CHICAGO — Nick Martinelli scored 24 points, Jayden Reid added 14 and Northwestern defeated Penn State, 76-66, in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament on Tuesday.
Fifteenth-seeded Northwestern led 34-32 at halftime and the Wildcats’ biggest lead of the second half was seven points before they went on an 8-0 run to build a 68-55 lead with 3 minutes, 48 seconds remaining. Tre Singleton added a couple of inside buckets, and the lead was 74-60 with a minute to go.
Martinelli, who led the Big Ten in scoring during the regular season at 22.7 points per game, made 10 of 17 shots. He grabbed nine rebounds and Reid had nine assists.
Ivan Juric led 18th-seeded Penn State (12-20) with 22 points. Josh Reed and Freddie Dilione V each scored 14 and Kayden Mingo had 13 points.
The Wildcats led for a total of 13 1/2 minutes in the first half but not by more than six points. Penn State last led 29-28 with four minutes remaining in the half before Northwestern went up 34-32 at the break.
Northwestern won the season’s only regular-season matchup, 94-73 in January.
Northwestern plays 10th-seeded Indiana in the second round Wednesday.
