“Tomorrow’s a great opportunity to get out and play in front of people, start to develop some rotations, (and) start to see what some different things look like in a competitive setting,” Sullivan-Ubben Head Men’s Basketball Coach Chris Collins told media today.
Collins is entering his 12th season leading the Wildcats. In each of the past two seasons, he has led Northwestern to a 22-12 (12-8 Big Ten) record and a top three Big Ten finish. He’s third all-time in program history with 177 wins.
The ‘Cats return three cornerstones entering their final year with the program — senior Brooks Barnhizer and graduate students Ty Berry and Matthew Nicholson. Barnhizer and Berry started in each appearance they made last season, while Nicholson started in all but five. The three will serve as Northwestern’s captains for the 2024-25 season as selected by their teammates.
Barnhizer enters his senior campaign after a year where he was named to the All-Big Ten Third Team and the Big Ten All-Defensive Team. During his breakout 2023-24 campaign, he stuffed the stat-sheet with 14.6 points, 7.5 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 1.8 steals and 0.8 blocks per game. He was named Preseason All-Big Ten team heading into 2024-25.
Before missing the last month of the season due to injury, Berry was amid his best season at Northwestern with career-highs in points per game (11.6) and three-point percentage (43.3%).
Nicholson also missed games due to an injury. Appearing in 29 contests, the Clarkston, Mich. native averaged 5.3 points, 4.3 rebounds and a team-high 1.4 blocks per game. He holds program records for career field goal percentage (62.9%) and season field goal percentage (2023-24, 65.7).
Nick Martinelli and Luke Hunger both started double-digit games last season and became key components of Northwestern’s rotation through the season. Both were starters in Northwestern’s NCAA Tournament First Round 77-65 win over Florida Atlantic.
Martinelli stepped into a starting role after Berry’s injury and averaged 11.5 points and 6.7 rebounds over 11 games as a starter.
Joining the ‘Cats this season will be first-years K.J. Windham and Angelo Ciaravino, along with transfer graduate students Jalen Leach and Keenan Fitzmorris. Leach enters the program from Fairfield, where he is coming off an All-MAAC First Team selection, averaging 16.2 points per game. Fitzmorris arrives to Evanston after spending two years at Stony Brook, where he was named to the CAA All-Conference Tournament Team last season.
Northwestern has won 13 consecutive exhibition games, and last season recorded an 85-63 win over McKendree.
Lewis, an NCAA Division II member, finished third in the Great Valley Lakes Conference last season with an 18-13 record. Head coach Scott Trost has been at the helm for the Flyers since the 2006-07 season and is the program’s all-time leader with 316 wins.
Northwestern’s regular season officially tips off at 7 p.m. CT on Monday, Nov. 4 with a home tilt against Lehigh. The game will air on Peacock and WGN Radio 720.
