Northwestern, Minnesota meet with Big Ten tourney berth in the balance

If the Big Ten regular season was called to a halt before the Northwestern Wildcats-Minnesota Golden Gophers game Tuesday night in Minneapolis, then the Golden Gophers would be one of the 15 teams invited to the Big Ten tournament and the Wildcats would be among the three left out.

But teams are so tightly bunched at the bottom of the Big Ten standings with just two weeks to go, Northwestern (14-13, 5-11) would climb over Minnesota (14-13, 6-10) with a victory and they'd flip sides of the cut line.

Northwestern seeks back-to-back wins for the first time since December, when it won four straight. The Wildcats are coming off a 70-49 road win against Ohio State on Thursday.

Nick Martinelli could play a key role if Northwestern intends to earn another road win. He scored 18 points on 7-for-15 shooting against the Buckeyes.

Martinelli (19.7 ppg) shares the Big Ten's scoring lead with Wisconsin's John Tonje while also averaging 6.1 rebounds and 1.7 assists. He shoots 46.9 percent from the field and 35.9 percent from beyond the arc.

"I just think he's fearless," Northwestern coach Chris Collins said. "He's confident in his ability, and he's not afraid to be in those big moments and to have the ball in his hands, to take a big shot or make a big play. ... That's half the battle when you get late in the game. You've got to want to be there. You've got to want to make those shots."

The Golden Gophers are coming off a nine-point home loss Saturday against Penn State when they couldn't make the shots they needed. They endured a stretch of 13 consecutive missed shots that allowed the Nittany Lions to turn a nine-point deficit into a two-point halftime lead.

In close conference games, Minnesota guard Isaac Asuma said he and his teammates need to provide consistent offense or risk playing catch-up for the rest of the contest.

"We can't let ourselves get down like that (so that we're) trying to fight back," Asuma said. "(We) have to have that energy from the get-go."

Dawson Garcia leads Minnesota with 19.4 points and 7.5 rebounds per game. Lu'Cye Patterson averages 11.7 points per game, and Mike Mitchell Jr. rounds out the top three scorers with 10.0 points per contest.

The Wildcats are without their second- and third-leading scorers, Brooks Barnhizer and Jalen Leach, due to season-ending injuries. Fifth-year senior Ty Berry (10.3 ppg) has averaged 18.8 points in the four games they've missed.

Minnesota is 10-7 at home this season. Northwestern is 1-8 on the road.

--Field Level Media