Written by: TJ Inman
The Indiana Hoosiers knew the stakes. They needed to win three of the final four games in the regular season to consider themselves safely in the NCAA Tournament. After a strong first half and a hot start shooting, IU’s offense fell apart and Nick Martinelli took the Hoosiers to the woodshed. The Big Ten’s leading scorer went off for 28 points and Jake West added 16 points. An awful blown no-call on an attempted Tucker DeVries three-pointer prevented the Hoosiers from having a chance to tie the game and Indiana lost at home 72-68.
The defeat likely puts a fatal nail in IU’s postseason hopes as they now need to beat Michigan State, Minnesota and win at Ohio State to feel remotely confident in a bid.
In a game that you simply must win, your best player needs to set the tone and Lamar Wilkerson did that early. The star guard made his first five shots including four from the perimeter and pushed the Hoosiers to a 20-13 advantage. Indiana was getting good looks on offense with simple offensive sets and Sam Alexis and Tayton Conerway were taking advantage. Indiana carved up Northwestern’s defense in the first half, shooting 63% from the field including 8-16 from three and they had 14 assists on 15 made baskets with only five turnovers. The lead was as high as 13 points for the Hoosiers but the Wildcats trimmed it to 42-33 at the break. Wilkerson led the way with 14 points and the Big Ten’s leading scorer, Nick Martinelli, was held to just 7 on 3-9 shooting.
Northwestern came out with more physicality and purpose in the second half, inserting Arrinten Page into the lineup to try and free up Martinelli down low. After a Sam Alexis layup to begin the half, Martinelli scored eight straight points and the Wildcats sliced the deficit to just three points at 44-41. Indiana answered with a pair of three pointers but then turned the ball over on consecutive trips and the visitors made it a four-point game. Sam Alexis continued to score easily in the paint and Tucker DeVries hit a fadeaway jumper to extend the margin back to eight points but Northwestern refused to go away.
With the Indiana lead at four points and 8:12 left on the clock, Northwestern was finally called for their first foul of the second half. Tucker DeVries was hit attempting a three-pointer and connected on all three attempts to extend the lead back to seven but the Wildcats scored six in a row and trimmed the advantage to the smallest of margins with just over six minutes to play.
With five minutes left, Nick Martinelli hit a jumper and put Northwestern ahead for the first time since it was 9-8 early in the first half. Lamar Wilkerson finally broke a scoring drought by getting to the foul line and putting IU back ahead by a point as the teams went to the bench for the final media timeout. Lamar Wilkerson threw a terrible alley-oop pass that went the other way and Nick Martinelli buried a three-pointer to give Northwestern their biggest lead at 63-61.
Nick Dorn missed another open triple as the Hoosiers remained ice cold from the field. Indiana got a pair of stops but Northwestern got three chances and Martinelli scored again to extend the lead to four points with less than 90 seconds remaining.
The only offense IU could find was getting to the foul line and Lamar Wilkerson hit a pair of free throws but Martinelli was too much, hitting another mid-range jumper. Tayton Conerway scored on a drive with 31.1 seconds left and then poked the ball away from Martinelli. Lamar Wilkerson’s driving shot was off the mark but Sam Alexis was fouled on a putback dunk attempt with 16.1 ticks on the clock. The senior big man hit one of two shots and IU fouled Jake West with 14.5 remaining. The freshman calmly knocked down both free throws and Northwestern led 69-66.
Tayton Conerway scored quickly and was then called for a dubious foul before the ball was inbounded, sending Jake West back to the line. West again hit two free throws and IU set Tucker DeVries up for a game-tying three pointer. The senior was clearly hit on the wrist as he went to shoot but the official, standing right by the play, swallowed his whistle and effectively ended IU’s NCAA Tournament hopes. Instead of getting three free throw attempts, Northwestern grabbed the ball and knocked down one freebie to walk away with their sixth straight win over Indiana.