Huskies Throw Block Party at Northwestern

Northwestern had the nation's leading scorer, but the University of Washington basketball team responded with a human lid cover plus a 5 o'clock shadow.

Nick Martinelli, a 24-point scorer on most nights, never really had a chance at hitting his average.

With Franck Kepnang slapping practically every other shot into Lake Michigan and Wesley Yates III going belly-up with the point-minded Martinelli, the Huskies emerged with an elusive Big Ten road victory, beating up the host Wildcats 76-62 on Saturday in Evanston, Illinois.

The 6-foot-11 Kepnang had five blocks in the game's first 11 minutes, including getting a big mitt on a couple of Martinelli shots, to set a physical tone for the evening. He finished the night by tying his career and season best with 6.

Kepnang had a stat line of 2 points, 9 rebounds and those 6 blocks -- and likely would have set a personal best in rejections had he not got into second-half foul trouble and sat out much of the second half.

"I thought Franck Kepnang was absolutely awesome," UW coach Danny Sprinkle said.

Huskies guard Wesley Yates III (9) and Wildcats forward Nick Martinelli (2) go for the ball in Evanston. | David Banks-Imagn Images

Finally hitting his stride, Yates played exquisite offensive and defense, coming up with 15 of his game-high 21 points by halftime while limiting the 6-foot-7 Martinelli to just 6 points at the break on 2-of-5 shooting.

Add to that Hannes Steinbach contributing his 14th double-double performance with 22 points and 14 rebounds, and Zoom Diallo also coming up with 22 points, 13 over the final seven minutes.

Martinelli ended up with 19 points, hitting 6 of 14 shots, 1 of 4 behind the line.

"I was absolutely up for it," Yates said. "I pretty much knew all the spots he would catch it."

Thus the Huskies (12-10 overall, 4-7 Big Ten) secured just their second Big Ten road win and a split of their state of Illinois road trip.

Similar to the previous game against Illinois, the Huskies got off to a fast start, building 8-4 and 13-6 leads. Unlike Thursday's outing, Danny Sprinkle's team went for Northwestern's throat.

With 8:13 left in the opening half, Diallo tipped in a missed shot to put the UW ahead for good at 19-18.

A minute before the break, the Huskies had taken control when Yates drained a 3-pointer for 39-25 advantage.

Huskies guard Zoom Diallo (5) grabs rebound surrounded by Northwestern players. | David Banks-Imagn Images

Northwestern (10-12, 2-9) looked shook with Kepnang flying all over the place in the key and Martinelli having a rare off night.

Inside the first two minutes of the second half, Kepnang picked up his sixth block on a Martinelli shot to tie his season and career high, previously done against Southern and Utah.

With 16:35 left to play, Steinbach dropped in a 3-pointer from the top of the key to give his team a 48-27 lead and this one appeared all but over.

Ah, but Northwestern had a run in it and whittled the lead down to 53-45 with 10 minutes left as Martinelli finally got untracked some.

Yet it was such difficult outing for the senior from Belleville, Illinois, that he banked in a 3-pointer at one point.

Sprinkle's team enjoyed a 45-31 rebound advantage and shot 10 for 22 from 3-point range.

The Huskies had such an edge about them on this ngiht, Steinbach and Diallo each drew technical fouls. The big man was whistled for arguing an official's call and Diallo was penalized for getting into a verbal tirade with the Northwestern bench, which also drew a T.

The UW now returns home to face Iowa (15-5, 5-4) on Wednesday night with an 8 o'clock tipoff.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: