Indiana men’s basketball returned to Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall after consecutive blowout losses against No. 10 Illinois and No. 8 Purdue to begin a critical three-game homestand.
The first on the Hoosiers’ docket was Northwestern, which entered the game tied for 16th in the Big Ten. The Cream and Crimson hadn’t defeated the Wildcats in their last five tries — a streak that continued Tuesday with the Hoosiers’ 72-68 loss in Bloomington.
Indiana dropped to 17-11 overall and 8-9 in conference play with three regular-season contests remaining, while the Wildcats improved to 12-16 overall and 4-13 in the Big Ten.
Northwestern senior forward Nick Martinelli scored a game-high 28 points, while fifth-year senior guard Lamar Wilkerson paced the Hoosiers with 18. Sixth-year senior guard Tayton Conerway and senior forward Sam Alexis added 14 and 13, respectively.
Indiana began the game with two 3-pointers via Wilkerson and junior guard Nick Dorn. After the latter drained a pair of free throws, the Wildcats made back-to-back buckets to take a one-point lead with 15 minutes left.
Wilkerson knocked down three more longballs, while redshirt senior forward Tucker DeVries, junior guard Jasai Miles and Dorn each added another. The Cream and Crimson’s lead ballooned to 12 with six minutes until halftime.
Alexis scored each of Indiana’s last six points in the first half. The Hoosiers entered the locker room with a nine-point advantage thanks to Wilkerson’s team-high 14 points, while Dorn and Alexis each added eight.
Although Alexis opened the scoring in the second half, the Wildcats used Martinelli’s eight consecutive points to cut their deficit to three less than three minutes into the period.
Both squads traded mini-runs throughout the next 12 minutes, but neither took control of the contest.
Then, Northwestern went on another 8-0 spurt to take the lead with five minutes left in the contest. Although Indiana regained the lead for nearly two minutes, Martinelli made a 3-pointer and a pair of mid-range jumpers to give the Wildcats a four-point advantage with less than a minute to play.
The Hoosiers pulled within a point with 16 seconds left, but failed to draw any closer and eventually dropped their third consecutive game — one that could prove costly come Selection Sunday on March 8.
Indiana, now with its NCAA Tournament hopes on life support, returns to action at 3:45 p.m. Sunday against No. 15 Michigan State inside Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. The contest will be broadcast on CBS.
Follow reporters Dalton James (@DaltonMJames and jamesdm@iu.edu) and Nathan Shriberg (@NShriberg and naashri@iu.edu) and columnist Kasey Watkins (@KaseyWatki8773 and kaslwatk@iu.edu) for updates throughout the Indiana men’s basketball season.
