Friday, November 22
Evanston, Ill.
7 p.m. CT
Northwestern
vs
Pepperdine
Photo by: Griffin Quinn / Northwestern Athletics
Northwestern Closes Out Homestand on Friday against Pepperdine
11/21/2024 5:48:00 PM | Men's Basketball
EVANSTON, Ill. – Northwestern welcomes West Coast Conference foe Pepperdine to Welsh-Ryan Arena at 7 p.m. CT on Friday, Nov. 22, for the final game of a season-long four-game homestand. The game will air on B1G+ with Eli Berk (play-by-play) and Noah Coffman (analyst) on the call, and WGN Radio 720 with Dave Eanet (play-by-play) and Billy McKinney (analyst) describing the action.
In their last time out on Tuesday evening (Nov. 18), the Wildcats (4-1) edged out a 72-69 win over Montana State to start the season 4-0 at home for the second consecutive season. Senior Brooks Barnhizer stuffed the stat-sheet with 20 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and three steals, while junior Nick Martinelli led the team in scoring with 22 points while recording seven rebounds and three steals. Graduate student Jalen Leach added 12 points, two rebounds and two assists, while graduate student Matthew Nicholson tied his career-high of four blocks. As a team, Northwestern tallied seven blocks, its most since swatting eight shots at Rutgers last season on Feb. 15, 2024.
Barnhizer posted the first 20+ point double-double of his career and became the first Northwestern player to record a game of at least 20 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and three steals since at least 2005-06. Barnhizer and Martinelli are the first two Wildcats to score at least 20 points in the same game this season. Martinelli, who is leading the Big Ten averaging 24.6 points per game, scored in double figures for the fifth consecutive game, the longest streak of his career. Martinelli also became the first Northwestern player since Vedran Vukusic in the 2005-06 season to score 20+ points in at least four of the first five games of the season.
Over the last three seasons, Northwestern has won 48 total games, which ranks third among Big Ten schools, trailing Purdue (67) and Illinois (52). NU has won 24 Big Ten Conference games over the last two seasons, trailing only Purdue (32) and Illinois (25). Northwestern and Michigan State are the only two Big Ten teams to win at least one game in each of the 2022-23 and 2023-24 NCAA Tournaments.
Sullivan-Ubben Head Coach Chris Collins is in his 12th season at the helm for the Wildcats, and his 180 wins rank third-most by a head coach in program history. The unanimous 2023 Big Ten Coach of the Year, Collins has guided the team to back-to-back 20+ win campaigns. Of the six 20 or more win seasons in school history, Collins has recorded four of them (2015-16, 2016-17, 2022-23, 2023-24). Over the last two seasons, the Northwestern has won 24 Big Ten Conference games, their most ever in back-to-back seasons in school history, surpassing 20 wins encompassing the 1930-31 and 1931-32 seasons.
Northwestern is 0-2 all-time against the Waves (1-3), with both meetings occurring in 2000. The losses were determined by one and two points, respectively.
Pepperdine enters the tilt on a three-game losing skid with road losses to UC San Diego, UC Irvine and UNLV. The Waves are in their first season under Coach Ed Schilling, previously an assistant coach at Grand Canyon. Stefan Todorovic leads Pepperdine and the WCC in scoring averaging 23.5 points per game, while shooting 57.7-percent from the field and 40.0-percent from beyond the arc.
The Wildcats will travel to Tempe, Ariz. for the Arizona Tip-Off MTE. They will face Butler for the first time since 2016 on Thursday, Nov. 28 at 6 p.m. CT on CBS Sports Network and WGN Radio 720. The following day, Northwestern will face either Mississippi State or UNLV at 6 or 8:30 p.m. CT on CBS Sports Network and WGN Radio 720.
In their last time out on Tuesday evening (Nov. 18), the Wildcats (4-1) edged out a 72-69 win over Montana State to start the season 4-0 at home for the second consecutive season. Senior Brooks Barnhizer stuffed the stat-sheet with 20 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and three steals, while junior Nick Martinelli led the team in scoring with 22 points while recording seven rebounds and three steals. Graduate student Jalen Leach added 12 points, two rebounds and two assists, while graduate student Matthew Nicholson tied his career-high of four blocks. As a team, Northwestern tallied seven blocks, its most since swatting eight shots at Rutgers last season on Feb. 15, 2024.
Barnhizer posted the first 20+ point double-double of his career and became the first Northwestern player to record a game of at least 20 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and three steals since at least 2005-06. Barnhizer and Martinelli are the first two Wildcats to score at least 20 points in the same game this season. Martinelli, who is leading the Big Ten averaging 24.6 points per game, scored in double figures for the fifth consecutive game, the longest streak of his career. Martinelli also became the first Northwestern player since Vedran Vukusic in the 2005-06 season to score 20+ points in at least four of the first five games of the season.
Over the last three seasons, Northwestern has won 48 total games, which ranks third among Big Ten schools, trailing Purdue (67) and Illinois (52). NU has won 24 Big Ten Conference games over the last two seasons, trailing only Purdue (32) and Illinois (25). Northwestern and Michigan State are the only two Big Ten teams to win at least one game in each of the 2022-23 and 2023-24 NCAA Tournaments.
Sullivan-Ubben Head Coach Chris Collins is in his 12th season at the helm for the Wildcats, and his 180 wins rank third-most by a head coach in program history. The unanimous 2023 Big Ten Coach of the Year, Collins has guided the team to back-to-back 20+ win campaigns. Of the six 20 or more win seasons in school history, Collins has recorded four of them (2015-16, 2016-17, 2022-23, 2023-24). Over the last two seasons, the Northwestern has won 24 Big Ten Conference games, their most ever in back-to-back seasons in school history, surpassing 20 wins encompassing the 1930-31 and 1931-32 seasons.
Northwestern is 0-2 all-time against the Waves (1-3), with both meetings occurring in 2000. The losses were determined by one and two points, respectively.
Pepperdine enters the tilt on a three-game losing skid with road losses to UC San Diego, UC Irvine and UNLV. The Waves are in their first season under Coach Ed Schilling, previously an assistant coach at Grand Canyon. Stefan Todorovic leads Pepperdine and the WCC in scoring averaging 23.5 points per game, while shooting 57.7-percent from the field and 40.0-percent from beyond the arc.
The Wildcats will travel to Tempe, Ariz. for the Arizona Tip-Off MTE. They will face Butler for the first time since 2016 on Thursday, Nov. 28 at 6 p.m. CT on CBS Sports Network and WGN Radio 720. The following day, Northwestern will face either Mississippi State or UNLV at 6 or 8:30 p.m. CT on CBS Sports Network and WGN Radio 720.
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