Without the confines of Welsh-Ryan, NU could not stop Great Osobor and the Huskies
Despite being short on shooters, the ‘Cats’ late fight was not enough.
Northwestern (13-11, 4-9 B1G) fell to Washington (12-11, 3-9 B1G) 76-71 on Saturday night, marking the Wildcats’ fourth loss in their last five games. Nick Martinelli and Ty Berry combined for 37 points, but a 36-22 advantage for the Huskies on the glass helped put them over the top.
It was bound to be a battle for Northwestern from the start, with both Brooks Barnhizer and Jalen Leach injured. It was announced shortly before the start of the game that Leach tore his ACL and will miss the rest of his final collegiate season. Instead, it was on Justin Mullins and Jordan Clayton to show up as the new members of Northwestern’s starting five. This was not only Clayton’s first start of the season, but his first time entering a game this season.
Despite a rough start to conference play, Washington had been stronger recently, with a road win against Minnesota just one week ago. A 14-point home loss to Nebraska soured the celebration, but they were nonetheless healthy headed into the night’s matchup.
Northwestern was done in by second-chance points throughout the contest, as Washington had 10 offensive rebounds to Northwestern’s 3. This created shot opportunities that the Huskies continued to capitalize on. They converted those 10 boards into 14 points to NU’s 5.
Washington also excelled initially on the defensive end, creating a defense centered around stopping Nick Martinelli. They held him to just four points on 2/8 shooting in the first half while forcing two turnovers. He turned it around in the second half for the ‘Cats, ending the night with a 23-point double-double.
The biggest factor that kept Northwestern in the game were the turnovers. The Huskies ended with 16 turnovers to the ‘Cats’ seven. Northwestern capitalized on these expertly, managing 22 points off turnovers to Washington’s three.
Washington was able to spread the wealth well on the night, with four players in double figures, including Tyler Harris’s 18 points on 7/10 shooting. and Great Osobor’s 16 points with 9 rebounds. DJ Davis also made his presence known off the bench with 15 and some notable free throws after the Chris Collins ejection and in the dying seconds of the game.
Northwestern won the tip and immediately made a splash from beyond the arc. Ty Berry drilled a trey on the first possession of the game, followed by a Justin Mullins three two possessions later.
Washington was able to keep the game close with some impressive physicality, including one possession where Jordan Clayton wound up on the ground. The first five minutes of the game were ultimately defined by defense, capped off by a Matt Nicholson block as the first timeout whistle blew. The score stood at Washington 7, Northwestern 6.
With two guards injured, Chris Collins attempted a shake-up with two of his bigs, Luke Hunger and Keenan Fitzmorris, on the floor. Ultimately, this left openings in the defense, allowing Tyler Harris to drill a three, giving him 8 of Washington’s 12 points through the first 8 minutes. This brought the Huskies’ run to 10-0 and the Northwestern scoring drought to over 5 minutes. Nick Martinelli was able to chip away at the deficit, but Washington still led 12-8 at the under-12 timeout.
As play resumed, Matt Nicholson nailed both of his free throws, turning it into a one-possession game. Zoom Diallo added to the Huskies’ lead after a foul nearly led to a three-point play. He settled for two points after a missed free throw. Justin Mullins responded for the ‘Cats by making two shots of his own from the charity stripe.
After a bucket from Washington’s leading scorer, Utah State transfer Great Osobor, Northwestern continued their dominance at the line. Jordan Clayton netted his first points of the season with two made free throws, and Angelo Ciaravino made two of his own to tie the game at 16.
UW’s DJ Davis drained a deep three-pointer to put the Huskies up three. After a traveling call on the ‘Cats the following possession, the game entered the under-8 media timeout with a score of Washington 19, Northwestern 16.
After the break, Nick Martinelli nailed a jumper but UW extended their lead with a layup by Zoom Diallo and a Great Osobor jumper. After a Mekhi Mason three, Chris Collins had seen enough. Northwestern called a timeout down eight with 5:33 left in the first half.
The ‘Cats showed new life after the timeout with some passing that created a wide-open dunk from Nicholson. The Diallo dominance kept Washington’s lead in tact, giving him 8 after a midrange jumper. Keenan Fitzmorris finished with a hook shot that once again cut the UW lead to 6.
The Northwestern excitement did not last long with a technical foul and subsequent ejection for Northwestern Head Coach Chris Collins. Collins had been vocally upset about a perceived missed foul call on Nick Martinelli earlier in the half, and the anger came to a boiling point with 3:28 on the clock. At the under-4 timeout, Northwestern was down 6 points and one head coach.
Assistant Coach Chris Lowery took over for Collins as play resumed for the end of the first half. DJ Davis had four free throws to shoot. The senior guard was a 95% free throw shooter a year ago, and he knocked down all four.
