Northwestern needs to find its identity, and it seems like the group has a long way to go.
After losing to Washington and Illinois, the Wildcats could not secure their third Big Ten win at Carver-Hawkeye Arena against Iowa, suffering a 76-70 defeat. The ‘Cats (10-14, 2-11 B1G) led early against the Hawkeyes (18-5, 8-4 B1G) before their lead evaporated later in the game, leading to NU’s third consecutive loss.
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Nick Martinelli led the way with 21 points and four rebounds despite shooting 6-of-19 from the field. Jake West posted a career-high 18 points on nearly-perfect 7-of-8 shooting (4-of-5 from three) and added four assists. Tre Singleton notched 10 points before picking up his fifth foul in the second half.
On the home side, Bennett Stirtz also made a career-high 36 points, shooting 4-of-6 from deep. Tavion Banks followed with 13 points and seven rebounds.
Singleton kicked off the scoring for Northwestern with a layup, and Tyler Kropp converted an inbound pass to put NU up 4-0. Iowa responded with a couple of Cam Manyawu buckets, taking a 6-4 lead on two subsequent Cooper Koch free throws.
Arrinten Page then checked in for Kropp and finished a jam, but Iowa led 10-6 before the first media timeout after Stirtz drove downhill for a layup. After coming back, Martinelli cashed in a right-corner three-pointer to open his scoring.
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Following a lone free throw from Iowa’s Alvaro Folgueiras, West cashed in a driving layup to tie the score. Jayden Reid followed with a fadeaway jumper, giving the Wildcats a 13-11 lead. From there, the teams traded buckets until West’s triple extended Northwestern’s advantage to 18-13.
The Hawkeyes and Wildcats went back and forth from there, with a West three giving NU a six-point lead at one point. Folgueiras netted three straight free throws to cut the gap to 23-20 for the Hawkeyes. In response, Singleton leapt for a foul and scored the ensuing two free throws.
Then, Northwestern got into foul trouble, with four starters having at least two after Martinelli’s foul on Banks, who trimmed the deficit to 25-22 through free throws. Both teams traded buckets before another media timeout, and the Wildcats maintained their lead at 27-24 at the 3:40 mark.
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Out of the break, Stirtz converted an and-one, but Martinelli responded with a big three. However, Stirtz finished another and-one on Martinelli to tie at 30, forcing Martinelli to return to the bench after picking up his third foul.
A short time later, Reid received a technical foul despite a successful job containing Stirtz’s transitional attack. Building on Stirtz’s two free throws, the Hawkeyes cruised with a 10-0 run and regained a larger lead at 37-30. In the waning moments of the first half, Northwestern shortened the gap to 39-35 with a Reid three and a Martinelli layup.
Despite struggling against Iowa’s defense, Martinelli still led the Wildcats at the break with eight points and three rebounds. West equaled the senior with eight points on 3-of-3 shooting (2-of-2 from deep). But Northwestern recorded 15 fouls for the first half, with Martinelli, Ciaravino and Page having three apiece.
To begin the second half, Iowa’s lead ballooned to nine after a Kael Combs jumper and a Stirtz step-back three. Singleton fought hard for a jumper in response, and Reid followed with two points, cutting the deficit to 44-40. Banks scored a layup and retained an Iowa six-point cushion before the timeout.
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As Northwestern continued to struggle, Koch knocked down a three on a second chance, and Stirtz’s driving two established the first double-digit lead of the game for Iowa. After a Northwestern timeout, the Hawkeyes kept building on their edge with Stritz’s triple to extend the advantage to 14.
A transition three from West and two free throws from Ciaravino quickly brought the ‘Cats back to a 54-45 gap. Martinelli added a free throw, and after a Sage basket, West connected with Singleton for a powerful and-one finish. Less than 30 seconds later, the freshman stunned the Hawkeyes with a highlight-reel transition dunk.
With the ‘Cats riding momentum, Martinelli unfroze with a jumper to cut the lead to 56-53. Iowa responded with a second-chance three by Stirtz before a timeout.
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Stirtz scored a contested jumper to maintain his hot streak, and Martinelli and Folgueiras traded baskets afterward. Still, Northwestern continued to challenge the Hawkeyes in the paint, with Martinelli and Kropp accumulating four free throws to cut the deficit to four with 4:28 to go.
As the foul-trouble issue from the first half emerged again, Singleton fouled out after his attempt to stop Stirtz. The Hawkeyes’ leading scorer made two free throws, and he helped his team reclaim dominance at 68-59 after draining another step-back three-pointer.
West knocked down a quick jumper from the right post to reach 15 points on the day, while Stirtz reached a career-best 34 points via two free throws subsequently. Martinelli drew a shooting foul from deep and connected on all three free throws.
A short time later, the red-hot West remained intact (7-of-7) from the field with a long catch-and-shoot triple to make it a three-point game. Stirtz did not let up, responding with two points on a drive to the basket before a timeout.
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Trailing 72-67 with less than two minutes in regulation, the Wildcats missed consecutive buckets and failed to prolong their momentum. With under a minute remaining, Reid took the ball in transition but missed the layup.
Martinelli’s foul sent Banks to the line, who made two shots in crunch time. Seconds later, West found Martinelli for another three from the corner before Northwestern’s final timeout.
On Iowa’s second-to-last possession, Koch broke free from the Wildcats’ full-court press for an easy dunk to put Iowa up six and seal the game. After Reid missed another shot from deep with 15 seconds left, the Hawkeyes managed to hold on for a 76-70 victory.
Up next, Northwestern will play Michigan at Welsh-Ryan Arena on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. CST.
