Friday, February 28
Evanston, Ill.
8 p.m. CT
Northwestern
16-13,7-11Big Ten
68
vs
57
Iowa
15-14,6-12Big Ten
1
2
F
Iowa
26
31
57
Northwestern
30
38
68
Photo by: Ryan Kuttler/Northwestern Athletics
Wildcats Win Third Straight Game, Grind Out 68-57 Victory against Iowa
3/1/2025 12:30:00 AM | Men's Basketball
EVANSTON, Ill. - Northwestern held Iowa to season-lows of 57 points and 36.2% shooting from the field (21-of-58) in a 68-57 wire-to-wire win over Iowa on Friday night inside Welsh-Ryan Arena. The Wildcats (16-13, 7-11 Big Ten) have won three straight conference games for the first time this season.
"I just can't really say enough about our group," Sullivan-Ubben Head Men's Basketball Coach Chris Collins said. "I've been proud of a lot of teams for a lot of different reasons, but (I'm) not sure I've been more proud of an individual team than I am about this one right now."
Collins recorded his 193rd win, passing Bill Carmody (2000-13) to move into second place for wins by a head coach in program history. Dutch Lonborg (1928-50) is Northwestern's winningest coach with 236 victories.
The Hawkeyes' (15-14, 6-12 Big Ten) 57 points were their fewest against Northwestern since Jan. 15, 2017 when they scored 54.
"I just credit our guys," Collins said. "They run a motion offense. It's a little bit different. You don't see a lot of that. … Usually, they wear people down. As the game goes on, you start short-cutting some things, you start over-running some things, and that's where they get you. I thought our discipline for 40 minutes was really good."
Northwestern held its opponent to fewer than 60 points in two of its last three games, last accomplishing the feat in Big Ten play from March 3-10, 2021.
First-year K.J. Windham tied his career-high and scored a game-high 20 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the floor and 4-of-7 from three. He also notched a career-high five rebounds. Windham led Northwestern in scoring for the first time in his career. The Indianapolis, Ind. native Windham became the first Wildcat first-year to post 20+ points and 5+ rebounds since Ryan Young on Dec. 15, 2019 against SIUE, and the first player to reach these numbers with 4+ threes since Drew Crawford did so on Jan. 10, 2010 against Michigan.
"What's been really fun is to see his growth over the past couple of weeks," Collins said. "These last couple of games, he's been terrific."
Junior Nick Martinelli registered 16 points and nine rebounds. Martinelli posted his 14th straight 15+ point game, the longest streak by a Northwestern player since at least 2005-06, surpassing John Shurna's streak of 13 games in 2011-12. Martinelli has scored in double digits in 22 straight games, tying Boo Buie (2022-23) and John Shurna (2011-12) for the longest streak by a Northwestern player since 2000. The 6-foot-7 forward moved into second place in the program's single-season field goals made leaderboard with 218, only trailing John Shurna's 228 made in 2011-12. He also moved into seventh place in the program's single-season points leaderboard with 578.
Gallery: (2-28-2025) Men's Basketball vs. Iowa
Junior Justin Mullins posted 10 points, knocking down 2-of-4 treys, with three rebounds and three assists. He posted his first game with 10+ points, 3+ rebounds, and 3+ assists at Northwestern. Graduate student Ty Berry stuffed the stat sheet with eight points, six rebounds, four assists, and two steals.
The Wildcats tallied five blocks, their most since Jan. 29 against Rutgers. Graduate students Matthew Nicholson and Keenan Fitzmorris had three and two, respectively. Northwestern registered 16 assists while turning the ball over just seven times, its third straight game turning the ball over fewer than 10 times.
After a slow opening minute, Northwestern went on a 10-0 run from 15:40 to 12:05 in the first half to take a 14-4 lead. From this point on, the 'Cats held the lead for the entire contest.
Northwestern entered halftime with a 30-26 advantage, holding the Hawkeyes to 10-of-29 shooting (34.5%). Windham led all scorers with 12 first-half points. Iowa's 26 first half points were its fewest since Jan. 27 when they also scored 26 against Ohio State.
The 'Cats maintained control of the game by shooting 54.2% from the field (13-of-24) in the second half. Northwestern last won three straight Big Ten games by 10+ points from Feb. 27-March 6, 2016.
