Indianapolis – Nick Martinelli scored 28 points to help No. 13 sown Northwestern beat No. 12 Seted Minnesota 72-64 on Wednesday to start the Big Ten tournament.
Northwestern (17-15) won his first victory in the conference tournament since 2022 to have the opportunity to play No. 5 Wisconsin in the second round on Thursday. The Wildcats lost to the then-no. 17 Wisconsin 75-69 on February 1.
Five Northwest players scored during a 12-3 race to start the second half to continue with two digits, 44-32, for the first time in the game. The Wildcats remained at the forefront of at least nine points until Mike Mitchell Jr. scored five consecutive points to take Minnesota within 67-60 with 45 remaining seconds.
Martinelli and Matthew Nicholson were each 1 of 2 in the strip in the section, and Kj Windham was 3 of 4 to stay in the northwest for multiple possessions.
Ty Berry added 14 points, Jordan Clayton had 11 and Windham finished 10 for Northwestern. Martinelli, with an average of 20.2 points per game, was 12 of 22 from the field. Martinelli had only 4 of 10 in the free throw line when the Wildcats finished 12 of 22.
Dawson García led Minnesota (15-17) with 22 points and Mitchell added 11 points. The Golden Gophers lost five of their last six games to finish the season.
Northwestern and Minnesota gathered for the third time in the last six tournaments, all in the 12 seed game against 13 seeds.
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