Rapid reaction: Wildcats lose their touch at the rim, fall to Butler 71-69

An off-brand Nick Martinelli performance.

These are the kind of things that happen when you can’t find balanced offense. Especially when Nick Martinelli inexplicably loses all touch around the rim, going 3-for-15 from the field to the tune of just seven points. The last miss was the most devastating — the junior missed a last second tip-in that would have sent the game to overtime.

With Martinelli’s struggles, Northwestern (5-2) fell to Butler (5-1) 71-69 as Jahmyl Telfort’s 23 points, five assists and four rebounds alongside Andre Screen’s season-high 15 points and nine rebounds were too much for the Wildcats to overcome.

For Northwestern, Brooks Barnhizer led the way with a game-high 24 points and seven rebounds. Matthew Nicholson also played well, tallying 14 points and five rebounds in the loss. The big fella also went 8-for-9 at the line in a resurgent free throw shooting performance.

On the game’s opening possession, Barnhizer got the scoring started with a tough fadeaway jumper in the lane. After the made bucket, both teams went ice cold from the field, missing eight combined shots before Telfort floated one off the window, tying things up 2-2 heading into the under-16.

With the Wildcats trailing 4-3, Jalen Leach nailed a three from Phoenix, before ex-Iowa forward Patrick McCaffery and Screen converted a pair of deuces to put Butler up 8-6. Telfort continued to find early success hoisting a contested paint fadeaway over Luke Hunger for and and-one finish. A Kolby King mid range jumper and Screen layup capped an 11-0 run for the Bulldogs, forcing Chris Collins to call timeout with his team trailing 15-6. Through nine minutes, the Wildcats shot just 2-for-15 from the field.

Barnhizer quickly stopped the scoring drought, spinning free for an awkward scoop from the lane. Telfort answered on the other end, making it seven straight made field goals for the Bulldogs. A possession later, Screen hammered home a missed King layup to give Butler a 19-8 advantage. With Northwestern continuing to struggle on the offensive end, Telfort carried on attacking the lane, bouncing an assist to Screen. His layup made it 21-8 Bulldogs after 12 minutes.

After Nicholson knocked down a pair of free throws, Butler found its shooting from deep. Telfort extended the lead to 14 with a tough wing triple right in front of the Northwestern bench before McCaffery hit one over Ty Berry from the same spot. K.J. Windham answered back with a trey of his own, but Butler’s ability to get to the free throw line brought NU’s deficit back to 14 as Finley Bizjack nailed a pair.

Northwestern chipped away with another Barnhizer deuce from in tight, before Nicholson tacked on two more free throws to cut Butler’s lead to 10. Windham beat the defense to the hole after a missed jumper by Pierre Brooks, finishing with his left hand at the rim to make it 29-21 Butler heading into the under-four.

After a scoring drought stretching over two minutes, Telfort put Butler back on the board with a beautiful stepback jumper over Barnhizer. After a scoreless 17 minutes, Nick Martinelli finally flipped his first points through the nylon, working inside to keep the ‘Cats within eight. On NU’s next possession, Barnhizer swished a left wing triple, making it 31-26 Butler with 100 seconds left in the half. With just a couple ticks left on the first half clock, Barnhizer drew a shooting foul on Telfort, converting a pair of free throws to put the ‘Cats down just three.

Northwestern struggled offensively in the first 20 minutes, trailing by as many as 15, but a strong 13-2 scoring run in the last 5:13, alongside 11 first half points from Barnhizer, made it 31-28 Butler heading into the break. Nicholson was also impressive from the line, converting 5-of-6 free throws in the first half after entering the evening 0-for-5 on the season.

Out of the break, Augusto Cassia pounded a dunk home before Barnhizer replied with another paint jumper. McCaffery continued his strong play with his second made three, but a Leach lob to Nicholson, followed by a Leach layup off a Barnhizer assist in transition, cut the Butler advantage to 36-35 heading into the under-16.

Out of the media timeout, Pierre Brooks and Barnhizer traded a pair of scores at the rim, but Bizjack drilled a corner trey for a Butler 41-37 lead. Berry responded by attacking the lane, getting a floater to fall for his first two points of the game. After Screen converted a dunk minutes later, Luke Hunger tipped in a missed Leach layup sending the Wildcats into the under-12 down 44-41.

Screen continued to dominate, converting an and-one in tight after a Hunger foul. But Barnhizer struck back. After turning defense into offense, he made a pair of free throws after getting fouled on a transition sprint to the hoop. With his squad trailing 49-43 after Telfort put two more points on the board from the charity stripe, Collins called timeout to talk things over with ten minutes to go.

Berry returned to penetrating the lane, generating a foul and converting a pair of free throws to put the ‘Cats within four. On the ensuing sequence, Martinelli spun free on the left block, hoisting two more off the window. Defensively, Hunger fouled out on the next play. King drew the foul, and he nailed the free throws to make it 51-47 Butler at the under eight.

After no field goals by either team in nearly three minutes, Berry splashed an and-one triple from the left wing, but missed the free throw that would have tied the game at 52. On the other end, Berry stripped King. The resulting possession ended in Leach sinking a 15-footer for Northwestern’s first lead since it was 6-4. Butler quickly took the lead back as Telfort sank two from the line for the 54-53 advantage. Less than a minute later, Bizjack pured a straightaway triple, putting the Bulldogs back up by four.

Nicholson continued the hot shooting from the line, hitting two huge free throws to slice Northwestern’s deficit in half. But a clutch Telfort triple pumped the Butler lead to 60-55 after Martinelli was denied by Screen at the rim.

After the under-four, Martinelli chipped back with two more from inside, but Screen responded immediately with a tough hook over Nicholson for two. But the big fella replied on the other end, hammering a Berry lob for his second alley-oop finish of the game. With the Bulldogs up by just three, Butler went back to Telfort, who nailed a fadeaway in the paint to push the Bulldogs’ lead to 64-59 with 90 seconds to go.

With the ‘Cats needing a bucket with 40 seconds left, Nicholson answered the bell, picking up a missed Leach trey and hitting an and-one circus hook shot. Nicholson made the free throw, pulling Northwestern to within two with 32 seconds remaining.

That when the palooza of fouls ensued. Northwestern fouled Bizjack on the inbound with 29 seconds left, and after the sophomore made both, Barnhizer replied by going 1-for-2 at the line following a call on Cassia. Ty Berry fouled out after intentionally fouling Telfort who made both to push the Butler lead back to five. Barnhizer quickly responded with a reverse layup, pulling the ‘Cats to within three with 15 seconds left.

After Bizjack was fouled and missed both attempts at the line, Butler fouled Barnhizer with Northwestern down three. Barnhizer got both to fall and with nine seconds left an intentional Northwestern foul on McCaffery sent the ex-Hawkeye to the line with nine seconds left.

McCaffery made both, making it 70-67, while forcing Butler to foul Barhizer as he streaked up the court. Barnhizer banked in a prayer from half court, but a foul was called before the made basket, canceling out Barnhizer’s Hail Mary. Northwestern’s captain made both free throws as the free throw shenanigans continued.

Boden Kapke went 1-for-2 at the line, giving Barnhizer an opportunity to tie at the end. Barnhizer got all the way to the cup, but couldn’t finish, and a Martinelli tip-in didn’t fall, handing the Wildcats a 71-69 loss.

The ‘Cats will be back in action from Tempe tomorrow, taking on the loser of UNLV vs. Mississippi State at 6 p.m. CST central in the third place game.