Northwestern had perhaps its best game of the season tonight on its home court against Penn State. The Nittany Lions are winless in conference, but nevertheless, the numbers the 'Cats put up were impressive.
It all starts with Nick Martinelli. Northwestern's captain has been bogged down by ruthless double-teams in recent games, leading to lower efficiency numbers (he was still scoring 20 points routinely).
Tonight, it was a different story. Martinelli poured in 34 points, matching his career high, in 37 minutes of action. He was also 13-of-19 from the field and 4-of-7 from three. Not too shabby.
But Northwestern got supplementary scoring tonight as well. Freshmen Tre Singleton and Jake West both had tremendous games, giving Northwestern a level of juice it simply hasn't had in any contests so far this season.
West, who has taken over starting duties at point guard from Jayden Reid, finished with seven points and a whopping 13 assists. In his minutes, he was a +34. Reid, on the other hand, was a -11. West is starting to assert his dominance at the point guard spot, and it's time to take notice.
Singleton, who has struggled with consistency and foul trouble this season, had by far the best game of his young college career. The forward finished with a double-double, scoring 17 points and finishing with 18 rebounds. That's a real number -- 18 rebounds.
Sophomore Angelo Ciaravino also stood out, scoring 20 points on 9-of-12 shooting. A player known for doing the little things right -- he did the big things right tonight. With his added production, the 'Cats were truly firing on all cylinders.
Northwestern largely controlled this game from the tip, but the Nittany Lions hung around in the first half. At the break, the score was just 45-40 in favor of the 'Cats.
Ultimately, though, NU was so much better on the boards and shooting the ball that it was too much for the Nittany Lions to handle. The 'Cats shot the ball at a highly efficient 60% clip to Penn State's 49%. Northwestern also out-rebounded PSU 34-21.
In the context of this season, this win might not mean much. The Wildcats are still just 2-8 in conference, and their schedule becomes an absolute gauntlet after they play Washington on Saturday.
But this level of production from the highly-touted freshmen is hard to ignore, and it bodes extremely well for the future of the program. Both West and Singleton showed why they were among Northwestern's highest ranked recruits ever tonight. If they can keep it up for the rest of the season, that's a tremendous sign for next year.