INDIANAPOLIS — Of hot hotel rooms, popped bubbles, quirky all-conference teams and the Rutgers enigma.
The Big Ten tournament is now in session.
This is the conference where Michigan State won the regular season title by three games but had nobody named to the All-Big Ten first or second teams. Then again, the four West Coast newcomers — Oregon, UCLA, USC and Washington — had nobody on the first, second or even third all-league teams in the media voting.
This is the conference where Ohio State crunched Kentucky by 20 points and ended Purdue’s 26-game home winning streak, but lost five games by three or fewer points or in overtime, and by Wednesday, was fighting for its NCAA tournament bubble life. Then, it was beaten by Iowa by seven points in a game with 13 lead changes.
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This is the conference where Purdue, which won the past two player-of-the-year awards with a 7-3 center, won this one with a 6-foot guard. Where Indiana took its first five losses by an average of 22.2 points and its last seven by an average of 6.1. Where Rutgers had two freshman phenoms in the lineup who are projected to be in the top three of the NBA draft but finished in 11th place. Where Nebraska went from a 12-2 start to losing 12 of 17 and not even making a 15-team conference tournament. Where Michigan won 14 of its first 17 Big Ten games a year after going 3-17, then dropped its last three.
And this is the conference that has Northwestern coach Chris Collins seeing red, not because the next opponent is Wisconsin.
His Wildcats, playing without two of their top three scorers because of injury, opened the tournament Wednesday with a 72-64 win over Minnesota, carried by 28 points from Nick Martinelli, who leads the Big Ten in scoring. By the way, he didn’t make the all-league first team, either.
That might have aggravated Collins a tad, but what really fried his eggs was… well, let him and his players explain.
“Our guys are just a tough group of guys. They’ve had a lot thrown at them. Even last night, they put us in a hotel… and our guys’ rooms were 85 degrees, and that’s where the league puts you. Every way they turn, they’re trying to get us, and our guys just are a resilient bunch.”
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Spring has sprung here, with temperatures nearing 70 outside, so how hot was it?
Guard Ty Berry: “I just slept on top of the covers. Couldn’t get under the covers. It was hot all night. I was tossing and turning. At the end of the day, you’ve just got to play through stuff.”
Martinelli: “We were kind of just like joking around, oh, this is gritty. Had a bucket of ice, and we were just grabbing the ice and rubbing it on ourselves all night to try to stay cool. Honestly, I’m not going to say I’m happy it happened, but we came out here, and we showed them.”
Collins: “We’re used to being treated like that by this league.”
Martinelli again: “It was super hot this morning. I don’t think they’ve changed anything, but yeah, we’re just going to go back there and sleep in 80 degrees again.”
Collins again: “They’ll put us in one that’s hotter if we leave it up to the league.”
Hmmm. There seems to be a theme here, so Collins was asked to elaborate.
“I don’t have to get into anything,” he said, “You guys (the media) are the ones tweeting out how we’re being officiated and how we’re being treated. I don’t have to say anything. You guys watch the same games I do.”
But later, he had more.
“They said they’ve had this issue for the past 10 days at that hotel. So that’s what made me frustrated. You just hate it for the guys. I have seniors that they’re playing for their lives, and they come down and said, `Coach, I have to have an ice bucket next to my bed, it’s steaming hot.’ Even this morning after we did our walk-through, our guys had to sit in the lobby or sit in our team room.
“That’s just me being a coach and wanting the best for my guys. I’ve got Ty Berry. The next time he loses, his career is over.”
Martinelli’s average is now 20.4 and he’s on the brink of being only the second Wildcat in 66 years to lead the league in scoring. That must mean something to a guy who played his high school basketball 10 miles from campus. He’s now reached double figures in 25 consecutive games and no Northwestern player had done that in 25 years, so a spot on the all-Big Ten first team would have been nice. Not that it seemed to faze him much.
“Obviously I’m not super into comparison. I’m more into competition and things of that nature. I’m not motivated by that at all. I’m definitely just grateful to come out here and show people that we are a serious team. I think we’ve shown that every single game. We’ve been competing even with guys going down. I don’t think necessarily it fueled me today.”
And the Big Ten scoring lead?
“It obviously means a lot, but it’s a tribute to them and the coaches,” he said, nodding toward his locker room and teammates. “I’ve had stretches where I haven’t shot it well but my coaches and teammates keep coming back to me.”
Collins mentioned a low point in February when Northwestern blew a 20-point lead at home and lost to Nebraska to drop to 4-11 in the conference. By then, No. 2 scorer Brooks Barnhizer and No. 3 scorer Jalen Leach were gone for the season with injuries.
“Nick Martinelli just said, we are going to have a winning season,” Collins said. The Wildcats won four of six after Nebraska and are now 17-15. “You look out there, Nick is playing with unproven players, some guys who didn’t play the first 20 games of the season, young players, guys trying to find themselves. He’s seeing double and triple-teams every time he touches the ball. His competitive will has just been amazing, and he’s played great.”
Said Martinelli, “Obviously things happened. It’s unfortunate but we’re playing for those guys who can’t be out there.”
The Northwestern Wildcats then headed back to their downtown hotel, hoping maintenance had fixed the heating. They’re going to need more rest to face Wisconsin. Any other Big Ten teams at the same hotel, dealing with the same issue?
“No other team, just the Cats,” Collins said. “Go figure.”
The heat is on at the Big Ten tournament.
