Friday, February 28
Evanston, Ill.
8 p.m. CT
Northwestern
vs
Iowa
Winners of Two Straight, Northwestern Returns Home to Face Iowa
2/27/2025 6:08:00 PM | Men's Basketball
EVANSTON, Ill. – Winners of its last two games, Northwestern men's basketball plays its penultimate home contest of the season against Iowa at 8 p.m. CT on Friday, Feb. 28. The game will air on FS1 with Connor Onion (play-by-play) and LaPhonso Ellis (analyst) and can be heard on WGN Radio 720 and SiriusXM Channels 106/195 with Dave Eanet (play-by-play) and Billy McKinney (analyst).
Sullivan-Ubben Head Men's Basketball Coach Chris Collins is one win away from moving into second place in Northwestern's all-time coaching wins leaderboard. His 192 wins are currently tied with Bill Carmody (2000-13) for second-most wins in program history. Naismith Hall of Famer Dutch Lonborg (1928-50) holds the school record with 236 victories.
Last time out, the Wildcats (15-13, 6-11 Big Ten) notched a 75-63 road triumph over Minnesota on Tuesday (Feb. 25). After defeating Ohio State 70-49 on Feb. 20, the 'Cats have won back-to-back road games by double digits for the first time since 2012-13.
Junior Nick Martinelli scored a Big Ten career-high 29 points on 11-of-20 shooting, while pulling down five rebounds. He became the first Wildcat forward to score 29+ points in a Big Ten game since Feb. 5, 2012, when John Shurna posted 29 against Indiana.
Northwestern has limited its opponent to fewer than 70 points and forced 13+ turnovers in three consecutive contests. The 'Cats recorded 21 assists on Tuesday night, their most in a Big Ten game since March 9, 2024, against Minnesota, when Northwestern totaled 23 helpers. The 'Cats knocked down 9-of-18 (50%) three-point attempts.
First-year K.J. Windham tallied eight points and posted career-highs of seven assists and three steals. Windham became the first Northwestern first-year to record 7+ assists in a game since Boo Buie had seven against Nebraska on March 1, 2020.
Martinelli leads the Big Ten in scoring and ranks 14th nationally, averaging 20.1 points per game this season. The Glenview, Ill. product, who played high school basketball 10 miles away from Welsh-Ryan Arena at Glenbrook South HS, is attempting to become just the fourth Wildcat to lead the league in scoring, joining John Shurna (2011-12, 20.0), Joe Ruklick (1958-59, 23.0), and Ray Ragelis (1950-51, 19.1). He is the first Wildcat to average at least 20 points per game, while shooting at least 46% from the field since Evan Eschmeyer in 1997-98 (21.7 ppg, 61.0%).
Martinelli ranks second in the country in scoring by high-major forwards, trailing only the nation's scoring leader Eric Dixon (23.3, Villanova). Martinelli leads the Big Ten with 25 games with 15+ points and has scored 15+ points in 13 straight contests, which is the longest streak by a Wildcat since John Shurna's 13-game streak from Jan. 1 - Feb. 18, 2012. With three regular season games remaining, Martinelli ranks fourth in the program's single-season field goals made leaderboard with 213 and eighth in the program's single-season points leaderboard with 562.
Over his last five games, graduate student Ty Berry is averaging 16.8 points and 4.0 rebounds on 50.8% shooting from the field and 40.0% shooting from beyond the arc. It is tied for the highest scoring five-game stretch of his career. Berry has played 138 career games, the third most in program history and ranks fifth in career 3-pointers made with 244.
Northwestern is scoring an average of 73.5 points per game this season, its highest scoring season since the 1993-94 team averaged 75.0 points per game. The Wildcats have scored 70+ points in 13 conference games this season, their most since 1989-90 (13).
As a team, the Wildcats are averaging 9.9 turnovers lost per game, which is the fewest in the Big Ten, and ranks 23rd fewest nationally. Northwestern has turned the ball over 10 or fewer times in seven of its last nine contests. Northwestern ranks second in the Big Ten and 19th nationally with a turnover margin of +3.7.
The Wildcats are forcing an average of 13.6 turnovers per game, which ranks fifth in the conference. It's the program's highest average since forcing 14.9 turnovers per game in 2008-09. The 'Cats rank fourth in the Big Ten, averaging 7.3 steals per game. Northwestern has averaged over 7+ steals per game in each of the last three seasons, the first time it has done that since 2006-09.
Earlier this season against Iowa on Dec. 3, the 'Cats fended off a 17-point Hawkeyes lead before Josh Dix threw in a buzzer-beating 3-pointer with less than one second on the game clock in an 80-79 setback in Iowa City. Senior Brooks Barnhizer tallied 21 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals, while Berry logged 20 points and Martinelli added 19 points.
