Northwestern University Athletics
‘Cats Clamp Down on Defense in Second Round win over Indiana
3/12/2026 1:08:00 PM | Men's Basketball
CHICAGO — As he entered Northwestern's halftime locker room in a one-point game against Indiana on Wednesday night in the United Center, Sullivan-Ubben Head Men's Basketball Coach Chris Collins didn't need much to galvanize his team.
"You dream of playing in these kinds of games, playing Indiana University in the United Center on national TV in the second round of the Big Ten Tournament," Collins said. "If you can't get juiced up and have energy, then you should turn your jersey in."
"You don't want to waste it when you get chances like this to compete against storied programs on big stages, NBA arenas, national TV type stuff."
Collins presented his players with a simple question — "Do you guys want to win?" The Wildcats left nothing up to interpretation in their on-court retort, securing a 74-61 victory to advance to the Big Ten Tournament's third round.
"Keep pursuing the ball, keep being aggressive, keep being confident in ourselves and keep fighting," sophomore guard Angelo Ciaravino said of NU's mindset as it returned to the floor. "They were not going to give up, so we just had to stay in the whole game and just keep fighting. It's just a will to win."
An innate intensity shone in the second half's opening possession, when the 'Cats crashed the offensive glass for two key rebounds before senior forward Nick Martinelli gave his team a 38-37 advantage.
Northwestern never relinquished that lead as it put forth a second-half defensive clinic. In the game's latter 20 minutes, the Wildcats held the Hoosiers to just 5-of-20 field goal conversions and a 1-of-7 clip on threes.
"Everyone that was in there today, top to bottom, the second half was beautiful," Ciaravino said. "Both defensively and offensively, but defensively for sure. That's a big staple for our program, and we definitely locked in during the second half and got it done."
Junior guard Jayden Reid, who tallied seven points, six assists, five rebounds and a steal, said Indiana's second-half shooting woes were a testament to trusting the defensive game plan.
"The coaches tell me it always starts with me picking up full court," Reid said. "Not letting them get into their sets is half the battle.They're a very assist-dependent team. They weren't allowed to run their sets, kick it out to a shooter and we made them play one-on-one, which is not really their strength."
For first-year guard Jake West, who finished the game with 18 points and four assists, Northwestern's defense fueled its dominant stretch of play.
West said the 'Cats were relentless as they powered their way to the final buzzer.
"It just shows how competitive we are," West said. "A lot of people would be like, 'What's the point of playing? I want to go to Cancun.' But these guys here are really competitive. We really want to play for Northwestern, play for the N on the chest. It shows how much we want to win."
Countless hours poured into fundamentals and rotations in summer workouts came to fruition as the 'Cats turned in their stingiest 20 minutes of defensive play against Big Ten competition this season.
A mere two months after Collins challenged his team to return to the drawing board on the defensive side of the ball, NU has held six straight opponents under 70 points.
"I love everybody on the team — we all play for each other," Reid said. "We never gave up. We just came to practice with the same mindset every day of, 'How can we get better? How can we lock in?' We knew we weren't far off. Right now, we're rolling and just trying to keep it going."
The Wildcats will face 7-seed Purdue in a Big Ten Tournament third round matchup on Thursday night at 5:30 p.m. CT on BTN and WGN Radio 720. Northwestern will look to become the first-ever 15-seed to advance to a Big Ten Tournament quarterfinal.
"You dream of playing in these kinds of games, playing Indiana University in the United Center on national TV in the second round of the Big Ten Tournament," Collins said. "If you can't get juiced up and have energy, then you should turn your jersey in."
"You don't want to waste it when you get chances like this to compete against storied programs on big stages, NBA arenas, national TV type stuff."
Collins presented his players with a simple question — "Do you guys want to win?" The Wildcats left nothing up to interpretation in their on-court retort, securing a 74-61 victory to advance to the Big Ten Tournament's third round.
Defense made it happen ?? pic.twitter.com/b3AYgeJken
— Northwestern Basketball (@NUMensBball) March 12, 2026
"Keep pursuing the ball, keep being aggressive, keep being confident in ourselves and keep fighting," sophomore guard Angelo Ciaravino said of NU's mindset as it returned to the floor. "They were not going to give up, so we just had to stay in the whole game and just keep fighting. It's just a will to win."
An innate intensity shone in the second half's opening possession, when the 'Cats crashed the offensive glass for two key rebounds before senior forward Nick Martinelli gave his team a 38-37 advantage.
Northwestern never relinquished that lead as it put forth a second-half defensive clinic. In the game's latter 20 minutes, the Wildcats held the Hoosiers to just 5-of-20 field goal conversions and a 1-of-7 clip on threes.
"Everyone that was in there today, top to bottom, the second half was beautiful," Ciaravino said. "Both defensively and offensively, but defensively for sure. That's a big staple for our program, and we definitely locked in during the second half and got it done."
Junior guard Jayden Reid, who tallied seven points, six assists, five rebounds and a steal, said Indiana's second-half shooting woes were a testament to trusting the defensive game plan.
"The coaches tell me it always starts with me picking up full court," Reid said. "Not letting them get into their sets is half the battle.They're a very assist-dependent team. They weren't allowed to run their sets, kick it out to a shooter and we made them play one-on-one, which is not really their strength."
For first-year guard Jake West, who finished the game with 18 points and four assists, Northwestern's defense fueled its dominant stretch of play.
West said the 'Cats were relentless as they powered their way to the final buzzer.
"It just shows how competitive we are," West said. "A lot of people would be like, 'What's the point of playing? I want to go to Cancun.' But these guys here are really competitive. We really want to play for Northwestern, play for the N on the chest. It shows how much we want to win."
Countless hours poured into fundamentals and rotations in summer workouts came to fruition as the 'Cats turned in their stingiest 20 minutes of defensive play against Big Ten competition this season.
A mere two months after Collins challenged his team to return to the drawing board on the defensive side of the ball, NU has held six straight opponents under 70 points.
"I love everybody on the team — we all play for each other," Reid said. "We never gave up. We just came to practice with the same mindset every day of, 'How can we get better? How can we lock in?' We knew we weren't far off. Right now, we're rolling and just trying to keep it going."
The Wildcats will face 7-seed Purdue in a Big Ten Tournament third round matchup on Thursday night at 5:30 p.m. CT on BTN and WGN Radio 720. Northwestern will look to become the first-ever 15-seed to advance to a Big Ten Tournament quarterfinal.
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