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Northwestern (13-18, 5-15 B1G) erased a 15-point second half deficit against Minnesota (15-16, 8-12 B1G), but Nick Martinelli wasn’t able to replicate last week’s magic, as his go-ahead attempt with three seconds remaining clanked off the back iron.
After a poor first half performance that saw the visitors fall down by as many as 16, the Wildcats clawed back in the second half with a gritty defensive effort, but the storybook ending to the season wasn’t to be as the Gophers eked out a 67-66 win.
Martinelli hit a game-winner last Saturday in a 63-62 win against Oregon. He couldn’t do it again.
The Wildcats didn’t lead until just 1:34 remained in the second half. Unsurprisingly, it was Nick Martinelli who led the comeback effort in the last regular season game of his collegiate career, finishing with 23 points on 9-of-18 shooting to go along with nine rebounds. Jake West kept the game close in the first half with some stellar outside shooting. He finished with 14 points on 4-of-7 shooting from deep. Tre Singleton tacked on ten points of his own as he filled the stat sheet with six boards and four dimes.
On the other side, Langston Reynolds led the Gophers with 21 points. He shot an efficient 9-of-13 on only one three point attempt and added four assists. Despite a poor shooting night, Cade Tyson still got his. Minnesota’s leading scorer finished with 15 points, going a perfect 5-of-5 from the charity stripe.
Minnesota came out of the gates hot with two quick buckets. Cade Tyson got the Gophers started, exploiting a mismatch against Jayden Reid for a tough midrange jumper before Grayson Grove hit an easy layup. Nick Martinelli got the scoring started for Northwestern in his last regular season game in the purple and white, netting a putback layup after a miss from Angelo Ciaravino.
The Martinelli layup would be the only bucket for the Wildcats before the first media timeout, as seven quick points buckets from Isaac Asuma extended the Minnesota lead to nine. With four minutes elapsed, the Wildcats recorded more turnovers than field goals.
Bobby Durkin connected on a deep three from the wing to extend the lead to 12. Turnovers from Martinelli and Reid dug the ‘Cats into a deeper hole, and two free throws from Asuma had Minnesota leading 18-2 in the blink of an eye. Jordan Clayton hit a three to break the scoring drought, but the ‘Cats had scored just twice in the first eight minutes.
Northwestern finally found some consistency on offense thanks to threes from Ciaravino and a mid-range jumper from Martinelli which moved him to fifth all-time in scoring for the Wildcats. Heading into the under-12 minute timeout, the ‘Cats were finding their rhythm on both ends, but the deficit remained in double-digits.
A sweet hook feed from Clayton into Tyler Kropp cut the Gopher lead down to eight, but Minnesota would stay hot from three. A shot-clock violation by Northwestern sent The Barn into a frenzy with Minnesota leading by 11.
Tyson showcased some stellar off-ball movement to get an open look at the rim, but Jake West responded with his first three of the night. Minnesota’s outside shooting stayed unconscious as Durkin hit his third in as many attempts to make it 31-17. The Gophers extended their lead to 16 after another turnover, Northwestern’s sixth.
With 3:45 left, Northwestern had nine combined turnovers and personal fouls to Minnesota’s three. The Wildcats were providing zero resistance on Minnesota’s cuts and the Gophers were not missing from the stripe. Martinelli and West finally got the ball in transition to bring the lead back to ten with a minute left. After a 6-0 Wildcats run, a questionable foul call on Tre Singleton in the final seconds killed the momentum going into halftime.
Minnesota led 39-29 at the break. Martinelli led Northwestern with 10 points, and Asuma led all scorers with 11.
The Gophers’ 10-point lead came courtesy of a ridiculous shooting half. Minnesota shot 65.0% from the field and 57.3% from three. Northwestern sat at 37.0% and 27.3% respectively.
The ‘Cats kept pace due to a strong showing on the glass. Buoyed by three offensive boards from Martinelli, Northwestern posted an 8-1 advantage over the hosts in offensive rebounds.
Northwestern’s defense started soft for the second straight half. Minnesota converted on five straight layups to start period two, extending its lead to 16.
West, however, just couldn’t miss. The true first-year swished his third three of the night – a bomb from 27-feet – to get up to 11 points. All of a sudden, the Wildcats had a spark. On the other end, Mason Reynolds busted through two Wildcats for a tough layup in traffic.
Yet any momentum the ‘Cats found on offense quickly died with their inability to get stops. {one sentence to elaborate I think] After a successful challenge, Martinelli hit a tough reverse layup through contact to cut the lead to eight.
With ten minutes to play it was West getting it done on both ends. The freshman guard hit yet another three – his fourth of the night – and followed it up with a great contest on the other end.
However, Northwestern continued to leave shooters open, as a Durkin three extended Minnesota’s lead to ten and left The Barn buzzing.
After a quiet start to the second half, Martinelli got back on the board an and-one following a nice pass from Singleton.. Northwestern – now finally starting to close out on shooters – forced a shot clock violation before a Singleton dunk cut it to just five.
The ‘Cats offense got humming at just the right time. With four minutes to go a Martinelli three and a reverse layup made it 61-58 heading to break. With three minutes to play it was all Martinelli with a swish from the elbow to cut the lead to two. In desperate need of a stop, Northwestern brought the energy to force another shot clock violation.
With a chance to take the lead, West found Clayton in the corner for a massive three to take the lead! After a Martinelli miss from deep, Minnesota called a timeout to talk things over with just 40 seconds left in regulation. The shift was palpable. After playing loose and finding open shooters without much difficulty, the Gophers could not buy a bucket down the stretch.
Asuma fumbled a pass directly under the rim leading to a foul that sent Ciaravino to the line with a chance to make it a three point game. He coolly swished both but Reynolds threw it down emphatically to bring Minnesota back within one.
The game would be decided at the free throw line, and it started with Martinelli. His first shot bounced off both sides of the rim before squeaking out. With the game on the line, Reynolds would not be denied as he sunk a layup to give the Gophers the lead with 11 seconds to play.
After an ugly first half and a lackluster defensive effort for thirty minutes, the ‘Cats had a chance to steal their final Big Ten regular season game of 2026. Collins, of course, called Martinelli’s number on the final possession of the game.
Martinelli shot the ball as soon as he touched it, launching a three from the elbow with four seconds remaining. It bounced high off the back rim, and Northwestern couldn’t secure the rebound in time to get another shot off.
Minnesota squeaked up a 67-66 win to close out the regular season.
Northwestern will face Penn State (12-18, 3-16 B1G) in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament on Tuesday, March 10. That game will start 25 minutes after the conclusion of the No. 16 vs. No. 17 matchup, which begins at 4 p.m. CT.
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