Day one of five of the Big Ten Tournament kicked off on Wednesday. Three teams went home, and three teams will get to stay in an attempt to play in the championship on Sunday.
Final Scores
Northwestern 72 Minnesota 64
Iowa 77 Ohio State 70
USC 97 Rutgers 89
Takeaway #1: Nick Martinelli’s offense carried the Wildcats
The score by halftime was 32-29, the Wildcats in the lead. They only trailed for 32 seconds but could never take a lead larger than 12. Northwestern’s Nick Martinelli had a grand opening to the Big Ten Tournament as he shot 8-for-11, totaling 16 points. The closest teammate in points was Jordan Clayton with six. On the Golden Gophers side, no player reached double digits until the second half. Both teams seemed to be playing sloppy; the Wildcats turned the ball over seven times, and the Golden Gophers closely followed that with six. Shooting-wise, both teams were roughly in the same boat, with Northwestern shooting 50% and Minnesota 45%.
While Northwestern kept their lead through the remainder of the game, things got slightly shaky in the final minutes. The Wildcats held their largest lead of 15 with 4:47 left in the game (64-49). By the final 47 seconds, Minnesota brought the score to 67-60. Even so, they couldn’t pull through.
Martinelli was a key factor in the Wildcat win. He stepped off the court with 28 points, leading both teams in points. Martinelli shot 12-22 from the field and made 4-10 from the stripe. While he wasn’t successful with any of his three-point shots, he greatly impacted the score. This marks Martinelli’s 17th 20-plus point game of the season.
“I definitely think his [Clayton’s] aggressiveness helped open things up, even for a lot of times when he’s coming downhill super fast. So guys really have to help over, and it got me some open looks.” Martinelli said in the postgame press conference.
Northwestern will play on Thursday in game five of the Big Ten Tournament against No. 5 Wisconsin. Catch the game at 3:30 p.m. EST on the Big Ten Network.
Takeaway #2: Iowa’s bench proves its importance
It was a slow start in the first half for Iowa, with both teams playing aggressively on both ends of the court. However, once their offense picked up, the numbers were distributed evenly across the team. In fact, by the end of the first half seven players had scored for the Hawkeyes. The half ended in a tie with a score of 37-37. Both teams came out hot on the offensive side, bringing the score to 48-44 with 15:39 left in the first half, Hawkeyes in the lead, and the score stayed close for the remainder of the game. A successful three point shot made by Iowa’s Brock Harding with 16 seconds left in the game sealed the deal for the Hawkeyes. The game ended with a final score of 77-70.
Despite Harding coming off the bench, he proved how vital he is to this Iowa team’s success. Harding, a sophomore guard, finished the game against Ohio State with 15 points, 2 rebounds, and 3 assists. He was 3 for 3 from behind the arc, 2 for 2 from the free throw line, 5 for 6 from the field goal range, and did all of this with 22 minutes of playing time. Harding’s effort and intensity did not let up and a perfectly executed three-point shot was the deciding factor in the game, allowing the Hawkeyes to move on to day two of the tournament.
To add to the importance of that shot, Harding had turned the ball over seconds before. In a press conference after the game, he explained how he knew he had to make up for it and his thought process behind the shot.
“I was really hoping that Josh (Dix) was going to hit the stepback middie, and he kicked it to me. I knew I had to make up for the turnover somehow, and it found me and it went in,” Harding said.
Harding was not the only player for the Hawkeyes that made some noise coming off the bench. Pryce Sandfort also finished the game scoring in the double digits with 10 points, as well as 2 rebounds and 2 assists.
Iowa will return to Gainbridge Fieldhouse to take on No. 7 Illinois at 6:30 p.m. EST. The game can be found on the Big Ten Network.
Takeaway #3: Rutgers able to come back, USC able to hang on
To say that this game was exciting would be an understatement. Once the clock started, USC took off and asserted their dominance over Rutgers, ending the first half up by 11 with a score of 30-41. However, once the second half began, it didn’t take long for Rutgers to take some significant strides. USC’s biggest lead during the game was by 15, but with 12:56 left in the game, they were only up by 3.
Having said that, Rutgers did not take the lead until there was 5:10 left in the game, although USC quickly snatched the lead again just 10 seconds later. It was back and forth like this for the game’s last five minutes. Rutgers’ Ace Bailey fouled out with 24 seconds left after providing 17 points, and eventually, the game went into overtime tied at 73. During the extra five minutes, the score stayed so close that the game went into a second overtime, this time tied at 81. Ultimately, USC pulled away and came out on top, scoring 97-89.
While Rutgers had a great comeback from a game where they trailed nearly the whole time, their alarming three-point performance was a significant part of their demise. They shot only 20% from outside the arc (6-for-30). Another issue that factored in Rutgers’ eventual loss was freshman guard Ace Bailey fouling out with 25 seconds left after providing 17 points.
USC showed an incredible amount of grit and effort throughout the entire game. In a press conference after the game junior guard Desmond Claude explained their preparedness for this game.
“We practice and train for these moments. There was a lot of stuff that we did to get here,” Claude said.
Claude finished the game, after playing for a total of 46 minutes, with 28 points, 2 rebounds, and 8 assists. Another extremely notable performance from Rutgers was forward Rashaun Agee who played for 48 minutes and provided 23 points, 11 rebounds, 5 assists.
Rutgers will now have plenty of time to rest up before they take on No. 6 Purdue in the final game of the day on day two. The game will take place following the Iowa vs. USC game, which starts at 6:30 p.m. EST, and can be watched on the Big Ten Network.