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Cassie goes 1-on-1 with Nick Martinelli
Northwestern basketball has been hit with a rash of injuries, but Nick Martinelli has still established himself as a star. Cassie Carlson went one-on-one with the local product.
EVANSTON, Ill. - On Sunday, Nick Martinelli was sitting in his room when he got a timely interruption.
Earlier in the day, Martinelli and some Northwestern basketball teammates crunched some numbers. If Martinelli were to win the Big Ten scoring title, Nebraska's Brice Williams needed to score 13 points or fewer.
Martinelli figured that Williams, who averaged 20 points per game in the 2024-2025 season, would get at least 14 points. That's when Wildcats forward Blake Smith had an update.
"Blake Smith came in my room and was like, 'Dude, he's got seven points,'" Martinelli said Tuesday. "There was like five minutes left. So we were just watching the game going crazy."
Williams finished with seven points. Martinelli won the Big Ten scoring title. He earned second-team All-Big Ten honors heading into the tournament. He cemented his meteoric rise as the next face of the Wildcats program.
With the 'Cats missing Jalen Leach and Brooks Barnhizer for the upcoming Big Ten Tournament, Northwestern has changed its team identity a few times this season. This current identity means the team can go as far as Nick Martinelli can take them heading into the Big Ten Tournament this week.
Barnhizer was the face of the team as a stellar two-way player. Leach was the point guard that set up the offense. Martinelli has made up for their absences by being an offensive catalyst the ‘Cats haven’t had since John Shurna.
Not even Martinelli's head coach could have predicted that.
"I'm a huge believer in Nick, but if you would've told me before the year he was going be the leading scorer in the conference, I don't know that I would've predicted that," NU head coach Chris Collins said. "What he's done, especially these last 10 games after losing Brooks and Jalen for us to win four of these last 10, the way he's carried us and gotten us into this berth into the Big 10 tournament, to me, he's proven to be one of the very best players in this league."
Martinelli finished his 2024-2025 season averaging 20.2 points per game and 6.2 rebounds per game while shooting 46.7% from the floor.
Becoming that offensive juggernaut for the ‘Cats has allowed the team to focus its efforts elsewhere. Barnhizer was the first Big Ten player to record 1,000-plus points, 500-plus rebounds and 200-plus assists in 96 or fewer career games since Ohio State's Michael Redd from 1997 to 2000. That's nearly impossible to replicate as a team, so the Wildcats opted to fill his defensive shoes.
"When we knew (Barnhizer) was going to be out for the season, we kind of had to go back to that defense," Martinelli said. "We've really been relying on the defense, especially those three games that we won. That's something that we've been super-honed in on."
NU's defense held Iowa to 57 points, Minnesota to 63 points and Ohio State to 49 points while averaging 68.6 points on offense. The defense is there for Northwestern.
From there, Collins just had to find ways to make sure Martinelli is in prime shape. In the past, Martinelli suffered stress injuries from how hard he worked in practice and in the weight room to get to where he is today.
That drive to over work is something Collins would much rather have to rein in rather than the opposite.
"You always want to be able to pull the reins on a guy versus it's a lot harder to light a fire under somebody," Collins said. "That's a big reason why he's good. But I think the biggest thing he's learned – now is he's gone through this gauntlet of the Big 10 – is how to still get your work in, but keep your body fresh and your mind fresh, knowing each game what's coming ahead of you."
Ahead of NU now is the Big Ten Tournament.
First is Minnesota, a team NU beat by 12 on Feb. 25. Win that game, and the ‘Cats earn a date with No. 5-seeded Wisconsin, a team NU had on the ropes at home on Feb. 1 before fading in the team’s first game after Barnhizer was ruled out for the rest of the year.
The motivation to win a Big Ten title is here. But Martinelli, with all his accolades under his belt now, has a selfish motivation heading into the Big Ten Tournament.
"Me personally, selfishly, I just want to keep playing with these guys," Martinelli "I want to keep seeing Ty and Matt's and Brooks' face every day."
EVANSTON, ILLINOIS - FEBRUARY 01: Nick Martinelli #2 of the Northwestern Wildcats reacts against the Wisconsin Badgers during the first half at Welsh-Ryan Arena on February 01, 2025 in Evanston, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
Big Ten Tournament: Northwestern vs. Minnesota
Preview by the Associated Press
Northwestern Wildcats (16-15, 7-13 Big Ten) vs. Minnesota Golden Gophers (15-16, 7-13 Big Ten)
Indianapolis; Wednesday, 3:30 p.m. EDT
BOTTOM LINE
Minnesota plays in the Big Ten Tournament against Northwestern.
The Golden Gophers are 7-13 against Big Ten opponents and 8-3 in non-conference play. Minnesota is 8-8 when it has fewer turnovers than its opponents and averages 9.7 turnovers per game.
The Wildcats' record in Big Ten games is 7-13. Northwestern is 3-2 in one-possession games.
Minnesota's average of 6.5 made 3-pointers per game this season is only 0.7 fewer made shots on average than the 7.2 per game Northwestern gives up. Northwestern averages 72.7 points per game, 3.1 more than the 69.6 Minnesota allows to opponents.
The teams meet for the second time this season. Northwestern won 75-63 in the last matchup on Feb. 26. Nick Martinelli led Northwestern with 29 points, and Dawson Garcia led Minnesota with 26 points.
TOP PERFORMERS
Garcia is averaging 19.1 points and 7.5 rebounds for the Golden Gophers. Lu'Cye Patterson is averaging 13.9 points over the last 10 games.
Martinelli is scoring 20.2 points per game and averaging 6.2 rebounds for the Wildcats. Ty Berry is averaging 2.8 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES
Golden Gophers: 4-6, averaging 66.8 points, 29.7 rebounds, 14.1 assists, 6.6 steals and 3.9 blocks per game while shooting 43.9% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 71.2 points per game.
Wildcats: 4-6, averaging 69.9 points, 29.6 rebounds, 14.1 assists, 5.4 steals and 3.1 blocks per game while shooting 43.8% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 69.1 points.
What Chris Collins said about Minnesota
"I actually think we're very similar teams. You got two kind of hard-nosed, gritty teams that have fought all year long, and both teams have kind of one dominant scorer, us with Nick and then with Dawson Garcia. They have guys that have fit around Dawson, and we have guys that have fit around Nick. So I actually think it's a very even kind of similar type teams. We happened to play well that night a couple weeks ago, but they've shown their mettle. I mean, after that game, they went to Nebraska and won. They had a great opportunity to win at Rutgers this past weekend. I think they won five games away from home, which is one of the most in the league. They're actually better, have been better away from their home. So we know it's going to be a tough game. We'll prepare. We've prepared hard for these guys. We'll have another good prep day today and hopefully be ready to go tomorrow afternoon."