On his own bobblehead day and in a moment when the team needed him most, Nick Martinelli showed up. Tied at 62 with 8.6 seconds remaining, Martinelli received the inbound, backed down an Oregon defender and put up a spinning hook shot that seemed to sit on the rim for a lifetime before falling in and securing the 63-62 win for the Wildcats.
Lots of things led up to that huge moment in the second to last game in Welsh-Ryan Arena for Martinelli — most notably, a 12-point deficit with 18:05 remaining
and an offense that couldn’t find its footing in the first half. Here are the takeaways from this thriller in Evanston.
Martinelli delivers when it matters most
Martinelli’s game-winner is only the exclamation point for what has individually been an incredible year for the senior. Leading Northwestern to its third-straight win after dropping the previous five, the forward nearly put up his first career triple-double with 22 points (14 in the second half), 11 rebounds and seven assists. In the postgame press conference, coach Chris Collins didn’t shy away from praising his senior.
“He’s just got an incredible will to win, to succeed,” Collins said. “He’s one of those guys — he’s not going to be denied.”
When asked about how he stays confident after shooting just 1-for-8 in the first half, Martinelli kept it simple.
“You show up every day, every half, every four-minute segment, and you try to work your [tail] off,” he said.
That same mentality in what has been a disappointing final season is what’s powered Martinelli down the stretch. And on Saturday afternoon with the ball in his hands and a mini bobblehead of himself watching from every seat at Welsh-Ryan Arena, he showed why he’ll be remembered as one of the best to suit up for the Wildcats.
A tale of two halves
To close the first half, Northwestern was outscored 36-29 and was in the midst of a 12-0 run entering the break. The size of Oregon — headlined by Nate Bittle, Kwame Evans Jr. and Sean Stewart — looked like it was going to be too much to overcome for the Wildcats.
But instead of making drastic changes, Collins kept it simple with his message at halftime. As recounted in a jubilant postgame presser, Collins told his team, “Guys, if you want this game, you can go get it.” And that they did. In the second half, Northwestern outscored Oregon by eight and held the Ducks to just 26 second-half points and 39% shooting from the field.
The Wildcats also took advantage of turnovers by pushing the pace in transition. Oregon committed 16 turnovers on Saturday and was outscored 20-2 in fast break points.
“Winning can be contagious just like losing is,” Collins said after the game. “If you lose a bunch of close games, you get in those situations and human nature tells you, ‘Oh, here we go again.’ When you have success and you win, you say, ‘No, we’re going to win this.'”
And for a team that’s had two separate five-game losing streaks this season, that belief is coming at a time when they need it most.
A potentially meaningful tiebreaker secured
With the win, Northwestern has secured a tiebreaker over Oregon that could determine which team is forced to play all six days of the Big Ten Tournament — and which gets an extra day to rest.
This year, the Big Ten expanded its tournament field to include all 18 teams, with the bottom four seeds playing on March 10 before the bracket fully opens March 11. The Wildcats currently sit at 5-13 in conference play, just outside that range. Oregon, Rutgers, Maryland and Penn State all sit below them and would have to survive six consecutive days of single-elimination basketball in Chicago to punch a ticket to March Madness.
Oregon is 4-14 with games against Illinois and Washington still to play, meaning the gap between the Ducks and Wildcats could shrink — or disappear entirely. If it does come down to a tiebreaker, Saturday’s win ensures Northwestern holds the edge. In a tournament where one bad day can end your season, that extra day could be the difference between a fresh team and an exhausted one.
