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Northwestern (17-15) earned its first
conference tournament win since 2022 for a chance to play No. 5
Wisconsin in Thursday's second round. The Wildcats lost to
then-No. 17 Wisconsin 75-69 on Feb. 1.
Five Northwestern players scored during a 12-3 run to begin the
second half to go ahead by double digits, 44-32, for the first
time in the game. The Wildcats stayed ahead by at least nine
points until Mike Mitchell Jr. scored five straight points to
get Minnesota within 67-60 with 45 seconds remaining.
Martinelli and Matthew Nicholson each went 1 of 2 at the stripe
down the stretch, and K.J. Windham went 3 of 4 to keep
Northwestern ahead by multiple possessions.
Ty Berry added 14 points, Jordan Clayton had 11 and Windham
finished with 10 for Northwestern. Martinelli, averaging a
league-high 20.2 points per game, was 12 of 22 from the field.
Martinelli was just 4 of 10 at the free-throw line as the
Wildcats finished 12 of 22.
Dawson Garcia led Minnesota (15-17) with 22 points and Mitchell
added 11 points. The Golden Gophers lost five of their last six
games to end the season.
Northwestern and Minnesota were meeting for the third time in
the last six tournaments, all in the 12-seed vs. 13-seed game.
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