IU basketball: Indiana 68 Northwestern 72 — Three keys, highlights, final stats

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Indiana lost to Northwestern Tuesday evening at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall by a final score of 72-68.

The three keys, highlights and final stats are below.

The Hoosiers led 42-33 at halftime. They were led in the game by Lamar Wilkerson with 18 points.

For Darian DeVries, Tucker DeVries and Lamar Wilkerson postgame, GO HERE.

Indiana (17-11, 8-9) will host Michigan State on Sunday.

THREE KEYS TO THE GAME

1. Second half collapse. Indiana led by as much as 13 in the first half, and by 11 after scoring the first points of the second half. But the Hoosiers made just 2 of their last 15 shots from the field to give the game away. Indiana missed 11 straight shots from the field beginning at the 9:02 mark of the second half, and went more than 10 minutes without a make from the field. IU still led by eight with under ten minutes remaining, but the Wildcats just kept chipping away as the Hoosiers went ice cold.

2. Wilkerson starts hot, then fades. So did his teammates. Indiana leading scorer Lamar Wilkerson scored 14 points in the first nine minutes of the game. But he did not make another shot from the field from that point on. Nick Dorn also made 2 of his first 3 attempts from three before finishing the game with four straight misses from long range. Tucker DeVries missed his final four attempts from three as well. Their collective collapse overshadowed solid role contributions by Sam Alexis (6 of 7 from the field), and Tayton Conerway (6 of 6).

3. Hoosiers can’t stop Martinelli. Big Ten leading scorer Nick Martinelli had a massive second half, pouring in 21 points after the break on 9 of 12 shooting. IU had contained Martinelli in the first half when he made just 3 of 9 shots for seven points. Martinelli was effective from all three levels and clutch late. He made four shots in the last 5:05 of the game as Northwestern completed the comeback and then put Indiana away.

HIGHLIGHTS