Victory critical for Iowa, Northwestern in race for Big Ten tourney berths

Fifteen of the 18 schools in the Big Ten qualify for next month's conference tournament in Indianapolis.

Neither Iowa (15-13, 6-11 Big Ten) nor Northwestern (15-13, 6-11) have guaranteed a berth, which adds urgency to Friday's game between the Hawkeyes and host Wildcats in Evanston, Ill.

For Iowa, loser of six of eight after Tuesday's 20-point defeat at Illinois, a stronger start remains the objective. The Illinois game marked the program's sixth double-digit loss among the Hawkeyes' eight true road games (1-7).

"I feel like we're not aggressive enough coming out," said Hawkeyes guard Brock Harding, who paced the team with 16 points Tuesday. "Because we know that we don't want to quick-shoot the ball. But at some time, you have to come out and attack guys. Maybe get a foul call early. Get some free throws early in the game. Just kind of get some momentum on your side."

Northwestern returns home on the heels of successive road victories against Ohio State and Minnesota that erased the pain of a three-game losing streak.

Conference leading scorer Nick Martinelli (20.1 points per game) credited the surge to a resilient locker room that's still processing season-ending injuries to standout guards Brooks Barnhizer and Jalen Leach. Martinelli contributed a conference career-best 29 points to spark Tuesday's 75-63 win at Minnesota. Ty Berry was next with nine.

"I think it's just the culture that's been built in the last couple of years," Martinelli said. "Things might go wrong on the court, guys going down, but it's the culture that stands. All the new guys that have come in have embraced that culture, and that's why we've gotten it done these last two nights."

Iowa, Northwestern, Minnesota and Southern California each have six conference victories, with Penn State (five) and Washington (four) still in the hunt for the top 15 cut.

The Hawkeyes hope to sweep the season series with the Wildcats to clinch a potentially necessary tiebreaker. Iowa edged visiting Northwestern 80-79 on Dec. 3 as Josh Dix drilled a long, game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer.

Iowa leads the all-time series 126-61 and has won 11 of the past 12 meetings.

--Field Level Media