Nick Martinelli had 24 points and nine rebounds and Jayden Reid added 14 points and nine assists as Northwestern defeated Penn State 76-66 in the opening round of the Big Ten tournament Tuesday in Chicago.
The 15th-seeded Wildcats (14-18) advance to face No. 10 seed Indiana in the second round on Wednesday.
Ivan Juric paced 18th-seeded Penn State with 22 points and six rebounds. The Nittany Lions (12-20) shot 51.1% from the field compared to 50.9% for the Wildcats. But the visitors struggled to sustain momentum, committing 17 turnovers that Northwestern converted into 24 points.
Capitalizing on 10 Northwestern personal fouls in the second half, Penn State went 9 of 12 from the free-throw line after halftime but was unable to build momentum from the field. Josh Reed hit a pair of foul shots to pull the Nittany Lions within three with 11:56 remaining before the Wildcats began to pull away.
Northwestern led by as many as 14 down the stretch. Martinelli, the conference’s leading scorer during the regular season, provided an exclamation point with 3:48 left. He stole a Dominick Stewart pass and raced to the other end for a dunk, giving the Wildcats a 68-55 advantage.
Freddie Dilione V (14 points), Reed (14) and Kayden Mingo (13) also scored in double figures for the Nittany Lions.
Northwestern set a Big Ten tournament record with 21 assists. Tyler Kropp contributed six assists to follow Reid. Tre Singleton chipped in nine points for the Wildcats, who were without Arrinten Page (illness).
Neither team led by more than six in the first half. Fueled by four points apiece from Martinelli and Jake West, Northwestern closed the half on an 8-3 run to take a 34-32 lead.
Penn State committed seven turnovers before intermission but stayed afloat behind efficient long-range shooting, going 4 of 8 from beyond the arc. A Wildcats scoring drought of nearly six minutes late in the half also aided the Nittany Lions.
Juric scored 12 first-half points on 5-for-6 shooting.
Martinelli led all scorers with 13 points in the first half, going 6 of 9 from the field.
Northwestern earned a 72-68 victory at Indiana (18-13) on Feb. 24. Martinelli scored 21 of his 28 points after halftime.
