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When Nebraska head coach Fred Hoiberg sat for a pregame news conference on Jan. 15, two days before his eighth-ranked Cornhuskers would take on Northwestern, the first question lobbed in his direction was, somewhat predictably, about Wildcats’ forward Nick Martinelli.
And why wouldn’t it be? Martinelli, a senior, entered his team’s in-state battle with then-No. 13 Illinois the night prior as the leading scorer in Division I at 24.1 points per game. The Illini limited him to “a quiet 20,” as head coach Brad Underwood put it, in what finished as a 79-68 loss for Northwestern. Still, that outing marked the eighth straight 20-point game for Martinelli — a torrid stretch in which he poured in 27.9 points per game — and the 13th time he’s reached that number this season. It was easy to understand why a reporter asked Hoiberg, somewhat tongue in cheek, if Martinelli occupied lines one, two and three on the Cornhuskers’ scouting report entering the weekend.
“Martinelli is the most unique player in our league with the variety of ways he can score the ball,” Hoiberg said. “And he’s shooting a really high percentage from 3-point range right now. His isos, they just give you anxiety with all the different things that he can do. You can’t ever go in with your hands down. And if he makes contested, tough shots, then you can’t get deflated. You just have to do the best job you can.
“He’s the leading scorer in the country right now, and just what he’s done over the course of his career, you’ve got to give him a lot of credit, you’ve got to give their staff a lot of credit for developing him into the type of player that he is. He’s truly special.”
(Photo by Aaron J. Thornton/Getty Images)
Praise of that caliber and depth is routinely heaped on Martinelli by seemingly every Big Ten coach Northwestern faces. He’s the unquestioned focal point for a team that only has three players averaging more than 7.4 points per game this season, and yet Martinelli still finds ways to produce on a nightly basis despite overwhelming attention from opposing defenses.
Underscoring his irreplaceable value, the only players in the country with higher PRPG! ratings than Martinelli’s mark of 6.3 — a measurement of how many points an individual contributes to his team above what a replacement-level player would produce — are Cameron Boozer from Duke (7.0) and Bruce Thornton from Ohio State (6.7), according to T-Rank.
There is, however, an unfortunate paradox shrouding Martinelli’s statistical exploits: For as well as he’s playing offensively, the Wildcats aren’t winning. Northwestern was clobbered, 77-58, by Nebraska over the weekend to suffer a fifth straight loss. The Wildcats are now just 8-10 overall and 0-7 in the Big Ten, with six defeats this season by 10 points or fewer. Barring an otherworldly turnaround, it’s unlikely Martinelli will add a third NCAA tournament appearance to his résumé after the Wildcats reached the Round of 32 in both his freshman and sophomore seasons. That dynamic, according to head coach Chris Collins, has been difficult for Martinelli to navigate.
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“Having a profitable staff just isn’t about being a scoring champion and all that,” Collins mentioned in his post-game information convention following the loss to Illinois. “He desires to win. It is a man that — he’s by no means had a dropping season right here. And we’re one recreation underneath .500, so now we have an opportunity to have a profitable season and nonetheless do quite a lot of good issues. I do know that’s actually essential to him. That’s what drives him. And I’m going to be there for him to assist him proceed to be that chief that I do know he desires to be.”
One of many the explanation why Martinelli receives such widespread reward from opposing coaches is the admirable trajectory his profession has taken. 4 years in the past, in July 2022, Martinelli enrolled at Northwestern as a zero-star recruit, along with his lone extra scholarship supply from Elon. He got here off the bench for many of his first two seasons underneath Collins earlier than exploding into the Huge Ten’s main scorer at 20.5 factors per recreation through the 2024-25 marketing campaign, a 12 months during which the Wildcats completed 7-13 in convention play. He explored the NBA Draft course of final summer time and in the end determined to return to high school.
“Unsure his recreation interprets to the NBA,” one high-ranking league government informed me final week. “However he’s having an ideal season. He has found out a manner to achieve success.”
This 12 months, Martinelli is averaging profession highs in each scoring (23.7 factors per recreation) and rebounding (6.8 per recreation), whereas additionally establishing new private bests in taking pictures proportion (56.3%), 3-point proportion (53.3%) and free-throw proportion (78.9%). All of which comes with a supremely heavy workload for a staff that’s battling inconsistency from switch portal guards Jayden Reid and Max Inexperienced. It’s left Martinelli to shoulder a set of superior metrics that embrace the league’s second-highest minutes proportion, fifth-most fouls drawn per recreation and Thirteenth-highest utilization fee, based on KenPom.
“We’re undoubtedly battling,” Martinelli mentioned following the loss to Illinois. “We’re laying our hearts on the road each evening however simply can’t get it accomplished. That’s what basketball is about, it’s about profitable. The wins and losses are so essential. You’ll be able to’t preserve having stretches of being within the recreation after which not with the ability to get it accomplished. And at one level, you simply have to vary.
“We simply can’t have these forms of psychological errors on the finish of video games if we wish to win. I actually imagine everyone desires to win. It’s clearly been a tough stretch, however if you happen to bounce off the boat, we’re simply gonna go together with different guys. I’m going to remain on the boat so long as this factor goes.”
He’s, most nights, the one one protecting Northwestern afloat.
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