Odd non-basketball element shown in Northwestern's Big Ten Tournament win vs. Penn State

The Northwestern Wildcats saw their season get extended by at least one more day, as Tuesday night saw them escape the opening night of the Big Ten Tournament with a 76-66 win against Penn State in a No. 15 vs. No. 18 matchup.

The Wildcats were led by forward Nick Martinelli's 24 points, while guard Jayden Reid added 14.

“Nick’s going to do what he does,” Wildcats coach Chris Collins said. “This was a really good team win. We knew we were going to have a battle tonight. Excited about the opportunity to continue to play.”

Penn State kept the game interesting, but forward Ivan Juric's 22 points weren't enough to spring an upset and cause early chaos in the six-day conference tournament.

During the Peacock broadcast and at the United Center in Chicago, the crowd was noticeably small on the first day of action. This was pointed out by the Chicago Sun-Times' Steve Greenberg and the Chicago Tribune's Colleen Kane.

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Greenberg, though, was a little bit more blunt, sharing his analysis of the sparse crowd as this year's tournament marks the first time since the expansion that all 18 schools were included.

"What an atmosphere at the start of the Northwestern-Penn State game, where the piped-in noise at the United Center is cranked to 11 and maybe — maybe — 500 people are in the stands watching," Greenberg tweeted. "Thank goodness the Big Ten added a sixth day to its tournament!"

Greenberg's honesty is arguably justifiable, though it runs directly counter to what Wildcats coach Collins said last year when asked whether coaches should advocate for the league to include every team.

Nonetheless, though, Collins was pleased with his team's effort as Northwestern (14-18) rematches the No.10-seeded Indiana Hoosiers (16-13) Wednesday evening (6:30 p.m. ET, Big Ten Network). Both teams met in Bloomington Feb. 24, as the Wildcats prevailed 72-68.

“We always tell guys in tournament situations that if you start thinking ahead to another game, you get beat,” Collins said. “It was more about what we had to do to win tonight. It was more about living to see another day.”

Should the Wildcats come away victorious again, they will run into another rematch. Only this time, it's the Purdue Boilermakers (23-8), a team they came up short against in their home regular-season finale, 70-66, last Wednesday in Evanston.

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Barring a Big Ten Tournament title, Northwestern is bound to miss the NCAA Tournament again. Its last appearance came in 2024.

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