Big Ten's Strategy for Defending Northwestern Star Nick Martinelli Revealed?

Despite his team sinking further and further out of postseason contention this year, senior Northwestern Wildcats small forward Nick Martinelli has been scoring at a more prolific clip than ever before.

The 6-foot-7 Glenbrook South alum is currently the second-leading scorer in the nation, behind only Tarleton State Texans junior guard Dior Johnson. Martinelli paces Minnesota Golden Gophers senior guard Cade Tyson as the Big Ten's leading scorer by over two points per.

Across 16 healthy bouts this year, Martinelli has been averaging 23.8 points on .573/.524/.789 shooting splits, 6.6 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 0.6 steals. His 1.4 made triples also rank within the conference's top 40.

He's been a tough cover defensively for the rest of the NCAA.

Most recently, even during a brutal 77-58 blowout at the hands of Fred Hoiberg's undefeated Nebraska Cornhuskers on Saturday, Martinelli managed to score 20 or more points for the ninth consecutive game — and the 11th game of his last 12.

"Martinelli was going to find a way to get his," Hoiberg conceded during his postgame remarks Saturday, per Inside NU. "He's so unique with the way he's able to throw in shots with his right and left hands. He's so elite."

The Cornhuskers managed to stop pretty much everyone else, as only one other Northwestern player, forward Tre Singleton, scored more than six points. Hoiberg did what he could to at least make Martinelli force up tough takes.

"Our big message to the team on Martinelli was to make his shots as difficult as possible. And if he makes some of them, you can't get deflated," Hoiberg added, again according to Inside NU. "He's the best scorer in college basketball, he leads the nation in that area."

The Specific Defensive Approach Rivals Take to Guarding Nick Martinelli

The Field Of 68's Mike LaTulip recently unpacked how the University of Illinois opted to guard Martinelli on Wednesday. Granted, he still dropped 20 points on the Fighting Illini (on a bad-for-him 41.7 percent field goal shooting), but he achieved a lot of that offense at the free throw line, where he went 8-for-8.

As The Daily Northwestern's Charlie Perlman opined, Illinois head coach Brad Underwood's strategy (initially revealed by guard Kylan Boswell) is likely how the rest of the conference intends to slow down the senior sharpshooter.

Highly recommend this watch. This is the blueprint for how a lot of the B1G will guard Nick. https://t.co/caWuHYKyEP
— Charlie Perlman (@charlie_perlman) January 17, 2026

"So Illinois' principle was to send a second body if Martinelli went baseline, and Northwestern did a really good job throughout the game of keeping him in that middle third of the floor, and allowing him to kind of play in pockets. That way he can see everything in front of him, and you don't want to send to in the middle third of the floor — because everyone's kind of one pass away."

LaTulip goes on to observe that Boswell adjusted after Martinelli successfully passed out of double coverage in the long post. As LaTulip breaks down (watch the game time, it's pretty instructional), Boswell stuck with Martinelli on a drive and advised forward David Mirkovic to stay home on his man rather than provide help for a trap. Boswell, understanding Martinelli's tendency to spin back and to his left after settling his weight on his right foot, managed to pick off a steal and prompt a turnover.

This could be the unfortunate blueprint to muddying up what Martinelli likes to do inside.

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