Nick Martinelli: The magic man.
At last, the Cardiac ‘Cats presented a sequel of Martinelli Madness. This time, it was a Hollywood ending against the University of Southern California.
The Wildcats (13-10, 4-8 B1G) completed a thrilling 77-75 victory over USC (13-9, 5-6 B1G) on Tuesday, surviving a late Trojan horse to snap its three-game conference losing streak.
The ‘Cats were headed by a Nick Martinelli double-double, as Martinelli dropped 27 points and 13 rebounds, including 10 offensive boards and his game-winner with under three seconds left on the clock. Justin Mullins added a season-high 14 points on 4-of-5 shooting from three. Notably, Northwestern outrebounded USC 43-27. As a team, the ‘Cats corralled 23 offensive rebounds, blowing away their previous season-high of 16. The extra possessions allowed for NU to make up for the fact that USC shot 51% from the field compared to Northwestern’s 41%.
For the first time this season, USC was without leading scorer Desmond Claude, who averages 16.2 points per game. In his absence, the Trojans were led by Clark Slajchert, who scored 24 points on 9-of-11 shooting. Wesley Yates III added 15 points, shooting 7-of-8 from the line, and Saint Thomas had eight rebounds and eight assists. Chibuzo Agbo also had 14 points for USC.
The Trojans won the opening tip, and they started things off with an opening triple from Rashaun Agee, who had been shooting 62.5% from the field entering the contest. Slajchert, the graduate student starting in place of Claude, floated in a tough layup to extend the lead to 5-0. After a traveling violation on Angelo Ciaravino, the Wildcat freshman was replaced by Mullins just 99 seconds into the game. The switch seemingly paid off, as Mullins splashed a three to cut the deficit to two. Agee responded with a 1-of-2 trip to the line, but a three-ball from Ty Berry tied things up at 6-6. Berry missed a layup on the next possession, but an offensive board and quick two from Matthew Nicholson gave Northwestern its first lead of the night. Shortly after, USC’s Matt Knowling came crashing inside for a second-chance basket, but Berry was equally aggressive in corralling an offensive rebound of his own, drawing a quick and-one to send the ‘Cats to the media timeout with a 10-8 advantage.
Coming out of the timeout, Berry’s free throw was true. The teams traded buckets off of back-to-back goaltending calls before a foul on Keenan Fitzmorris sent Yates to the stripe. Yates swished both attempts, but the ‘Cats responded, utilizing an offensive rebound from Martinelli to set up a baseline floater from Fitzmorris. With a 15-12 deficit, USC picked up a much-needed two from Agbo, but another three from Berry stifled the Trojans in an instant. From there, an 18-14 NU edge held firm until the under-12 stoppage.
After the timeout, a frenetic Wildcat possession ensued, as the team secured offensive rebound after offensive rebound. After an incredible effort on the boards, Martinelli made it to the line on a whopping seventh-chance opportunity. He made both, and soon after, he drew an and-one on an aggressive drive to the basket, converting the free throw to give Northwestern a 23-14 lead. At that point in the game, Northwestern held an unbelievable 16-2 rebound advantage, including an 11-1 margin on the offensive glass. However, the tide was partially stemmed by a pair of Slajchert layups, and Northwestern was unable to respond prior to the under-eight break.
Leach ended Northwestern’s 0-of-7 field goal drought with a quick jumper, but a three-pointer from Slajchert and a layup from Thomas slashed USC’s deficit to just one. A few possessions later, Leach was in the right spot, picking up a 13th Wildcat offensive rebound and knocking down a key floater. The ‘Cats led 29-24 entering the media timeout.
Agbo made both free throws for USC on another trip to the line, but Martinelli got his own rebound on a later chance, moving up to 11 points on the night with the ensuing putback. With Northwestern clinging to a four-point lead, Mullins turned the ball over, setting in motion an emphatic dunk by Kevin Patton Jr. of USC. Mullins was fouled by Patton shortly after, but he missed the front end of a one-and-one. With a chance to take the lead, Agbo missed a three-ball, and Nicholson rocked the rim with a two-handed jam to extend the Wildcat lead back to four. Patton knocked down a layup to beat the end-of-half buzzer, but Northwestern still went into the break with a 33-31 lead.
