Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
UIC
Wildcats Begin Four-Game Homestand against UIC
11/11/2024 4:56:00 PM | Men's Basketball
EVANSTON, Ill. – Northwestern returns to Welsh-Ryan Arena to face UIC at 6 p.m. CT on Tuesday, Nov. 12, to kick off a season-long four-game homestand. The game will air on BTN with Jason Ross Jr. (play-by-play) and Rapheal Davis (analyst) on the call and WGN Radio 720 with Dave Eanet (play-by-play) and Billy McKinney (analyst).
Last time out, the Wildcats (1-1) fell at Dayton, 71-66. Northwestern led by as many as 13 points, but the Flyers shot 69.6% (16-for-23) from the field in the second half en route to a 47 point half. Junior Nick Martinelli notched career-highs with 32 points and 14 rebounds while knocking down 12-of-16 field goal attempts and 3-of-3 3-point attempts. First-year Angelo Ciaravino played a career-high 21 minutes and scored 12 points, reaching double-digits for the first time in his collegiate career. Fellow first-year K.J. Windham, starting the second game of his career, tallied nine points, three rebounds and three assists.
Martinelli was named Big Ten Player of the Week on Monday (Nov. 11) after leading the conference in both scoring and rebounding for the week. He averaged 29.0 points and 12.0 rebounds, while shooting an efficient 75-percent (21-for-28) from the field. Martinelli became the only Big Ten player to post 25-plus points and 10-plus rebounds in the first two games of a season since at least 1996-97.
Martinelli is the first Wildcat to record back-to-back 25-plus point and 10-plus rebound outings since Evan Eschmeyer in 1998. Martinelli became the fourth Northwestern player to score 30-plus points on 75% or better field goal percentage since 2004-05 and the first to do so since Drew Crawford on Dec. 22, 2011. He also became the first Northwestern player to score over 25 points in each of the season's opening two games since Vedran Vukusic in 2005-06.
Sullivan-Ubben Head Coach Chris Collins is in his 12th season at the helm for Northwestern, and his 178 wins rank third-most by a head coach in program history. The unanimous 2023 Big Ten Coach of the Year, Collins has guided the team to back-to-back 20+ win campaigns. Of the six 20 or more win seasons in school history, Collins has recorded four of them (2015-16, 2016-17, 2022-23, 2023-24). Over the last two seasons, the Wildcats have won 24 Big Ten Conference games, their most ever in back-to-back seasons in school history, surpassing 20 wins encompassing the 1930-31 and 1931-32 seasons.
Northwestern is 6-4 all-time against the Flames (2-0). Under Collins, the 'Cats are 3-0 against UIC, notching double-digit point victories in each contest. The teams last faced off on Dec. 20, 2022, at Welsh-Ryan Arena, where Northwestern defeated the Flames 92-54. Chase Audige scored a game-high 19 points, while Brooks Barnhizer came off the bench and tallied then-career-highs of 18 points, eight rebounds and five assists. Boo Buie contributed 16 points and five assists.
UIC head coach Rob Ehsan is in his first season leading the team after spending the previous four seasons as an assistant coach at Stanford. The Flames are yet to drop a game this season, having won their two outings this season by 48 points and 12 points against St. Francis (Ill.) and Yale, respectively. Utah State transfer Javon Jackson leads the team in scoring, averaging 17.0 points and 3.5 steals per game.
Northwestern will welcome Eastern Illinois to Welsh-Ryan Arena for the second game of its four-game homestand. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. CT on Friday, November 15 on Peacock and WGN Radio 720.
