Three Takeaways from Northwestern’s 77–75 Overtime Loss at Rutgers

Northwestern’s 77-75 overtime defeat at Rutgers on Sunday was less a new chapter and more a grim highlight reel of the season’s most persistent failures. Despite leading for over 37 minutes and getting a heroic performance from Nick Martinelli, the Wildcats (8-8, 0-5 Big Ten) collapsed in the final minutes of regulation and faltered in overtime, dropping their fourth game this season by five points or fewer.

The loss was a masterclass in how to lose a game you controlled, reinforcing every nagging doubt about this team’s ability to finish. Here are the three biggest takeaways from yet another heartbreaker on the road.

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Nick Martinelli is Northwestern’s ferocious engine, yet his team can’t even manage to pump the gas

Are we really surprised? Is this even really a takeaway anymore if we end up saying it every game?

Forget the missed free throw in overtime. Forget the tough missed layups. The only reason Northwestern was even in position to lose in such close fashion was the effervescent Nick Martinelli. The senior forward delivered a career-high 34 points on 11-of-22 shooting, grabbed 12 rebounds and was a perfect 8-for-8 from the line in the second half. He scored nine of the team’s first 11 points, willed them to the finish line in regulation and was the singular focal point of Rutgers’ defense all night.

The problem is that he was also the only focal point, which has been the case for the latter half of the season. Arrinten Page (14 points) was the only other Wildcat in double figures. Starting guards Jayden Reid and Jordan Clayton combined for just 7 points on 3-of-11 shooting. This disparity allowed Rutgers to deploy aggressive help defense and double-teams on Martinelli in late-game situations without being punished by other Wildcats, directly contributing to his 1-of-5 shooting and a critical turnover in the game’s final three minutes.

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When the game hung in the balance, the rest of the squad offered little to no relief, forcing…

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Publish date : 2026-01-13 00:04:00

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