad. Northwestern began to sniff the third round of the Big Ten Tournament as it led 71-55 with 3:06 left.
The Wildcats continued to break the press effectively as they kept winding down the clock, but they kept fouling the Hoosiers. Indiana cut the Northwestern lead down to 12 with 1:41 remaining with a Conerway layup in transition, but IU had to foul to keep time on the clock.
Northwestern hit its free throws, and the ‘Cats will live to see another day.
Northwestern will be back in action against No. 7 Purdue Thursday at 5:30 p.m. CT on BTN.
