Northwestern’s stay at the Big Ten Tournament didn’t last very long.

Daniel Oturu scored 24 points and 12th-seeded Minnesota outscored the 13th-seed Wildcats 45-26 in the second half to cruise to a 74-57 win in the opening round of the tournament at Indianapolis’ Bankers Life Fieldhouse.

The Wildcats held a 31-29 lead at the half, but the Gophers blew the game open by hitting 9-of-14 3-pointers in the second half to end the Wildcats’ season.

Pete Nance came off the bench to lead Northwestern in scoring with 15 points. Ryan Young scored 9, while Miller Kopp and Patrick Spencer scored 8 points each.

In addition to Oturu, Marcus Carr scored 14 points and Payton Willis 12 for the Gophers, who moved into the second round against 5th-seeded Iowa.

That game will be played in front of empty stands as the Big Ten Conference announced on Wednesday that fans will not be allowed in the arena for the remainder of the tournament due to coronavirus fears.

Whether it was because of an unfamiliar arena, tournament jitters or COVID-19 worries, both Northwestern and Minnesota got off to slow starts offensively. The teams combined to hit just two of their first 19 shots from the floor. The Gophers led just 4-2 at the first media timeout with 14:54 to go.

Minnesota went on a 7-0 run to expand its lead to 17-9 on a Carr 3-pointer. But Robbie Beran responded with a 3 of his own to start an 11-2 surge and the Wildcats took a 21-19 lead after a Pete Nance triple from the corner with 4:54 left in the half.

The teams traded buckets from there and a Spencer layup with 33 seconds left gave the Wildcats a 2-point lead at the half.

That lead didn’t last long, however, as the Gophers lit it up from long distance to rout Northwestern in the second half.

Alihan Demir went on a 7-0 scoring run all by himself, hitting a pair of jumpers sandwiched around a 3-pointer, to give the Gophers a 43-36 lead. A pair of Oturu free throws stretched Minnesota’s lead to 50-41.

AJ Turner countered with a turnaround jumper, but then the Gophers left the Wildcats in their dust as Payton Willis drained two 3s and Oturu a third to push Minnesota to a commanding 59-43 lead.

NU coach Chris Collins called a timeout with 10:07 left, but that didn’t stop the bleeding. Willis hit a layup and, after a pair of Kopp free throws, Carr hit a tough, second-chance 3-pointer to extend the Gophers’ lead to 22 and decide the outcome.

Here are our takeaways from the loss that ended the season and left Northwestern with a record of 8-23 and 3-18 in the Big Ten:

Nance was again the bright spot for Northwestern: Nance continued his strong play over the last month, leading Northwestern with 15 points on 6-for-10 shooting, along with three assists and three rebounds.

The sophomore forward came gave NU an immediate boost off the bench in the first half. He hit two 3-pointers and scored 10 points to lead the Wildcats at the break.

You really knew it was Nance’s night when he hit a 3 off the backboard in the second half. He added a tough, turnaround fadeaway jumper off the glass, and, more importantly, continued to play hard, even as the Wildcats faded in and the deficit ballooned in the second half.

Nance’s play down the stretch gives NU a lot of optimism for his future.

Oturu killed the Cats…for the third time: Minnesota’s sophomore big man ate up the Wildcats in two regular-season meetings and it was no different in the tournament.

Oturu finished with 24 points, to go along with eight rebounds and two blocks. He hit 10 of 12 free throws and was the only Gopher to take a shot from the charity stripe.

Oturu was dominant in the first half, scoring 15 of Minnesota’s 29 points. He showed off his full arsenal during the game, hitting 2 for 2 from long distance and scoring around the rim on dunks and layups.

In three games against the Wildcats, Oturu, who was somehow left off of the All-Big Ten first team, collected 65 points, 36 rebounds and 10 blocks.

Minnesota shot the lights out in the second half: As if Oturu’s dominance inside weren’t enough, the Gophers got red-hot from deep after halftime. Overall, Minnesota hit 9 of 14 3s, a ridiculous 64.3% average.

After hitting just 3 of 10 triples in the first half, the Gophers knocked just about everything down in the second. Willis and Carr combined to go 5 for 8 from long range, while Oturu, Demir and Tre Williams all drained their only long ball. Only Gabe Kalscheur, who was 1 for 3, hit less than half of his deep shots after halftime.

While the Gophers hit a few contested 3s, Collins was visibly upset with his team’s defense on the perimeter as the Wildcats allowed Minnesota plenty of open looks.