How to Watch Northwestern Men's Basketball at Minnesota: Preview, Predictions, TV

The 13-17 Northwestern Wildcats are playing for a Big Ten Tournament bid Saturday night.

Jan 3, 2026; Evanston, Illinois, USA: Northwestern Wildcats forward Nick Martinelli (2) shoots the ball over Minnesota Golden Gophers forward Cade Tyson (10) during the second half at Welsh-Ryan Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-Imagn Images | David Banks-Imagn Images

The 13-17 Northwestern Wildcats are playing for a Big Ten Tournament bid Saturday night, their regular season finale for 2025-26.

Sporting a paltry 5-14 conference record, Northwestern is currently very much on the bubble as the Big Ten's No. 14 seed. 15 of the conference's 18 teams make the cut. Why it's still even called the Big Ten, having absorbed some Pac-12 teams at this point, is anyone's guess.

But we digress.

Sporting a14-16 overall record, Minnesota has gone 7-12 in the Big Ten. The Minnesota Golden Gophers are two conference games clear of the Wildcats, meaning with one game to go, they're locked into a Big Ten Tournament berth.

Game Preview

The Golden Gophers are reeling after a 77-47 blowout loss to the Indiana Hoosiers, after letting Indiana nail 10 triples.

From WAYYYY downtown. 👌

📺: @BigTenNetwork pic.twitter.com/qfajy0OgJy

— Indiana Basketball (@IndianaMBB) March 5, 2026

The Wildcats handled the Hoosiers, 72-68, late last month. But their luck ran out earlier this week, when C.J. Cox's 21 second-half points helped the Purdue Boilermakers rally to best Northwestern, 70-66.

Northwestern X-Factors

This game could down to the two programs' most prolific senior scorers.

Minnesota guard Cade Tyson paces the Golden Gophers with 19.7 points on .494/.819/.429 shooting splits. Northwestern forward Nick Martinelli is the nation's sixth-leading scorer, averaging 22.7 points on a .501/.813/.421 slash line.

Prediction

This could be Martinelli's college career finale, if things don't go well. My money (figuratively speaking) is on him pulling off the W.

His 1687 career points rank seventh all-time in program history, just two points behind 5-foot-10 former All-Big Ten guard Michael Thompson's total. He'll be hard-pressed to catch up to Evan Eschmeyer's 1,805 and crack the top five.

Final Score Prediction: Northwestern 63, Minnesota 55.

How to Watch, Listen 

• Matchup: Northwestern (13-17, 5-14 B1G) vs Minnesota (14-16, 4-13 B1G)
• When: Saturday, March 7
• Where: Welsh-Ryan Arena, Minneapolis, MN
• Time: 8 p.m. CST 
• Watch: Big Ten Network (TV)
• Listen: WGN Radio 720 AM, SiriusXM Channel 388, The Varsity Network

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