Barely a week ago, Northwestern coach Chris Collins announced that senior guard Brooks Barnhizer, the Wildcats’ second-leading scorer and top rebounder, would miss the remainder of the season with a foot injury.
In response, Northwestern went out and snapped a three-game losing streak with a 77-75 Big Ten Conference victory against visiting Southern California on Tuesday.
The Wildcats (13-10, 4-8 Big Ten) will aim to build on that victory on Saturday when they travel to Seattle to meet Washington (11-11, 2-9).
“I love that kid. Not seeing him be able to get out there just sucks, but we’re gonna play our butts off for him,” Collins said of Barnhizer, who was also among the Big Ten’s leaders in assists (4.2) and steals (2.3) per game.
“He’s had an unfair year. He had set everything up to have this be the best year yet and to lead this program and to take us to new heights, and to just have the injuries just derail that, it’s unfair,” Collins said. “But it’s part of life, and he’s going to be stronger for it.”
Forward Nick Martinelli made up for Barnhizer’s absence on Tuesday with 27 points and 13 rebounds, 10 of which came on the offensive glass. He also made the winning shot with 2.6 seconds remaining.
Martinelli averages a team-best 19.7 points per game, while guard Jalen Leach chips in 14.3.
The Huskies snapped a six-game skid with a 71-68 victory at Minnesota on Feb. 1 and seemed in position to make it two wins in a row when they built a 10-point halftime lead against visiting Nebraska on Wednesday.
But that possibility washed away as the Cornhuskers outscored the hosts by 24 points after halftime to post an 86-72 win.
“Tale of two halves,” first-year Washington coach Danny Sprinkle said. “We didn’t come out with energy (in the second half) for whatever reason. That’s what we challenged them at halftime. Forty minutes of energy. … It wasn’t there in that second half.”
The Huskies made 10 of their first 12 field-goal attempts, including seven 3-pointers in that span, to take a 13-point lead midway through the opening half.
And then …
“We got hit and we didn’t hit back,” Washington guard Mekhi Mason said.
Mason provided plenty of fight for the Huskies, though. He matched his season high with 23 points on 8-of-12 shooting, including 4-of-6 from 3-point range.
–Field Level Media
