Indiana is on the road for a second straight game as it travels to Evanston, Illinois, to take on Northwestern Wednesday night at Welsh-Ryan Arena. The Wildcats are 11-7 overall, 2-5 in the Big Ten and desperately need a win. Â
Wednesday’s game will tip at 7 p.m. ET on BTN:
Indiana’s struggles against Northwestern under Mike Woodson are well-documented. Dating back to the 2021-22 season, Woodson’s first in Bloomington, Indiana is 0-4 against Chris Collins and the Wildcats.
The four games have all been hard-fought, with Indiana falling by 15 points. In the last two meetings in Evanston, Indiana has scored just 56.5 points per game. The Hoosiers last won at Welsh-Ryan Arena on February 10, 2021, during Archie Miller’s last season in Bloomington.
After appearing in the NCAA tournament last season, Northwestern is looking to make its third straight trip to March Madness. However, getting there will take a lot of work over the next eight weeks. At 9-1 overall at home, Northwestern has seven remaining games in Evanston beginning tonight and is projected to win six of them, according to KenPom.
MEET THE WILDCATS
Northwestern isn’t a deep team and the Wildcats rely heavily on the wing duo of Nick Martinelli and Brooks Barnhizer to create mismatches offensively.
Barnhizer, a 6-foot-6 senior from Lafayette, Indiana, and Martinelli, a 6-foot-7 junior from Glenview, Illinois, are both among the leading scorers in the Big Ten.
Martinelli leads Northwestern with 20 points per game, and Barnhizer, who has missed four games due to injury, isn’t far behind with 18.4 points per game.
The Wildcats have played back-to-back overtime games and Martinelli has logged all 90 minutes. He’s a terrific isolation player who can make 3s, gets to his spots in the midrange for pull-ups or floaters and also draws fouls. Martinelli is making 51.6 percent of his 2s and 41.3 percent of his 3s. In addition, he’s attempted a team-high 109 free throws and is converting at a 70.6 percent clip from the stripe. Martinelli takes – and makes – a lot of tough shots, which can demoralize defenses.
Barnhizer has the ball in his hands a lot and plays a ton of out of the pick-and-roll. While he’s struggled to make 3s – he’s shooting just 27.8 percent – he’s been solid on 2s (46.3 percent) and from the free-throw line (80.5 percent). Like Martinelli, Barnhizer loves to get to his spots in the midrange. But Barnhizer is also a threat to come off a ball screen and find his teammates for open looks and he has a team-high 58 assists in 14 games. Barnhizer also leads Northwestern with 9.3 rebounds per game.
Fairfield transfer Jalen Leach starts in the backcourt, along with freshman Angel Ciaravino. Ciaravino entered the starting lineup in place of Ty Berry before the Maryland game on Jan. 16.
Leach was on fire in his last game at Michigan, scoring 19 points in 27 minutes before he was ejected for a below-the-belt kick to Wolverine big man Vlad Goldin. His 13.7 points per game are third on the team. Although he technically starts at the point, he looks to score more than he does to facilitate. He’s streaky on 3s — 36.1 percent — but is a terrific free-throw shooter at 85.7 percent.
The 6-foot-6 Ciarvino, a Chicago native, scored 19 points in a recent 18-point loss to Purdue at Mackey Arena.
Berry, a 6-foot-3 fifth-year guard, is a name Big Ten fans are familiar with. Ciarvino’s move to the starting lineup was more about getting Berry out of his slump, which has worked. After scoring a total of five points in losses to Penn State, Purdue and Michigan State, Berry has scored 27 over the last two games. A career 35.8 percent 3-point shooter, he’s not a player defenses can afford to leave on the perimeter. On a team that shoots a low volume of 3-pointers, Berry leads the Wildcats with 31 makes from distance.
Backup freshman guard KJ Windham, an Indianapolis native, is just 7-for-33 on 3s and will play spot minutes but isn’t much of an offensive threat.
Up front, fifth-year 7-foot center Matt Nicholson has the size to matchup with Oumar Ballo. At 280 pounds, Nicholson has a team-high 20 blocked shots and shoots 60 percent from the field. Trying to bully Nicholson in the post won’t work, as he’s excellent at walling up and forcing tough shots at the rim.
Backup big man Luke Hunger has missed the last three games with a foot injury and Keenan Fitzmorris has been Nicholson’s backup. Fitzmorris is another 7-footer who played sparingly at Stanford for two seasons before transferring to Stony Brook for two seasons. He had three blocked shots against Maryland’s frontcourt on Jan. 16 and had two more blocks on Sunday against Michigan in an overtime loss.
TEMPO-FREE PREVIEW
The Wildcats boast a top-25 defense nationally but have struggled offensively in Big Ten games.
Through seven conference games, Northwestern is scoring 1.015 points per possession, which ranks 16th in the league. The Wildcats are the Big Ten’s worst 3-point shooting team (27.7 percent) and are 15th in 2-point field goal percentage (50.2).
Like Indiana, Northwestern hasn’t placed a heavy emphasis on taking 3-pointers. For the season, Northwestern ranks 327th in percentage of points scored from beyond the 3-point line.
Northwestern thrives and can create separation by taking care of the ball and turning its opponents over. The Wildcats turn the ball over on 14.9 percent of their possessions and force turnovers on 20.7 percent of their possessions. In 18 games, Northwestern opponents turn the ball over an average of 14.2 times per game.
WHAT IT COMES DOWN TO
The KenPom projection is Northwestern by four with a 36 percent chance of an IU victory. Bart Torvik’s projection is Northwestern by four, with a 33 percent chance the Hoosiers prevail.
Welsh-Ryan Arena is sold out and should produce a very good atmosphere in a building with just over 7,000 fans.
Despite its 11-7 record, Northwestern has been in nearly every game this season, including five losses by five or fewer points.
The status of Malik Reneau entering the game is still unknown, as Mike Woodson said Tuesday that he practiced earlier in the week but didn’t give a firm update on his availability. For Indiana, the keys will be forcing Martinelli and Barnhizer to miss their tough shots, taking care of the ball, competing on the glass and being able to finish at the rim.
Filed to: Northwestern Wildcats
