Gophers bounced from Big Ten Tournament, offense vanishes against Northwestern

Minnesota had no answer for the Big Ten's leading scorer, Nick Martinelli.

Mar 12, 2025; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Minnesota Golden Gophers head coach Ben Johnson during the first half against the Northwestern Wildcats at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Robert Goddin-Imagn Images | Robert Goddin-Imagn Images

Minnesota and Northwestern opened the 2025 Big Ten Men's Basketball Tournament on Wednesday afternoon in Indianapolis, and much like their matchup in the regular season, forward Nick Martinelli led the Wildcats to a 72-64 win, knocking the Gophers out of the tournament.

Things went back and forth for much of the first half, but Martinelli's 16 first-half points gave Northwestern a 32-23 lead with 1:22 to go. Minnesota responded with a 6-0 run to close the half, and it trailed 32-29 heading into the locker room.

The Gophers were not able to keep their momentum going to start the second half, rather the exact opposite happened, and Northwestern responded with a 12-3 run to take a commanding 44-32 lead heading into the under-16 media timeout.

Nick Martinelli is on fire for @NUMensBball 🔥#B1GMBBT on Peacock 💻 pic.twitter.com/3qi5bm4g75

— Big Ten Men's Basketball (@B1GMBBall) March 12, 2025

It was obvious that Lu'Cye Patterson, Isaac Asuma, Brennan Rigsby, Dawson Garcia and Frank Mitchell were Minnesota's most effective five, but it wasn't until the 13:45 mark in the second half for Ben Johnson to turn to that lineup.

It was too little, too late, and the Gophers were never able to pull themselves out of the huge hole. Asuma and Rigsby were the only two players outside of Garcia who were looking for their shot offensively, but Johnson continued to turn to Patterson, Femi Odukale and Mike Mitchell Jr. down the stretch. Northwestern held on to a 72-64 win.

Martinelli led all scorers with 28 points on 12-for-22 shooting after he scored 29 points earlier this season at The Barn. Garcia led the Gophers with 22 points, but they were outscored 32-20 in the paint and shot 37.7% from the field.

Year 4 of the Johnson era now ends with a 15-17 record. The Gophers will have an outside shot of being invited to the new College Basketball Crown or National Invitation Tournament (NIT), but after a performance like Wednesday's, it's hard to argue that they deserve one.

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