At the half, the ‘Cats were led by 11 points and seven rebounds from Martinelli and nine points, all on threes, from Berry. For the Trojans, it was Slajchert leading the way with nine points on 4-of-6 shooting. The Wildcats shot 35% from the field compared to 46% for USC, but they still held the lead, in large part due to a positive 25-14 rebound margin. Northwestern totaled 15 offensive rebounds in the first half, just one shy of its single-game season high.
The second half began with an alley-oop from Leach to Nicholson, but a layup from Slajchert quieted the crowd. However, on the next possession, Leach and Nicholson combined for a nearly identical play ending in a similarly emphatic slam dunk. After a tough layup from Mullins, the Wildcats were back up to a six-point lead. However, Slajchert — ever-so-impressive after being thrust into the starting lineup — knocked down a jumper just before the shot clock buzzer to slice USC’s deficit to four. Mullins responded perfectly for the ‘Cats, knocking down a big-time three on the right wing, but an Agbo jumper cut the margin to 42-37. Leach was fouled in the lane on the next possession, bringing both teams into the media stoppage.
Leach made both shots at the line following the break. A short while later, Fitzmorris made it to the stripe, hitting both shots to secure a 46-37 advantage for the Wildcats. Soon after, the crowd erupted louder than it had all game as Fitzmorris, the transfer from Stony Brook, threw down a one-handed dunk. Slajchert refused to go down quietly, knocking down a three, but Martinelli responded with a two of his own, and he added a second-chance layup before layups from Knowling and Thomas cut the deficit back to eight. Martinelli made yet another bucket to move up to 17 points on the night, and the teams went into the media break with a 54-44 NU lead.
Out of the stoppage, Blake Smith made his way to the line for Northwestern, making both attempts. A Mullins three rattled home after initially spinning out of the cup, and suddenly, the ‘Cats had their largest lead of the game at 15. However, the jubilation lasted only briefly after an Agee three in response. Martinelli knocked down another two shortly afterward, and he made his way to the line on a foul from Knowling, missing the front end of a one-and-one. A Yates three brought USC back to within 11, but Mullins was on fire, hitting his fourth triple of the night before the under-eight timeout.
Yates hit two free throws after the break, and he made two more following a foul on Mullins. However, Fitzmorris went back to the line, making both shots to bring the Wildcat lead to 66-54. Quickly, Yates knocked down a three-ball to push things back to single digits. Later, a Leach drive to the basket and questionable no-call on Agee brought Leach to the floor, seemingly shaken up after the hit. Leach checked out of the game and did not return for the rest of the evening.
Yates split his free throws on a trip to the stripe. In response, Smith made 1-of-2 of his own to extend the NU lead to seven. Yates responded with a tough layup in the lane, but a Thomas foul against Martinelli brought both teams to the under-four stoppage with a 67-62 Wildcat edge.
Martinelli converted both at the line, and Smith drew a foul in the lane with 2:36 to go in the second half, missing the first free throw but making the second. An off-balance three from Slajchert caused the USC fans to erupt, and suddenly, it was a one-possession game with the score at 70-67. Martinelli was undeniable in the lane, grabbing the ‘Cats’ 23rd offensive rebound of the night with a tip-in for two. Smith fouled Slajchert on a three-point attempt, but he only made one of three with the crowd noise ever-increasing in volume. With 1:39 to go in the second half, the ‘Cats took a timeout up by five.
Berry missed a difficult layup out of the break, but after a Trojan miss on the opposite end, a lefty floater from Martinelli extended the advantage to six. USC responded with a three from Agbo, who was fouled on the shot but could not complete the four-point play. Agee fouled out while battling for the rebound, sending Matthew Nicholson to the line. Nicholson missed the front end, but made the second to extend the Wildcat lead to 75-71. Unbelievably, however, Slajchert came up with a heroic three, drawing a foul on Smith and getting a chance to tie things at the line. He did so, and with 29 seconds to go, the game was all knotted up at 75 with the shot clock off.
The ‘Cats used a timeout with 12.1 seconds to go, seeking to win in regulation. Martinelli, despite being double-teamed, connected on a huge baseline floater with 2.8 seconds to go, giving USC one chance to tie or win. Slajchert raced the ball up the court, but Berry poked it away as time expired, giving the ‘Cats a thrilling 77-75 victory.
Up next, the ‘Cats will hit the road on Saturday to face Washington. That game will tip off at 9:30 PM CST.