Northwestern rallies to pound bubble-bound Indiana in Big Ten second round
Nick Martinelli scored a game-high 28 points and freshman Jake West added 18 to match a career high as Northwestern advanced to the third round of the Big Ten tournament with a 74-61 victory over Indiana on Wednesday night in Chicago.
Tre Singleton scored eight points and Jayden Reid added six assists for the 15th-seeded Wildcats (15-18), who collected their seventh consecutive win over the Hoosiers and their second in 16 days.
Martinelli, the Big Ten's leading scorer during the regular season at 22.8 points per game, went 10 of 18 from the floor and reached the 20-point mark for the 25th time.
Northwestern earned its second tournament victory in two days and moved on to face seventh-seeded and No. 18-ranked Purdue (23-8) on Thursday. The Boilermakers edged the Wildcats 70-66 on March 4 in Evanston, Ill.
Lamar Wilkerson scored 17 points and Tayton Conerway added 14 off the bench as No. 10-seed Indiana (18-14) lost for the sixth time in seven games. Wilkerson was the Big Ten's second-leading scorer at 21.0 points.
The Hoosiers shot 44.4% from the floor to 48.1% for the Wildcats and committed 11 turnovers to six for Northwestern. Indiana lost its tournament opener after earning a bye into the second round.
Northwestern opened its first double-digit lead at 57-47 with 10:11 remaining after two free throws from Martinelli. Jayden Reid added a 3-pointer to put the Wildcats up 60-47 with 9:33 left to complete a 15-3 run.
Indiana went more than four minutes without a field goal until Wilkerson made a turnaround jumper that cut the Hosiers' deficit to 60-49 with 9:15 remaining.
The Wildcats had multiple 18-point leads down the stretch including 70-52 with 5:22 remaining after a free throw from Jordan Clayton.
Indiana was just 5 of 20 (25.0%) from the floor in the second half.
Indiana hit nine of its first 12 shots to build a 22-13 lead midway through the first half before Northwestern went on a run to take a 33-32 lead. The Hoosiers shot 60.0% in the first half and were up 37-36 at the break behind 10 points from Wilkerson. West had 14 points for the Wildcats in the first half.