The Hawkeyes (15-13, 6-11 Big Ten) have split their last two games, defeating Washington 85-79 (Feb. 22) at home before falling at Illinois 81-61 (Feb. 25). Northwestern has scored 70+ points against the Hawkeyes in five straight games and seven of the last eight games.
Northwestern's Senior Night and final home game of the regular season will be Monday, March 3 at 8 p.m. CT against UCLA. The game will air on FS1 and ESPN 1000 WMVP.
Sullivan-Ubben Head Men's Basketball Coach Chris Collins is one win away from moving into second place in Northwestern's all-time coaching wins leaderboard. His 192 wins are currently tied with Bill Carmody (2000-13) for second-most wins in program history. Naismith Hall of Famer Dutch Lonborg (1928-50) holds the school record with 236 victories.
Last time out, the Wildcats (15-13, 6-11 Big Ten) notched a 75-63 road triumph over Minnesota on Tuesday (Feb. 25). After defeating Ohio State 70-49 on Feb. 20, the 'Cats have won back-to-back road games by double digits for the first time since 2012-13.
Junior Nick Martinelli scored a Big Ten career-high 29 points on 11-of-20 shooting, while pulling down five rebounds. He became the first Wildcat forward to score 29+ points in a Big Ten game since Feb. 5, 2012, when John Shurna posted 29 against Indiana.
Northwestern has limited its opponent to fewer than 70 points and forced 13+ turnovers in three consecutive contests. The 'Cats recorded 21 assists on Tuesday night, their most in a Big Ten game since March 9, 2024, against Minnesota, when Northwestern totaled 23 helpers. The 'Cats knocked down 9-of-18 (50%) three-point attempts.
First-year K.J. Windham tallied eight points and posted career-highs of seven assists and three steals. Windham became the first Northwestern first-year to record 7+ assists in a game since Boo Buie had seven against Nebraska on March 1, 2020.
Martinelli leads the Big Ten in scoring and ranks 14th nationally, averaging 20.1 points per game this season. The Glenview, Ill. product, who played high school basketball 10 miles away from Welsh-Ryan Arena at Glenbrook South HS, is attempting to become just the fourth Wildcat to lead the league in scoring, joining John Shurna (2011-12, 20.0), Joe Ruklick (1958-59, 23.0), and Ray Ragelis (1950-51, 19.1). He is the first Wildcat to average at least 20 points per game, while shooting at least 46% from the field since Evan Eschmeyer in 1997-98 (21.7 ppg, 61.0%).
Martinelli ranks second in the country in scoring by high-major forwards, trailing only the nation's scoring leader Eric Dixon (23.3, Villanova). Martinelli leads the Big Ten with 25 games with 15+ points and has scored 15+ points in 13 straight contests, which is the longest streak by a Wildcat since John Shurna's 13-game streak from Jan. 1 - Feb. 18, 2012. With three regular season games remaining, Martinelli ranks fourth in the program's single-season field goals made leaderboard with 213 and eighth in the program's single-season points leaderboard with 562.
Over his last five games, graduate student Ty Berry is averaging 16.8 points and 4.0 rebounds on 50.8% shooting from the field and 40.0% shooting from beyond the arc. It is tied for the highest scoring five-game stretch of his career. Berry has played 138 career games, the third most in program history and ranks fifth in career 3-pointers made with 244.
Northwestern is scoring an average of 73.5 points per game this season, its highest scoring season since the 1993-94 team averaged 75.0 points per game. The Wildcats have scored 70+ points in 13 conference games this season, their most since 1989-90 (13).
As a team, the Wildcats are averaging 9.9 turnovers lost per game, which is the fewest in the Big Ten, and ranks 23rd fewest nationally. Northwestern has turned the ball over 10 or fewer times in seven of its last nine contests. Northwestern ranks second in the Big Ten and 19th nationally with a turnover margin of +3.7.
The Wildcats are forcing an average of 13.6 turnovers per game, which ranks fifth in the conference. It's the program's highest average since forcing 14.9 turnovers per game in 2008-09. The 'Cats rank fourth in the Big Ten, averaging 7.3 steals per game. Northwestern has averaged over 7+ steals per game in each of the last three seasons, the first time it has done that since 2006-09.
Earlier this season against Iowa on Dec. 3, the 'Cats fended off a 17-point Hawkeyes lead before Josh Dix threw in a buzzer-beating 3-pointer with less than one second on the game clock in an 80-79 setback in Iowa City. Senior Brooks Barnhizer tallied 21 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals, while Berry logged 20 points and Martinelli added 19 points.
The Hawkeyes (15-13, 6-11 Big Ten) have split their last two games, defeating Washington 85-79 (Feb. 22) at home before falling at Illinois 81-61 (Feb. 25). Northwestern has scored 70+ points against the Hawkeyes in five straight games and seven of the last eight games.
Northwestern's Senior Night and final home game of the regular season will be Monday, March 3 at 8 p.m. CT against UCLA. The game will air on FS1 and ESPN 1000 WMVP.
Players Mentioned
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