Northwestern cruises past Boston University, 76-52
Northwestern led wire-to-wire and picked up a smooth second win of the season, 76-52, over Boston University on Friday night at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
Star forward Nick Martinelli led all scorers with a dominant 20 points and nine rebounds. Next up was point guard Jayden Reid with 17 points, plus a virtuoso passing performance with eights assists to just one turnover.
The Wildcats kept the Terriers in check for most of the game, forcing 14 turnovers and getting 18 points off of them. Boston’s leading scorer was Michael McNair, who matched Martinelli with 20 points and hit six 3-pointers.
After missing the season opener recovering from a hard fall in the Illinois State exhibition, Angelo Ciaravino made his 2025-26 debut in the starting lineup with nine points and three rebounds in 24 minutes.
Here are WildcatReport’s takeaways from the win that lifted the Wildcats’ record to 2-0.
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Improved ball movement and security
The Wildcats won big in their opener over Mercyhurst but turned it over 12 times while collecting just 13 assists. Against Boston, their ball security was much better with just five turnovers, against 20 helpers.
Spearheading this change was Reid, who looked increasingly comfortable in his second game for the Wildcats and orchestrated the offense time and again. It wasn’t just him, however. Seven other players assisted on scores, with forward Tre Singleton and guard KJ Windham both logging three in a tie for second-most behind Reid.
Overall, this led to the offense’s increased efficiency. They shot 52% from the floor, including an 8-for-8 run to close out the first half to take a convincing 19-point lead into the break.
Martinelli was 7-for-12 from the floor, Reid was 8-for-14 and Ciaravino was 4-from-6. All in all, it was a crisp game offensively from the top guys.
Martinelli dominant through opening games
This was the second game in a row where Martinelli had 15 points at the break. It feels like Northwestern can flip a switch and toss him the ball for a bucket or a foul anytime they please; they are just choosing to give some of their secondary scorers and depth contributors key reps instead.
There will be better opponents down the line who will be able to better trap Martinelli, or knock him out of a rhythm, but he is off to a superb start to his senior season.
Through two games, he’s averaging 18.5 points and seven rebounds per game. He’s dished out just one assist, but also played turnover-free basketball against the overmatched Terriers. That leaves him with just two turnovers on the season.
Martinelli is clearly an elite offensive engine for the Wildcats, and he’s just getting warmed up.
First action for Ciaravino this season
Ciaravino’s handle, his physicality, his finishing — it all looks more certain and more polished early in this campaign.
There was an especially impressive sequence late in the first half when he snagged a steal, threaded a pass ahead to Windham through defenders — which was an issue for him last season as he often forced passes off defenders’ legs or out of bounds trying to get into tight windows — and then trailed behind the play to catch Windham’s pass in rhythm and knock down a 3-pointer.
Ciaravino and Windham are the only remaining members of Northwestern’s high school Class of 2024 after the transfers of Parker Strauss and Blake Barkley, and they are starting to show signs of great chemistry. They are going to be fun to watch this season.
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Slower start for Singleton
Singleton came into the season with extraordinary hype, bolstered by a 15-point performance in the exhibition opener at No. 16 Iowa State. Since then, though, he hasn’t made the same significant impact. He had five points in the exhibition against Illinois State, and he’s had four points in the regular season games against Mercyhurst and Boston.
He hasn’t lit up the scoreboard and his shot has seemed a little flustered. In the two regular season games, he’s combined to shoot 4-for-11 from the floor and 0-for-5 from beyond the arc. In this game, his 21 minutes were the fewest of the five starters.
Still, there isn’t any serious cause for alarm. His shot may not have clicked, but the rest of his game has been sound. He’s rebounded well, with 10 boards through two games; he’s fit into the defensive scheme and provided valuable length on the perimeter.
Expect him to stay in the starting lineup and some early patience will be key to unlocking the exciting ceiling he showed in the preseason in Ames.
Starters dominated scoring
If you’re looking for a bone to pick, Northwestern mustered just three points off its bench in the first half, thanks to a three from freshman Jake West, his first points as a Wildcat.
In the second half, due to some extended run with the game well in hand, bench points got up to 19 by the buzzer. Still, there’s some early uncertainty about where Northwestern can find supplemental scoring.
Transfer guard Max Green was hoped to be a Ty Berry- or Ryan Langborg-like flamethrower, though he had just two points on 1-for-3 shooting in 11 minutes.
West and forward Tyler Kropp combined for 14 points down the stretch, a promising sign from the two freshmen who continue to find their footing.
Northwestern continued to shuffle through their options, playing 10 players for 10+ minutes, though they will likely need to start paring that down as the Big Ten season draws closer.
