Strong shooting night lifts Northwestern past Minnesota

Field Level Media|published: Tue 25th February, 21:27 2025

Feb 25, 2025; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Northwestern Wildcats forward Luke Hunger (33) celebrates his basket against the Minnesota Golden Gophers during the first half at Williams Arena. Mandatory Credit: Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

Nick Martinelli scored 29 points on 11-for-20 shooting and Northwestern pulled away for a 75-63 win over Minnesota in a Big Ten Conference matchup Tuesday night in Minneapolis.

Ty Berry added nine points and a team-high seven rebounds for Northwestern (15-13, 6-11), which has won back-to-back games for the first time since winning four straight in December. K.J. Windham came off the bench to lead the team with seven assists and three steals to go along with eight points.

Dawson Garcia scored 26 points and grabbed nine rebounds to lead Minnesota (14-14, 6-11). The Golden Gophers have lost two in a row after winning three of their previous four games.

Northwestern shot 49.1 percent (28 of 57) overall and 47.4 percent (9 of 19) from 3-point range. Minnesota shot 42.1 percent (24 of 57) from the field and 26.3 percent (5 of 19) from long distance.

The Wildcats opened a 17-point lead with 7:05 remaining. Martinelli made a jump shot off an assist from Windham to put Northwestern on top 64-47.

Minnesota responded with an 8-2 run to cut the deficit to 66-55 with 3:58 to play. Lu'Cye Patterson scored five points during the scoring run as the Golden Gophers scrambled to have a comeback chance.

Northwestern held firm, however, as it led by at least nine points the rest of the way. Justin Mullins made a layup to push the Wildcats' lead to 74-61 with 53 seconds to go.

The Wildcats led 36-31 at the half.

Northwestern surged to a 10-0 lead to start the game. Mullins finished the early scoring binge with a layup off a pass from Jordan Clayton.

Minnesota battled back to even the score at 21-all with 7:04 remaining before the break. Parker Fox made a layup to erase the deficit.

The Wildcats climbed ahead by eight points on a layup by Luke Hunger with 1:22 left in the half.

Garcia made a 3-pointer with 1:07 to go before halftime to trim the deficit to five.

Northwestern won on the road for only the second time in 10 games. Minnesota fell to 10-8 at home.

--Field Level Media