Northwest men’s basketball bounces back from Indiana rally with 76-72 victory

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Ryan Langborg scored 26 points, Matt Nicholson and Nick Martinelli had double-doubles and the Northwestern men’s basketball team held off a furious Indiana rally to beat the Hoosiers 76-72 on Sunday.

Northwestern led by seven points heading into a wild final minute that saw the teams combine for 21 points. Indiana scored 12 of those points, the last three came with a shot from Mackenzie Mgbako, and the score was 75-72 with nine seconds left. With five seconds left, Brooks Barnhizer hit one of two free throws to give Northwestern a four-point lead, and Indiana’s Anthony Leal missed a three-pointer as time expired.

The Hoosiers’ closing run was short-lived after falling behind by 16 points with nearly 6 minutes remaining. While Indiana scored the next 11 points to make it 63-58, the score became 67-60 when Hoosiers’ Kel’el Ware made two free throws with 91 seconds left.

Nicholson had 14 points and 16 rebounds for the Wildcats (18-8, 9-6 Big Ten) and Martinelli had 13 and 13 points. Boo Buie scored 14 points, falling just shy of breaking John Shurna’s school record of 2,038 career points.

Ware played with 22 points, 16 rebounds and 4 blocks for Hoosiers (14-11, 6-8). Mgbako scored 20 points and Trey Galloway had 7 points and 12 assists.

There were six early lead changes, the last coming on a dunk by Nicholson that gave the Wildcats a 13-12 lead. The Wildcats held on to the lead for the final 10 1/2 minutes of the half, with the largest lead being 11 points after a pair of free throws by Martinelli with about 3 1/2 minutes left. Northwestern took a 34-26 lead into halftime.

Indiana will host Nebraska on Wednesday. Northwestern will host Michigan on Thursday.