Northwestern uses late run to take down IU Basketball 79-70

IU Basketball fumbled a great opportunity as they dropped to 14-6 on the season after losing 79-70 to Northwestern on the road.

The Hoosiers used an 18-2 run to take a six-point lead into the halftime break. They led for much of the second half but were on the wrong side of a 21-4 run late in the half which the Wildcats used to take control of the game.

The Hoosiers trailed by 14 with 3:12 left in the game and made a late comeback attempt behind their three-point shooting. They cut the deficit to four, but ultimately it was not enough as the Wildcats were able to pull away.

The biggest story of the night was Malik Reneau’s return to action after missing the last five games due to a knee injury he suffered against Rutgers. Reneau came off the bench in his return playing just 11 minutes. He finished the game with two points on 0-6 from the field while adding three rebounds in the loss.

Mackenzie Mgbako had a strong performance scoring a team-high 20 points on 8-14 from the field and 3-7 from beyond the arc. Mgbako also had five rebounds and two steals in the game.

Oumar Ballo was the primary contributor for IU basketball as he led the team in rebounds and assists while also scoring 15 points. Ballo finished the game shooting 5-10 from the field while adding seven rebounds and seven assists for the Hoosiers. He also had a block and a steal in the loss.

As a team IU basketball won the rebounding battle 34-31 with 13 offensive rebounds. Despite that, Northwestern had more second-chance points as they turned their 12 offensive rebounds into 15 points while the Hoosiers had 13 second-chance points.

Luke Goode had another strong performance scoring 14 points on 5-8 from the field and 4-5 from three.

As a team IU Basketball shot 24-57 (42.1%) from the field and 9-20 (45.0%) from three but struggled to take care of the basketball. They finished the game with 17 turnovers.

Myles Rice scored 11 points with four rebounds and two steals but did not record an assist for the first time this season.

Once again Trey Galloway came off the bench and scored seven points with five assists in the loss.

Anthony Leal made his second consecutive start and did the dirty work for IU Basketball. He had five rebounds, three assists, two steals, and a block but missed his only shot attempt of the game.

As a team, Northwestern made a barrage of threes. They shot 28-58 (48.3%) from the field and 13-27 (48.1%) from three in the win.

Ty Berry led the way offensively scoring 23 points with seven rebounds. Berry made a game-high seven threes in the game.

Northwestern’s leading scorers Nick Martinelli and Brooks Barnhizer also contributed to the Wildcats. Barnhizer scored 21 with eight rebounds, and six assists while Martinelli added 18 points and six rebounds in the win.

IU Basketball will be back in action on Sunday in Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall where they will face Maryland at noon.

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