Martinelli, West Help Northwestern Shock Indiana, Advance to Big Ten's Third Round
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The Northwestern Wildcats look... pretty good right now in the 2026 Big Ten Tournament.
Northwestern built on its winning ways Wednesday night, fresh off a solid first-round victory over the No. 18-seeded Penn State Nittany Lions. In front of a lively United Center crowd, the No. 15-seeded Wildcats upset the No. 10-seeded Indiana Hoosiers in a 74-61 blowout.
If you look a bit closer, though, the result couldn't have been a total shock. After all, Northwestern has now beaten Indiana in seven straight contests.
SEVEN* STRAIGHT OVER IU 😼 https://t.co/e8RQjH4hsn pic.twitter.com/CyHDjNgGvJ
— Northwestern Basketball (@NUMensBball) March 12, 2026
Indiana actually led by a point at the break, 37-36, but a 38-24 rally from Northwestern in the second half helped the Wildcats secure the surprise dub.
To Northwestern fans' further lack of surprise, two-time All-Big Ten Team senior standout Nick Martinelli led the way on offense for the Wildcats. The 6-foot-7 Glenbrook South product scored a team-most 28 points on an efficient 10-of-18 shooting line from the field, plus 7-of-9 shooting from the foul line.
Only one other player even scored in double figures for the now-15-18 Wildcats, freshman guard Jake West. The 6-foot-3 first-year player notched 18 points while shooting 7-of-14 from the floor (2-of-5 from distance) and 2-of-2 from the charity stripe.
The kid was absolutely fearless, frequently slashing to the cup with aplomb, and suddenly is feeling like the club's heir apparent to Martinelli when he departs for (hopefully) greener NBA pastures this summer.
Jake West. A star in the making 🌠
— Northwestern Basketball (@NUMensBball) March 12, 2026
🟣 18 pts
🟣 4 asts
🟣 3 rebs
🟣 1 stl pic.twitter.com/9cx05j06j3
After the victory, an ebullient Martinelli beamed about the Wildcats' next opportunity, per Northwestern's social media.
"We obviously have an opportunity tomorrow. I don't even know how we're going to be able to sleep tonight," Martinelli reflected. "We're so excited to get to play again."
The competition Thursday will be a bit stiffer, as the Big Ten Tournament's No. 7 seed, the Purdue Boilermakers (23-8 overall, 13-7 Big Ten), await.
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An Evanston native, Alex Kirschenbaum is also a proud Northwestern alum. He has written for Bleacher Nation, Newsweek, Sports Illustrated, Hoops Rumors, Trailers From Hell, Men's Journal, and Bulls fan sites Blog-A-Bull and Pippen Ain't Easy, among others. Alex knows Zach Collins has given the Bulls some good years, but he'll never forgive the then-Gonzaga center for that very obvious goaltend against the Wildcats during the second round of the 2017 NCAA Tournament.