The Washington Huskies (11-10, 3-7 in conference) traveled to Evanston, Ill., on Saturday to take on the Northwestern Wildcats (10-11, 2-8 in conference). The Huskies were looking for a win to earn a split on the two-game road trip. Washington competed hard for 40 minutes at No. 9-ranked Illinois but came up short, losing 75-66 this past Wednesday. The Wildcats were coming off a 94-73 blowout win over Penn State. Nick Martinelli, the nation’s leading scorer, dropped 34 points on the Nittany Lions in Wednesday’s victory.
To beat the Wildcats, slowing down Martinelli would be crucial. Washington also needed to make more three-point shots against Northwestern following a poor shooting performance against Illinois. Washington made just six of 23 three-point attempts in that game, shooting 26% from downtown. Against Northwestern, the Huskies had a better three-point shooting night, played great defense, and relied on a trio of scorers to dominate the Wildcats.
Washington stifles Northwestern and top scorer, Martinelli, as both teams look for offense early
The Huskies’ defense kept them in front as both teams struggled to score points early on. Washington held a narrow 21-20 lead with 5:46 left in the half, behind scoring from six different players: Hannes Steinbach had eight points, Jacob Ognacevic scored four, Bryson Tucker had three, while Wesley Yates, Zoom Diallo, and Franck Kepnang each scored two. While scoring was a challenge early, the Huskies’ defense stymied Martinelli, the Wildcats’ leading scorer. In the first 14 minutes of the game, Washington held Martinelli to just four points, as he went just one of five from the field.
Washington plays a complete first half defensively
The Huskies continued their strong defensive effort in the closing minutes of the first half. Holding Martinelli to six first-half points. In addition to stopping the Wildcats’ senior forward, Washington held Northwestern to 33.3% from the field. Kepnang led the way for the Huskies with five blocks in the first half. The Dawgs’ defensive rebounding was another key to their success on defense. Washington was able to keep the Wildcats off the offensive glass. Northwestern had just two second-chance points on five offensive rebounds for the half. Steinbach and Tucker each led the defensive rebounding effort with four rebounds each, while Diallo and Kepnang grabbed three apiece.
Huskies heat up from three, as Yates helps Washington take control of the game
While the Huskies played strong defense, they finished the half strong with better three-point shooting. After starting the game just one of five from three, Washington found its rhythm from deep in the final minutes of the half. The Huskies made four of their last five three-point attempts to pull away from the Wildcats. Yates led the way, knocking down three shots from the perimeter in the final minutes of the half. His 15 first-half points powered Washington to a 39-27 lead over Northwestern at halftime.
Washington jumps out to a big lead to start the second half, then has a cold spell offensively
Washington went on a 9-0 run to begin the next half. Yates hit a three-pointer, then Steinbach scored the next six points. The Huskies had a 48-27 lead over the Wildcats with 16:38 remaining in the game. However, Washington would shoot just 1/11 over the next seven minutes. Northwestern went on an 18-5 run during Washington’s shooting lull. Martinelli and Arrinten Page each scored seven points to lead the charge for the Wildcats. The key for the Huskies in that span was holding Martinelli to just seven points (He eventually finished with 19 points, his lowest scoring game in 13 contests). Steinbach also helped the Huskies stave off Northwestern’s rally by sinking two free throws and a three-pointer. Despite a rough stretch of shooting, the Wildcats were only able to cut Washington’s lead to 53-45 with 9:27 left in the game.
Diallo helps the Huskies finish off the Wildcats, as trio of Dawgs finish with over 20 points
Diallo scored 15 of Washington’s final 23 points to close out a 76-62 win over Northwestern. The Huskies won behind a joint effort from a trio of players who finished with over 21 points. Diallo and Steinbach scored a combined 29 second-half points and tallied 22 points each for the game. While Yates did the bulk of his scoring in the first half, he added another six in the game’s final 20 minutes to finish with 21. Those three combined to score 65 of Washington’s 76 points in Saturday’s victory.
What’s next for the Huskies
Washington earned its second win of the season against a Quad 1 opponent by beating Northwestern. The Huskies will need to continue to bolster their tournament resume with quality wins. Washington’s next game is against Iowa (15-5, 5-3 in conference), another Quad 1 team, on Wednesday at Alaska Airlines Arena.
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