The Wildcats are capable of playing with great Big Ten teams at times, but they haven't been able to string together a full 40-minutes.
Northwestern hung around for a while against a ranked Big Ten team again today in No. 8 Nebraska, but the 'Cats didn't quite have the juice to get the job done in the second half. The 'Huskers left Welsh-Ryan with a 77-58 W, extending their unbeaten season to 18 games.
Nick Martinelli struggled some today, for his standards at least. Just like against Illinois, he was well-defended and had to fight through lots of double teams. It didn't impact his output all that much -- he finished with 22 points and 10 rebounds -- but he was far less efficient, shooting 9-of-20 from the field.
This game came down to shooting and turnovers. Northwestern coughed the ball up more than the 'Huskers (11-5), and it shot the ball at a 43% clip to Nebraska's 51%. Nebraska also made 11 three pointers to Northwestern's five, an area of the game in which the 'Cats are routinely getting curb stomped lately.
Jake West started again for the Wildcats in place of Jayden Reid. Earlier this week against Illinois, that arrangement proved to work out well for both players. West looked comfortable in what was ultimately less playing time, and Reid finished that game with 25 points.
Today, the story was a little different. West still looked competent as a starting PG, showing a feel for where to be on offense, as well as some havoc wreaking on defense -- he actually had a block in the first half. But Reid wasn't nearly as productive, finishing with seven.
From the opening tip, it was clear today would be the Nick Martinelli show. Northwestern's leading scorer wasn't as efficient as usual, but the offense ran through him on a majority of possessions. As a result, he was putting up a ton of shots, and he didn't have a great feel for his usually reliable flipper.
In the first half alone, Martinelli still almost had a double-double with 15 points and eight rebounds, including two made threes with defenders in his face. His efficient start to the season from deep is now becoming a trend as he continues to knock them down at an unprecedented rate.
The 'Cats went to the locker room trailing 34-29, still in the game for a shocking reason. Northwestern's greatest advantage, at least in the opening frame, came on the glass -- an area where this team has struggled all season. NU led the rebounding battle 21-13 at half, including seven offensive boards.
Tre Singleton also had a solid day. The freshman rose up over traffic to drill a few midrange jumpers, including one real smooth stroke from the elbow at around the 8-minute mark. He had eight in the first half, six in the second, and he and Martinelli seemed in lock-step patrolling the front court. They were getting some high-low post action going at times.
West got Northwestern started in the second half on a positive note, nailing a triple from the corner. After that, though, Nebraska immediately went on a 7-0 run to lengthen things back out.
From there, the 'Cats did an admirable job of keeping it within 10 points for a while, but around the 10-minute mark of the half, things took a turn. The 'Huskers went on another scoring run, this time a dominant 11-0 run, to take control of the game 63-44 at the under-eight media timeout.
That was the nail in the coffin for Northwestern, as "Go Big Red" chants rained down in Welsh-Ryan.
The 'Cats will be back in action on the West Coast on Wednesday to take on USC before its matchup with UCLA a week from today.