EVANSTON-Any concerns of a misstep or upset on the heels of another win over No. 1 Purdue were quickly dispelled in Northwestern's 91-59 win over winless Detroit Mercy on Sunday at Welsh-Ryan Arena.

The Wildcats were fueled by an atypical array of scorers, featuring a career-high 22 points from sophomore forward Nick Martinelli, 19 from grad transfer Ryan Langborg and 16 from senior guard Ty Berry.

Martinelli, donning a headband to guard the stitches above his right eye he got from an elbow in practice, was nearly perfect. He finished 10-for-12 from the floor while splitting his two three-point attempts in just 23 minutes.

"I told him he has to stay with it," head coach Chris Collins joked about Martinelli's new accessory. "He's got the Jackie Moon look going."

Martinelli hoped his breakout performance wasn't all due to his new gear.

"Hopefully, zero," he said about how much credit he gives the head band. "I might keep it another game and if I play well again... I might just keep it on until I have a bad game or we lose.

"I got elbowed in the face and got stitches. But I wasn't mad, like, [the headband] is pretty drippy."

Jokes aside, Collins is reveling in the progression of the young forward this season.

"When you come off a foot injury and you don't play for four to six weeks [leading up to the season], you don't feel right on your feet or your legs. It takes time," he said. "I feel this first month has been a key stretch for his conditioning and timing.

"He's such a unique player, he's different from our other guys. He's a cutter, he can post a little bit, he has all those floaters in the lane, he's lefty... I came into the year feeling like he'd be a sixth starter for us, much like Brooks [Barnhizer] was last year."

Martinelli, in his first postgame press conference appearance, was as swift to credit his teammates as he was to sneak a baseline floater over a defender's out-stretched arm.

"One of our main focuses is being completely connected and that's exactly how I feel," he said. "There's no Nick Martinelli 22 points, there's no Ryan Langborg 20 (sic) without complete connectivity. That's one thing that separates this team from other teams that we have played against, we are completely connected."

Here are out takeaways from the win that raised Northwestern's record to 7-1 (1-0 Big Ten):

Wildcats got it done without Buie's scoring: Boo Buie has played at an All-American level this season, and it's been common for teams not at Northwestern's level athletically to throw the kitchen sink at him and dare the Wildcats' other options to execute.

But Buie has reached the level where you can keep him off the scoreboard but you can't take his impact out of a game. He finished with just five points on 2-of-9 shooting, but put up eight assists and a game-high +30 plus/minus. Even against a winless Titan squad, it was a great exhibit of how the Wildcats can adapt and overcome as opponents key in on Buie.

Northwestern posted 29 assists on 34 field goals with four players other than Buie scoring 10 or more points.

"I think maybe teams will think twice about those strategies," Collins said. "They want to get the ball out of his hands, and that's a strategy. But when you do that you're susceptible to four-on-three with a team that really shares the ball well."

Not only did the Wildcats beat the Titans without Buie's scoring, they posted 91 points. It's the first time they've reached 90 points in back-to-back games since the season-opening games in the 2020-21 season.

"Boo knew coming in he needed to be a heavy distributor, and he got eight assists to one turnover," Collins said. "We were able to get 90 with him having only two baskets, which is great. Hopefully people see that, you know, Boo is our best player, but we have other guys that can step up and score when needed."

Langborg locked in: After a chilly 6-for-27 start to the season from beyond the arc, Langborg has hit 4-of-5 versus Purdue and now 5-of-9 against Detroit Mercy. He said it was as simple as working out the kinks with assistant coach Bryant McIntosh.

"It's funny because me and Coach B Mac were joking about it, working before the Purdue game," he said. "Got some extra shots up in the afternoon and we kind of figured it out.

"Guys who shoot a lot know when they're off and what's off. We just had to get in the gym, figure it out and we snapped it back into place."

Collins cosigned on Langborg's resurgence.

"I know what kind of shooter he is," Collins said. "Even though he was missing some shots early, I felt like as long as he shot them right and took good ones within the flow... I'm a law-of-averages guy.

"I knew at some point he was going to get back to his water level... In addition to Ty, for those two guys to go 8-for-13 from three, those are two high-powered weapons on the wings."

Berry has had some much-needed positive regression this season after shooting 29.1% from three last year, he's up to 41.7% this year.

Rank Northwestern: The Wildcats are teetering on the edge of the Top 25 after their win over No. 1 Purdue and taking care of business against Detroit. Losses by other top teams could push them into an early-season slot in the AP rankings.

Collins said he doesn't pay the rankings any heed, but his family does not share his vision.

"I'm not concerned about it," he said. "My daughter is probably the biggest fan who is mad that we didn't get ranked last week.

"She's the one who has been yelling and screaming we need to be in the Top 25, but there's so much ball to be played. Would it be nice for the program? Of course, that's a nice reward for a team that's working and playing hard, but we're not worried about that."

With Chicago State on the horizon on Wednesday, the Wildcats have another heavily-favored opportunity to log a win and a good chance to head into 2024 at 11-1, with one of the best wins in the country, over Purdue.