Junior Nick Martinelli recorded his second career double-double (9-of-12) with 26 points and 10 rebounds, while redshirt sophomore Luke Hunger logged a career-high 15 points on 7-of-10 shooting. Graduate student Jalen Leach tallied 12 points, five rebounds and six assists. First-year K.J. Windham and graduate student Ty Berry both added 10 points for the hosts.
We Are So Back. pic.twitter.com/xHPqzuCAyt
— Northwestern Basketball (@NUMensBball) November 5, 2024
The Mountain Hawks (0-1) converted just 17-of-53 field goals, (32.1%) as Northwestern held Lehigh to under 50 points for the first time since the 2021-22 season. The Mountain Hawks shot 2-of-17 (12%) from 3-point distance.
“I just really challenged our team defensively coming into this game,” Sullivan-Ubben Head Men’s Basketball Coach Chris Collins said. “We were all over the place. We were active.”
The ‘Cats’ 15 first-half points allowed were its fewest in a game since Arizona State mustered just 12 points on Dec. 20, 2023.
On the first defensive possession of the season, Martinelli forced a steal, which culminated in a fast break dunk by graduate student Matthew Nicholson for the team’s first points of the 2024-25 campaign.
“There was a lot of intensity in the last three practices coming into today, and (defense) was something we wanted to focus on,” Martinelli said. “When we played against Lewis, we had a lot of lapses. Our program is a defensive program. Since I’ve been here, we’ve always focused on defense first.”
The ‘Cats jumped out to a 9-0 lead, as the Mountain Hawks failed to score in the game’s opening four minutes. Northwestern finished the game with 10 steals, three of which came before the contest’s first media timeout.
Just over 10 minutes through the first half, Leach’s and-one extended the lead to 20 points.
Northwestern led 51-15 at halftime, led by Martinelli’s 17 points and Hunger’s 11 points.
“(Brooks) has a lot of faith in me,” Martinelli said. “He told me, ‘I want you to play with full confidence. I’m not out there. This is your opportunity to show people who you are.’ … If somebody says that, obviously you’re going to have so much more confidence.”
Martinelli’s 26 points were just one point short of tying his career-high, set on Feb. 28, 2024 against Maryland.
The ‘Cats totaled 22 assists on its 36 made shots, as Leach and Windham both led the team with six assists. The team only had eight turnovers.
“We’re a high assist team,” Collins said. “Our formula is really good defense, and it’s high assists and low turnovers. That’s been a staple of this program. We’ve always made our hay with being one of the best teams in terms of taking care of the ball.”
Windham and fellow first-year Angelo Ciaravino both had over five assists. The two became the first Northwestern first-years to record 5+ assists in a game since Julian Roper II had five against Rutgers on February 1, 2022.
Windham became the first first-year to start his first career game at Northwestern since Casey Simmons in 2021. He also became the first Wildcat first-year to score 10+ points in a game since Boo Buie did so on March 7, 2020 with 13 points against Penn State.
“K.J. is awesome,” Hunger said. “He came in ready right away to play. He doesn’t look like a freshman on the court. He’s confident. He could shoot the ball. He’s really, really good.”
The ‘Cats hit the road for the first time this season to face Dayton at 6:30 p.m. CT on Saturday, Nov. 9. The game will air on ESPN+ and WGN Radio 720.
