It’s double overtime inside Welsh-Ryan Arena in Evanston, Illinois. Indiana men’s basketball is ahead of Northwestern by one point with less than a minute remaining.
With the game on the line, redshirt sophomore forward Jerome Hunter drills a 3-pointer and senior guard Al Durham knocks down four consecutive free throws to earn a 79-76 victory after 50 minutes of action.
But that was 2021.
Hunter transferred to Xavier University and now plays for Raiffeisen Swans Gmunden in Austria, while Durham is with Guerino Vanoli Basket in Italy after finishing his collegiate career at Providence College. Meanwhile, the Hoosiers haven’t beaten the Wildcats since.
In what many considered a must-win game for its NCAA Tournament hopes, Indiana couldn’t close out a win against Northwestern on Tuesday, dropping the first of a three-game homestand 72-68 inside Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall in Bloomington.
The matchup featured the Big Ten’s top two scorers: Indiana’s fifth-year senior guard Lamar Wilkerson and Northwestern’s senior forward Nick Martinelli. Wilkerson’s 21 points per game only trail Martinelli’s 22.8.
Early on, it was Wilkerson who came out firing. The 6-foot-6 guard connected on a 3-pointer for the game’s first points. He poured in three more longballs and a layup for a perfect 5-for-5 start to the game through the first eight and a half minutes of action.
Despite not scoring for the final 11 minutes of the opening frame, Wilkerson’s 14 points led all scorers at halftime. On the other side, Martinelli struggled throughout the first half, registering just seven points on 3-for-9 shooting. As a result, the Cream and Crimson entered the locker room with a nine-point lead.
“I thought we had a good little stretch going,” Indiana head coach Darian DeVries said postgame. “We got the lead built up to 11 there in the first half. Thought we had some opportunities there to really press that thing open.”
But as the second half began, Martinelli took control. After a quick score from Indiana senior forward Sam Alexis on the Hoosiers’ first possession of the second half, Martinelli alone went on an 8-0 run to cut the Wildcats’ deficit to three points.
A put-back two, a fast-break layup, a physical interior bucket through Indiana redshirt senior forward Tucker DeVries and two free throws comprised the run that brought the Wildcats back into the game. Martinelli made sure they never fell out of it again.
Unlike many modern high-volume scorers, Martinelli does the majority of his damage from inside the arc. The 6-foot-7 forward leads all Big Ten scorers despite just 18.4% of his points coming from beyond the arc.
“He's a tough cover,” Tucker DeVries said. “They go to him every single play. Everything is revolved around him. We had a lot of different guys on him, mixed it up. Thought he did a fairly good job, and he hit some tough shots. I mean, he's a good player.”
The contest remained within single digits for the final 19 minutes, and Martinelli took Wilkerson’s place as the game’s top scorer. Wilkerson had plenty of chances to contribute down the stretch but missed each of his nine field goal attempts in the second half.
Wilkerson scored just four points in the final frame, all from the free throw line. Sixth-year senior guard Tayton Conerway led the team with nine points after the break, but it wasn’t enough to stave off Martinelli and the Wildcats.
With just over five minutes remaining, Martinelli drained a mid-range jumper to take Northwestern’s first lead in nearly 30 minutes of action. Wilkerson countered with a pair of free throws, but a costly fast break turnover led Martinelli to strike back with his only 3-pointer of the game, a crushing blow from the right corner to retake the lead for good.
Martinelli shot 9 for 12 in the second half to end the game with 28 points. For nine and a half of the final 10 minutes, the Cream and Crimson failed to score a field goal. They missed 11 straight attempts.
“We just wasn't hooked up as a team,” Wilkerson said. “As a group of seniors, we got to be better. Me personally, I have to be better leading this team, stepping up. Just, you know, we could have made some plays down the stretch that could have helped us.”
Prior to Tuesday’s contest, ESPN’s Joe Lunardi projected the Hoosiers as an 11 seed in the NCAA Tournament, holding onto the last bye. With just three games remaining on the schedule, and only one against an opponent in the top 30 in the NCAA’s NET rankings, opportunities to strengthen their resume are dwindling.
And a loss to 12-16 Northwestern is sure to hurt their chances.
“They played a good game, but there is no way in hell we should have lost that game,” Wilkerson said. “We just being frankly honest.”
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.
