Saturday’s game between Oregon and Northwestern in Evanston, Ill., might not look to be an especially significant game given that neither team is particularly close to the NCAA Tournament bubble.
But it could be important for two teams hoping to avoid having to play an extra game at the Big Ten tournament in Chicago in a couple of weeks.
Oregon and Northwestern are currently in a four-way tie near the bottom of the conference standings, with three of those teams along with Penn State likely to play in the opening round. A win would help the odds that the either Ducks (11-17, 4-13 Big Ten) or Wildcats (12-16, 4-13) won’t have to play on the opening day of the tournament, thereby earning an extra day of rest.
Northwestern has won its last two games, including a 72-68 upset at Indiana on Tuesday. Down nine points at halftime, the Wildcats held the Hoosiers to 26 second-half points and outscored them by 13 to win. Nick Martinelli’s 28 points led the way for Northwestern.
“Just play hard defense and our shots were going to come,” guard Jake West said of the win. “They started to cool off, and we just have a lot of energy.”
Martinelli is Northwestern’s leading scorer and rebounder at 22.6 points and 6.1 boards per game.
Oregon is also playing well, with three wins in its last four games after a 1-12 start in conference play. The Ducks are coming off Wednesday’s 85-71 upset of Wisconsin, a game which the Ducks dominated for most of the second half.
Oregon scored 55 second-half points and made 17 of 24 shots in the half.
Center Nate Bittle has battled injuries this season, but he scored 20 points in the win and got help from Takai Simpkins (17) and Kwame Evans Jr. (16).
Defense also keyed the victory. Oregon had eight blocked shots and eight steals.
The Ducks won’t have standout guard Jackson Shelstad for the rest of the season, but appear to have found a third scorer in Simpkins, who is active at both ends of the floor.
“There’s a lot of teams that can fold in situations like we’ve been in this year,” Bittle said. “But every day guys come in prepared, practice hard. The last couple games, we’ve played really hard, and, you know, it’s showing. It’s paying off.”
Oregon is 3-0 all-time against Northwestern, including an 81-75 home win last season.