The Wildcats host UCLA for Senior Night on Monday, March 3 at 8 p.m. CT. The game will air on FS1 and ESPN 1000 WMVP.
"I just can't really say enough about our group," Sullivan-Ubben Head Men's Basketball Coach Chris Collins said. "I've been proud of a lot of teams for a lot of different reasons, but (I'm) not sure I've been more proud of an individual team than I am about this one right now."
TOOK THE W ?? pic.twitter.com/tNOKMYbZun
— Northwestern Basketball (@NUMensBball) March 1, 2025
Collins recorded his 193rd win, passing Bill Carmody (2000-13) to move into second place for wins by a head coach in program history. Dutch Lonborg (1928-50) is Northwestern's winningest coach with 236 victories.
The Hawkeyes' (15-14, 6-12 Big Ten) 57 points were their fewest against Northwestern since Jan. 15, 2017 when they scored 54.
"I just credit our guys," Collins said. "They run a motion offense. It's a little bit different. You don't see a lot of that. … Usually, they wear people down. As the game goes on, you start short-cutting some things, you start over-running some things, and that's where they get you. I thought our discipline for 40 minutes was really good."
Northwestern held its opponent to fewer than 60 points in two of its last three games, last accomplishing the feat in Big Ten play from March 3-10, 2021.
First-year K.J. Windham tied his career-high and scored a game-high 20 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the floor and 4-of-7 from three. He also notched a career-high five rebounds. Windham led Northwestern in scoring for the first time in his career. The Indianapolis, Ind. native Windham became the first Wildcat first-year to post 20+ points and 5+ rebounds since Ryan Young on Dec. 15, 2019 against SIUE, and the first player to reach these numbers with 4+ threes since Drew Crawford did so on Jan. 10, 2010 against Michigan.
"What's been really fun is to see his growth over the past couple of weeks," Collins said. "These last couple of games, he's been terrific."
Junior Nick Martinelli registered 16 points and nine rebounds. Martinelli posted his 14th straight 15+ point game, the longest streak by a Northwestern player since at least 2005-06, surpassing John Shurna's streak of 13 games in 2011-12. Martinelli has scored in double digits in 22 straight games, tying Boo Buie (2022-23) and John Shurna (2011-12) for the longest streak by a Northwestern player since 2000. The 6-foot-7 forward moved into second place in the program's single-season field goals made leaderboard with 218, only trailing John Shurna's 228 made in 2011-12. He also moved into seventh place in the program's single-season points leaderboard with 578.
Junior Justin Mullins posted 10 points, knocking down 2-of-4 treys, with three rebounds and three assists. He posted his first game with 10+ points, 3+ rebounds, and 3+ assists at Northwestern. Graduate student Ty Berry stuffed the stat sheet with eight points, six rebounds, four assists, and two steals.
The Wildcats tallied five blocks, their most since Jan. 29 against Rutgers. Graduate students Matthew Nicholson and Keenan Fitzmorris had three and two, respectively. Northwestern registered 16 assists while turning the ball over just seven times, its third straight game turning the ball over fewer than 10 times.
After a slow opening minute, Northwestern went on a 10-0 run from 15:40 to 12:05 in the first half to take a 14-4 lead. From this point on, the 'Cats held the lead for the entire contest.
Northwestern entered halftime with a 30-26 advantage, holding the Hawkeyes to 10-of-29 shooting (34.5%). Windham led all scorers with 12 first-half points. Iowa's 26 first half points were its fewest since Jan. 27 when they also scored 26 against Ohio State.
The 'Cats maintained control of the game by shooting 54.2% from the field (13-of-24) in the second half. Northwestern last won three straight Big Ten games by 10+ points from Feb. 27-March 6, 2016.
The Wildcats host UCLA for Senior Night on Monday, March 3 at 8 p.m. CT. The game will air on FS1 and ESPN 1000 WMVP.
Team Stats
Iowa
NU
FG%
.362
.423
3FG%
.320
.391
FT%
.700
.652
RB
32
38
TO
7
7
STL
4
4
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
20
FGM
6
3FGM
4
FTM
4
Pts
16
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
6
Pts
10
FGM
3
3FGM
2
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
C
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