The game sure looked just about over when No. 19 Illinois took a 46-36 lead against Northwestern on a Kasparas Jakucionis three-pointer with 10:01 to go.
It was just one of a load of huge threes hit by Jakucionis in a second half that seemed clearly destined to go the Illini’s way.
But Northwestern answered — over and over, time and again — with veterans Brooks Barnhizer and Nick Martinelli and portal addition Jalen Leach refusing to be brushed aside. Barnhizer was everywhere at both ends. Martinelli kept scoring and finished with 27. Leach made timely contributions.
Somehow, the Wildcats (7-3, 1-1 Big Ten) got it to overtime on a night when they shot just 4-for-21 from three. Martinelli scored seven in the extra session as his team bounced back from a crushing, last-second loss at Iowa and the Illini (6-2) couldn’t seal the deal their Big Ten opener.
“We knew we had to win,” Wildcats coach Chris Collins said. “You have two of these games out of the gate. Worst-case scenario, to stay in it, you’ve got to be 1-1.”
On a brutal shooting night — Illinois made only nine of 35 long balls, six of them by Jakucionis — the vibe changed on a gorgeous Illini bucket with 2:51 left in the first half. First, Lithuanian 18-year-old Jakucionis whipped a one-handed pass around a Martinelli-Matthew Nicholson double-team to 7-1 Croatian Tomislav Ivisic — another first-year Illini player — who was crashing into the lane. Ivisic, a lefty, then flipped a behind-the-back pass with his off hand that split defenders Jalen Leach and Barnhizer. Running the baseline, 18-year-old Canadian Will Riley accepted the ridiculously slick dime and laid in a reverse.
But Barnhizer kept the Wildcats alive for critical stretches with his physical play and booty ball, creating space and shots by backing down defenders who couldn’t handle him. And Martinelli, not the smoothest scorer — but relentless — was enormously effective with his crafty leftiness.
Illinois’ Riley, Ben Humrichous and Kylan Boswell combined to miss 17 of 18 three-point attempts. And a calling card of Brad Underwood teams — offensive rebounding — was nowhere to be found.
“We’ve got to find some guys tough enough to want to go do that,” Underwood said.
“You can either accept it or you can learn from it. And in this program, we don’t accept losing.”
But Northwestern now has won three straight at home in the rivalry. Illinois has won the other nine of the last 12 meetings overall.
“Northwestern’s really good,” Underwood said. “People need to wake the hell up and realize this is a good basketball team with a hell of a basketball coach, and it’s a really hard place to play. Kudos to them.”