Washington took their largest lead of the night on their next possession, after an offensive rebound and dunk by Franck Kepnang put them ahead by 12.
Northwestern chipped away at the lead with a hookshot from Keenan Fitzmorris and a layup from Justin Mullins. After a Mekhi Mason jumper, Ty Berry made a jumper in transition to cut the UW lead to 8. With 1:04 on the clock, Washington Head Coach Danny Sprinkle called his first timeout.
Berry didn’t slow down after the timeout either with a layup to bring NU to the 30-point plateau. After a second chance opportunity for Washington gave them the last shot of the half, DJ Davis canned a three at the buzzer. The halftime score stood: Washington 39, Northwestern 30.
DJ Davis led the scoring for Washington in the first half with 10 points off the bench. Diallo and Harris had 8 points each as well. For Northwestern it was Ty Berry and Justin Mullins, each with seven points through the first 20 minutes.
With the second half came more Washington scoring. Mekhi Mason continued their lead with a two from the floor. In the next possession, Nick Martinelli was left wide open from three. Despite an initial miss, an offensive rebound gave him another shot from the same spot. He drilled it, cutting the lead to 8.
That trimmed deficit didn’t last long after Mekhi Mason nullified it with a three of his own. The three-point attempts continued with Ty Berry missing one in transition. Great Osobor may not have shot from beyond the arc, but he managed a three-point play of his own after making a shot while being fouled in the paint.
Berry once again had the ball in his hands in transition after a long pass from KJ Windham, and settled for a layup this time around. Windham’s crisp passing continued when he got the ball to Justin Mullins for a three to keep the game in reach. This put Mullins into double-digits with 10. At the first timeout of the second half, Washington led 49-38.
Berry hit a long jumper when play resumed to push the lead back to single digits. Justin Mullins’ three-point reign continued with his third of the night. Nick Martinelli continued NU’s run with a jumper over the head of 6’10” Wilhelm Breidenbach and finished the three-point play with a made free throw. The ‘Cats’ run was now at 11-0.
Washington found their scoring again with two made free throws from veteran F Franck Kepnang. They broke their field goal drought with a putback by Ty Harris, who also drew a foul. The second-chance opportunity brought the score to 53-46 Washington at the under-12 timeout.
After the missed free throw from Washington, Martinelli’s signature lefty floater and a Nicholson dunk made it a one-possession game. Tyree Ihenacho and Martinelli traded buckets, then went at it again on a ball screen, where Martinelli took a charge to give Northwestern the possession. Jordan Clayton made the most of it, drilling his first three of the season at tying the game at 55.
Ty Harris retook the lead for UW with a three. Two big men traded blows after that, with an alleyoop dunk by Nicholson and a layup by Great Osobor. This brought the score to Washington 60, Northwestern 57 as Chris Lowery called a timeout with 5:50 left on the clock.
As the players took to the court, Clayton and Harris scored two each off of jumpers. Nick Martinelli then drew a foul and made both shots. After a three from Martinelli on NU’s next possession, Northwestern took their first lead of the half. In fact, the lead was the Wildcats’ first since the 17:40 mark of the first half. With another bucket by Martinelli, Northwestern was at 66, with the junior responsible for 21 of those.
Ihenacho responded with a bucket of his own and drew a foul on the next possession. Entering the under-4 media timeout, Northwestern led 66-64 with two shots to come for Ihenacho. He hit the first but missed the second, bringing the difference to one with 2:55 to play.
As the clock went under two minutes, Osobor drilled a two to give Washington the lead, then made the free throw to bring it to two. This brought him to 14 on the night. DJ Davis drilled a three just seconds later, giving the Huskies a 9-0 run and a 71-66 lead. Lowery called a timeout with 1:12 left.
After a loose-ball scramble let the ‘Cats retain possession, Ty Berry drilled a three, once again creating a one-possession game as Danny Sprinkle called a timeout with 50.4 seconds to go.
Deja Vu struck for both teams with another jump ball coming immediately after the timeout. Washington maintained the possession and another made shot Great Osobor brought the Huskies’ lead back to four.
A Martinelli layup brought Northwestern to 71 and it was up to Northwestern to foul down two with just over 20 seconds to play. Berry went in for the foul on DJ Davis and came out with a bloody lip. After a review, it was a common foul on Ty Berry, sending Davis to the line.
After two made shots from Davis, Northwestern struggled to get a shot off. Berry hucked up a heavily contested three that didn’t fall, and after another foul, Northwestern was left trailing 5 with 6.7 left.
That was all she wrote in the end, with a missed shot from Northwestern ending the contest by a score of Washington 76, Northwestern 71.
The ‘Cats will continue their trek through the Pacific Northwest Tuesday night for a matchup with the Oregon Ducks. Fans can catch that game at 10 p.m. CST on Fox Sports.