The Northwestern Wildcats will have a very special Senior Night when the #8 Purdue Boilermakers come to town in midweek. Nick Martinelli, last season’s Big Ten scoring champion, who leads the league in points per game again this term, will play his final home game.
The Glenview, Illinois native, so i.e. the local kid, will have a massive cheering contingent on hand for this one.
Northwestern Wildcats vs #8 Purdue Boilermakers FYIs
Martinelli ranks seventh nationally in scoring, averaging 22.6 ppg. He’s also shooting 50.5% from the field, good for 9th in the Big Ten.
Nick Martinelli Send-off/Northwestern Preview
This won’t be the same as the Senior Night for Boo Buie, who left as the Northwestern basketball G.O.A.T., but it also won’t be far below that level either. It is possible that we’ll see Nick Martinelli follow his teammate from last season, Brooks Barnhizer, to the NBA this June.
“Brooks got numbers, but in the NBA, you have some star players, but 90% of the guys in the NBA are role players,” Northwestern head coach Chris Collins said to Ratings.org.
“They’re looking for guys that are going to play defense, be dependable, show up every day. Know how to play and Nick’s that guy. He’s got good size, got good strength.
“He’s really improving as a shooter. He’s going to have a great chance to be in it, just like I knew Brooks would.”
This past Saturday, Martinelli scored the game winning basket with 1.8 seconds remaining, to lead Northwestern to a 63-62 home victory over the Oregon Ducks.
“It really sat on the rim for a while,” Martinelli said. “Thinking back, it might have helped us. I was just trying to run back after I saw it go in, but it felt great. I’m still processing it.”
Martinelli led the game in scoring with 22 points.
He also had 11 rebounds, seven assists, three steals and a block. Northwestern have now won three straight league games, and in the process, put themselves in a decent place to escape having to play on Tuesday night in the Big Ten Tournament.
So they could still get one bye for the conference tourney, but getting a double bye, where they could avoid having to play on Wednesday night, is very likely just not in the cards.
No matter what happens on Wednesday, and/or in the season finale at Minnesota, Northwestern will enter Championship Week needing to win the entire Big Ten Tournament, in order to reach the postseason.
Otherwise the season will end at the United Center in Chicago.
“We’re playing for our lives,” Nick Martinelli said.
“That urgency is there. These games, not only are we winning them, but we’re progressing as a team. We’re starting to gain confidence, and this is the perfect time to do that.”
Collins will clearly be sad to see Martinelli go, and for obvious reasons.
“He’s got an incredible will to win,” Collins said.
“He’s one of those guys [who’s] not going to be denied. I’ve never coached a player who works any harder than he does — and puts in more to being a good player than he does. You love to see that rewarded.”
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to USA Today’s NFL Wires Network, RG.org and Ratings.org. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes and the Washington Post.