After being named MVP in Northwestern’s win over DePaul, Brooks Barnhizer carried the Fisher-McGrath Award over to Nick Martinelli. Showing him the plaque, Barnhizer pointed at Martinelli’s name, which was added after his MVP performance against the Blue Demons last year.
“It’s you, then me,” Barnhizer said he told Martinelli postgame. “It’s just kind of cool to see the good things that can happen when you play the game the right way and I feel like we both do that.”
Northwestern certainly played the right way from the start, zooming out to a 20-2 lead thanks to the best stretch of basketball the Wildcats have played all season. DePaul cut the deficit to single digits a few times, but Northwestern inevitably coasted to an 84-64 victory thanks to 44 points from its dynamic duo. Amid the barrage of three-point attempts from the Blue Demons, it mostly felt comfortable for the ‘Cats.
And it felt comfortable because of the Wildcats’ strong defense. Against the Blue Demons, the ‘Cats used their elite defense to generate offense, getting out in transition for easy scores on the other end.
The Wildcats tallied 14 steals and forced 18 turnovers, scoring 25 points off DePaul’s miscues. On the fastbreak, Northwestern scored 21 points — 25% of its total output. If this team can continue to flip forced turnovers into points at a high rate, the Big Ten better watch out.
And the highlight above is just another example of how good Barnhizer has gotten — especially in transition after that absurd 40-foot bounce pass to Justin Mullins against Georgia Tech. The steal on one end and the sweet dish on the other to set up a cutting Jalen Leach showcases his elite facilitating and feel on the break. Alongside his two steals and two blocks on the defensive end, that pass was one of Barnhizer’s six assists, a small number next to his 21-point, 12-rebound double-double.
There were whispers of Barnhizer’s NBA potential postgame from DePaul coach Chris Holtmann and deservingly so. With a fifth straight double-double, he tied Ohio State’s Evan Turner (2009) for the most consecutive double-doubles by a Big Ten player since 1995.
Though he was overshadowed by Barnhizer’s superb play on both ends, Martinelli flipped up a game-high 23 points, grabbing four rebounds as the forward continued to put on a paint-scoring clinic with his collection of float shots, characterized by his soft touch. Matthew Nicholson added 14 points and tied a career-high with three steals, while Leach’s 13 points and four steals put four Wildcats in double figures.
If Nicholson can continue to score and defend at that level, it adds so much to this Northwestern team. The defense comes naturally for him — although his three steals are definitely a cherry on top of his ability to clog the paint and disrupt shots.
But without Boo Buie on offense, it’s been tough for Nicholson as Northwestern has gone away from a pick-and-roll heavy offense. The lobs and dumps from Agent Zero aren’t there anymore, but Nicholson has adapted. He still managed to rock the rim a handful of times, finding chemistry with Mullins for a pair of slams and pulling out some of the cleanest footwork ever seen out of the big fella.
To be frank, the college basketball world was unaware that Nicholson had the spin-o-rama in the bag. Not to mention, the finish with the left hand. A little more of this could go a long way to lifting some of the pressure off Barnhizer and Martinelli.
Although Mullins fouled out, he shined too, with head coach Chris Collins calling him an “unsung hero.” Northwestern’s sixth man tallied eight points and canned a pair of treys, tripling his season output of three-pointers. If that’s a shot he can continue to hit, Mullins can develop into the true three-and-D guy the ‘Cats need him to be. Mullins’ three-point stroke is especially key as Ty Berry continues to struggle from distance, going just 1-of-4 from deep and 1-of-6 from the floor against DePaul.
Yet before this article goes down the three-point shooting rabbit hole, the bottom line is that Northwestern was ready from the onset. At the end of the day, it needed to be.
“We’ve had some trouble with how we’ve started early in the season,” Barnhizer said. “It definitely was better to come out and throw that first punch.”
Northwestern approached this game as a must-win, Collins said postgame. In fact, the Wildcats are smack dab in the middle of a three-game stretch of must-win action. Beating Georgia Tech was non-negotiable. Nor was losing to Chicagoland rival DePaul. Don’t even think about where Northeastern is on the “you cannot afford to lose this game” meter.
It’s December, but the margin of error is thin. Beating Georgia Tech was a Quad 3 win. The win over the Blue Demons was also Quad 3 (for now) and the matchup with Northeastern next weekend is in the same ballpark. These are must-wins if Northwestern wants any sniff at a third straight tournament berth.
Brooks Barnhizer and Nick Martinelli know that. Northwestern knows that.
And like the Georgia Tech game, against DePaul, the ‘Cats imposed their will because they turned stifling defense into scorching offense. Northwestern has to do that one more time against Northeastern before the calendar turns to 2025.
Then, we can start worrying about the inevitably bumpy Big Ten road ahead. For now though, the ship is sailing in the right direction.