Northwestern survives DePaul, 81-79
CHICAGO – Northwestern took the short trip down to Wintrust Arena and survived DePaul, 81-79, in an intense struggle of a game befitting two power-conference rivals whose campuses are separated by just 11 miles.
The Wildcats were riding the incredible high of an 110-63 win over Cleveland State, while DePaul was picking themselves up from the low of a 66-53 loss to Buffalo. So this seemed like it would be an open and shut case.
That’s not how it went. DePaul was ready to battle.
“I knew after the other night what we were going to face,” head coach Chris Collins said. “I tried to urge our guys to be ready for that physical fight, but they were the tougher team for most of the night.
“All the toughness things we chart: offensive rebounds, loose balls, getting to the line… They did a lot of good things tonight that put us in peril.”
Nick Martinelli scored a game-high 24 points, including the two game-winning free throws with 3.5 seconds left, to earn the Fisher-McGrath Award given to the MVP of the rivalry series. It was his fourth straight win over the Blue Demons in his career, without a loss.
Center Arrinten Page was right behind him with 22 points on 10-of-11 shooting.
But an appalling performance on the glass and an icy scoring effort from the bench turned this into a nail biter for the Wildcats.
“It was an honor to go to the line with those two free throws to win…” Martinelli said. “It feels great right now, but reflecting on this game, when I watch it tonight, I’ll probably just see all the defensive lapses, all the times I didn’t run as hard as I could have.”
Here are our takeaways from Northwestern’s early-season scare.
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Rebounding woes were foundation of DePaul’s upset bid
DePaul won the rebounding battle 34-25, including 16-6 on the offensive glass. The Blue Demons won second-chance points by a margin of 20-7 and bench points by a margin of 37-7.
It was only thanks to an overwhelming offensive performance that the Wildcats were able to get out of this one by the skin of their teeth.
“I just thought [the Demons] were the tougher team,” Collins reiterated. “If you look at technique, we have to do a better job blocking out. But I thought their physical nature, they were wedging us under the basket…
“We were fumbling, we had some balls in our hands and they ratted them out. They dug them out and scored… But the positive thing is finding a way to win and learning from a win. You don’t want to have to learn tough lessons by losing.”
Page hauled in five rebounds, tied for the most on the team with Martinelli, Tre Singleton and Jayden Reid. They were also the only four to score 10+ points.
Page was blunt about what needs to change.
“That’s on me,” he said. “I have to play a little bit harder, especially in the beginning. The game started off with an offensive rebound, that’s unacceptable. As a team, we’ll play harder.
“[Collins] was getting on us in the huddle, so we just took the coaching and I think we did lower that number in the second half.”
DePaul’s offensive rebounding advantage did indeed drop from 10-2 in the first to 6-4 in the second. Still, the damage was nearly done. Page is the only player in the rotation who is 6-foot-10; he needs a better showing on the glass, and so do the other supporting forwards.
Dynamic scoring duo
As much as the rebounds plagued the Wildcats, their frontcourt duo was their salvation. Martinelli and Page combined for 46 points and 18-for-22 shooting from the floor.
The Blue Demons could not stop them, the only thing that seemed to slow them down was the foul trouble. Both players had four fouls by the end.
Page, who Northwestern landed out of the transfer portal, is averaging an astonishing 16 points per game, after scoring just 3.5 points per game at Cincinnati as a sophomore and 3.1 at USC as a freshman.
“He’s had a tough journey, right?” Collins said. “He was at USC, there was a lot of chaos out there. The coach leaves, he goes to Cincinnati, and he’ll be the first to tell you it didn’t go well for him…
“We did a deep dive with him. He’s got a good spirit and wants to be about the right things. I think our situation provided him with what he needed.”
Martinelli has been magnificent. He’s averaging 20.5 points and 6.5 rebounds per game, with 62% shooting from the floor and 86% from beyond the arc. He’s also shooting 77% on his free throws, including the game winners in this one.
“I think I saw my mom crying so I was like, ‘Oh, that can’t be good,'” Martinelli said on what was going through his mind with the game on the line. “But, thank god, they went in.”
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Shooting guards need to shoot, score
Four of Northwestern’s five starters scored 10+ points: Martinelli, Page, Reid and Singleton. The only one to score below that was well below: Angelo Ciaravino with a single point in 27 minutes.
It was a position-wide issue as Max Green and KJ Windham each scored three points, in 12 and 11 minutes, respectively.
Combined the trio shot 2-for-4 from the floor.
“We’ll be able to get a good week of practice and we can continue to add to our package offensively,” Collins said. “I have to do a better job of getting those guys more shots. They can change a game with their shooting and we’ll do a better job going forward using those guys.”
Northwestern has a lot to think about in the week before they play Virginia in the Greenbrier Classic. They need better rebounding and more diverse scoring.
But, for now, as Collins said, it’s better to learn from a win. The Wildcats remain undefeated.
“We definitely can build on this,” Martinelli said. “Obviously, it’s a huge win for us and it’s going to keep the momentum going.”
