No. 8 Nebraska Stays Undefeated Against Northwestern in 77-58 Blowout

The Northwestern Wildcats' season might just have ended on Saturday afternoon.

Senior wing Nick Martinelli — one of the best offensive talents in the nation — did what he could, and freshman forward Tre Singleton enjoyed a strong showing, but nobody else did much of anything offensively. Point-of-attack defense and interior protection were both massive issues on the other end.

The visiting Nebraska Cornhuskers, through the tutelage of ex-Chicago Bulls head coach Fred Hoiberg, put on an absolute clinic in the second half of a Welsh-Ryan Arena home tilt. The final tally: 77-58. Northwestern has now dropped its fifth straight contest, and has fallen to a middling 8-10 record on the year (0-7 in the Big Ten).

Northwestern's guard play has been a sore spot all season, as has its 3-point shooting. While the team's collective marksmanship distance was competent-if-infrequent on Saturday, the Wildcats' backcourt options continued to look horrific on offense.

Guard Jayden Reid, coming off a season-best scoring night as a sixth man against the Fighting Illini, did indeed remain a bench option for Chris Collins. He's a solid fastbreak player, which in itself makes him an awkward fit alongside the slower Martinelli. So separating that duo made sense.

The 5-foot-10 USF transfer, whose defense was so porous against Rutgers that Collins opted to downgrade him to a reserve role, felt like maybe he had found his best fit on the 'Cats. But he could not match his 28-point night Saturday.

With Martinelli frequently being trapped in double coverages, someone needed to step up. That someone wasn't Reid, but — in the first half at least — Singleton enjoyed an encouraging start.

A Close First Half, Albeit With Ominous Signs

In the opening half, Singleton chipped in eight points on 3-of-6 field goal shooting and 2-of-2 free throw shooting. The 6-foot-8 newbie was aggressive in looking for his own shot, and his size and strength served him well.

Martinelli inevitably paced all scorers at the break with 15 points on 6-of-13 shooting from the field (2-of-2 shooting from distance) and 1-of-2 shooting from the charity stripe, plus eight rebounds.

Nobody else did much of anything for the Wildcats. Only four Northwestern players managed to score at all, despite nine players suiting up. Nebraska led at the break, 34-29. It marked just the second time the Wildcats had been limited to under 30 points in a half all year.

Pryce Sandfort, who has a quick release on his pull-up jumpers, led the Cornhuskers with nine points. The Wildcats managed to stay in the game with a surprisingly strong rebounding performance in the half, where they led Nebraska, 21-14.

An Embarrassing Second Half

In the second half, Nebraska started to create some separation with an early 9-0 run to build up a nine-point edge, 43-34. A Sandford triple helped Nebraska build up a double-edge, 46-36, at the 15:11 mark. He has now made at least three triples in seven of his last eight games.

Sandfort only got more comfortable as the game progressed. Things got out of control thanks to an 11-0 Nebraska run midway through the third quarter. Suddenly, Northwestern found itself trailing by 19 points after a Sandfort 23-footer, 63-44, with 7:42 remaining in regulation.

By 1:19, Collins waved the white flag, swapping in his deep-bench subs with the game fully cooked.

Post-Mortem

Three Nebraska players finished in double-digits, with Sandfort (22 points) and reserve Braden Frager (20) each scoring 20 or more.

Martinelli notched his ninth straight 20+ point game. The 6-foot-7 Glenbrook South alum notched a 22-point, 10-rebound double-double.

Only one other Northwestern player scored more than six points in Singleton, who finished with 14 points on 6-of-13 shooting from the field and 2-of-2 free throw shooting. Singleton's size made him a formidable foe on both ends. In one sequence typical of his big night, he at one point knocked down a lengthy mid-range jumper and followed that up with a massive block on the very next play.

Center Arrinten Page, ostensibly the Wildcats' second-best player this year, had a terrible game. He only suited up for nine minutes, and was benched for Northwestern's final 17:35.

Collins insisted that, counter to his approach against Illinois, he leaned on a small-ball lineup to compete with Nebraska's shooters.

"I just didn't feel he was playing that well. Tough matchup, they were playing five guards," Collins told reporters postgame, per Inside NU. "We're going to stick with him and hopefully get him ready to play on Wednesday night."

Page may not be a great rim protector, but he's still a big body with some offensive upside. He could have helped.

Nebraska shot and made far more treys (11-of-26 shooting, 42 percent) than Northwestern did (5-of-14 shooting, 36 percent). The Huskers also took five more trips to the free throw line, forced Northwestern into 11 turnovers (to their five), and nailed a whopping 51 percent of their field goal takes.

All told, an emphatic 43-29 Nebraska edge in the game's second half was achieved with frequent movement and efficient shooting.

The Cornhuskers' 18-0 start represents the best start in program history. Big Red now has a shot at 20-0 season start, as the program next faces Washington and Minnesota. the 10-7 Washington Huskies (2-4 in the Big Ten) and the 10-8 Minnesota Golden Gophers (3-4 in the Big Ten).

Next up for Northwestern this coming week is a pair of conference road tilts, against the USC Trojans and UCLA Bruins.

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