Nick Martinelli: captain clutch.
That’s been his identity the past two seasons here at NU, earned by three career-defining game winning shots that will be synonymous with his impact on Northwestern men’s hoops.
But which one of these moments is his magnum opus?
Here’s my take.
Start, bench, cut: Martinelli’s three most clutch moments as a Wildcat.
Cut: Feb. 28, 2026 vs. Oregon
It’s a bit odd that this moment, the one that was the inspiration for this discussion, ends up being at the bottom of the group. However, it’d be difficult
to seriously consider it to be better than the other two.
Firstly, let’s give Martinelli his flowers for this performance. After an inefficient first half where he was held to one made field goal on eight attempts, the captain exploded for 14 in the second half on 70% shooting — a big reason why the ‘Cats as a team shot at a 62% clip in the final 20 minutes.
He did everything except hand out his own bobblehead that game, snagging down 11 rebounds, dishing out seven dimes, logging three steals and even blocking a shot.
The game winning shot resembled the Glenview native’s unorthodox game to a tee: a step-through into his signature “flipper-doodle” that rattled around the rim and sat on the heel for what felt like hours before finding the bottom of the net.
A moment that characterizes the late surge this Northwestern team has made in its past three games.
However, this moment does get hurt for two reasons: the quality of opponent and the low stakes of the contest.
Although Oregon came to Evanston riding the momentum of back-to-back wins, they hadn’t been competitive for a large part of the Big Ten season. Just 11 days prior, the Ducks put up a season-low 44 points against Minnesota at home, which was part of a stretch of 11 losses in 12 games. This shot would’ve been a bit more meaningful had it been against the caliber of the two other teams we’ll discuss soon.
Another thing to keep in mind when critiquing the magnitude of this moment is that the conference tournament’s expansion to include all 18 teams this season. Yes, this game did go a long way in boosting the ‘Cats chances of securing a first round bye, but had this game been under last season’s format, the storyline of this moment would’ve been Martinelli’s shot saving NU’s postseason chances.
With a loss, the ‘Cats would have fell to 16th in the conference and been the first team out, and would have to defeat both No. 15 Purdue at home tomorrow and Minnesota in The Barn on Saturday in order to keep its tournament hopes alive.
But the ‘Cats don’t need to worry about that. Win or lose, Northwestern’s Big Ten postseason spot was secure.
Outside of this shot helping the ‘Cats vie for a higher seed, there’s not much long-term magnitude that arises from this shot. Hence why I’m cutting it from the list.
Bench: Jan. 16, 2025 vs. Maryland
Inside a packed Welsh-Ryan Arena, against a squad that would make the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament, Martinelli had his coming-out party with 22 points. He didn’t rest for a single second that night. He played the full 45 minutes, which includes the overtime period where he’d stamp that game as his night, officially.
With 0.7 seconds on the clock, Collins called a timeout to draw up his best inbounds play of the night: “line tight” — a screen-action scheme designed to free up a shot near the baseline, suggested by the legendary Brooks Barnhizer in the huddle.
Collins stared his special assistant, Brian James, and asked if the ball should go to Barnhizer or Martinelli. James suggested the latter, and the rest was history.
A great moment for sure, and one that I still reminisce about to this day, but it can’t be put over the next shot due to this being a complete team effort.
This is no knock on Martinelli. It only makes the next shot even more impressive. This just goes to show how valuable NU’s veterans were at the time. That list includes the following Barnhizer, who’d get drafted by the Oklahoma City Thunder after the season and Jalen Leach, who inbounded to Martinelli to seal the deal.
Neither were on the floor in the dying moment of the third and final game we’ll discuss.
Start: Feb. 4, 2025 vs. USC
The story of this moment really begins three days earlier, when after an agonizing loss to No. 17 Wisconsin, an emotional Collins announced to the world that Barnhizer would miss the rest of the year with a lingering foot injury that he’d been playing through all season. The grit and toughness that made him beloved amongst the Northwestern coaching staff and his teammates ended up being his Achilles’ heel and eventually cost him the final 12 games in his last year of eligibility.
Still, the ‘Cats trudged onward with the Trojans in their crosshairs.
Fast forward to the second half of that same contest. With five and a half minutes remaining, Leach takes an inbound from Martinelli from the east end of the court and races the other way, using a hard screen from Matt Nicholson to clear a lane to the basket. He bolts towards the paint, stops on a dime, fakes out Rashaun Agee and seems to have an easy deuce that would put NU up 11.
But instead of going up, the guard went down, clutching at his right knee in immense pain.
Every fan thinks of the worst when an athlete reaches for their knee. Torn ACL. Those fans ended up being right, and in one fell swoop, Northwestern lost two-fifth of its core for the rest of the year.
All eyes turned to No. 2 as the now de-facto number one option on the team, and he delivered. Eight points in the final three and a half minutes kept the Trojans at bay.
When I say all eyes, I truly mean it. Everyone in the building, including USC head coach Eric Musselman, knew Martinelli was getting the ball on Northwestern’s final offensive possession of the contest. So, as any veteran coach would, he sent a double right at him as he went to work in the post.
Seemingly great defense was defeated by even better offense, as Martinelli split the double team to hit the winning shot: his signature floater.
What separates this from the other two is that this shot marks the arrival of the player we’ve seen this season: the leader of the Northwestern offense. A prolific scorer, using his funky toolkit to score at will, despite that same bag of tricks being the highlight of his opponents’ scouting reports.
No Leach. No Barnhizer. He’s was the top guy in that money, and he proved he could handle the weight of the heavy crown.
That’s why this is number one.
