With Northwestern's 2024-25 basketball season coming to a close, WildcatReport is taking the chance to look back and evaluate three themes that defined the season, and highlight the highs and lows of the roller-coaster path to the team's 17-16 final record.

THREE THEMES

1. Injuries

This season will always be marked by season-ending injuries to two of the Wildcats' top three scorers, and how they sunk their chances of a postseason berth yet eventually defined this team in terms of the heart and grit they showed in overcoming them.

Brooks Barnhizer, the team's only preseason All-Big Ten pick, missed games early in the season due to a broken foot suffered during the summer. Then he aggravated the injury against Michigan State, played five heroic games in sheer pain and still managed to be an effective player, and ultimately was shut down for the season after the loss to Rutgers on Jan. 29.

On the heels of losing their best player, the Wildcats then lost starting point guard Jalen Leach just two games later, when he tore his ACL on a drive to the basket against USC on Feb. 4. The grad transfer was just hitting his stride in his first season with Northwestern, scoring in double figures in five straight games.

Those two injuries left head coach Chris Collins without 200+ games of experience and 31 points per game. Jordan Clayton burned his redshirt to man the point, and Jordan Mullins, KJ Windham and even Keenan Fitzmorris became valuable players as six of the top nine players in the rotation had previously been benched for whole games at the coaching staff's discretion.

Depth is hard to come by in the portal era and Northwestern's was put to one hell of a stress test. After serious struggles on a West Coast trip that finished 0-2 at Washington and Oregon, the Wildcats found a way to find their footing and won four of their last eight games with tough defense and grit, endearing themselves to a fanbase that appreciated how they came together to salvage a winning season.

2. Officiating controversy

As if the injuries weren't enough, Northwestern also faced adversity from Big Ten officials and the many calls that didn't go their way. The list of grievances is extensive.

The waved-off four-point play for Brooks Barnhizer against Butler. An alarming 45-21 free throw differential at Penn State capped off by a controversial goaltending call that wiped out a layup by Leach and a tip-in by Barnhizer. Leach was ejected at Michigan due to an inadvertent contact with center Vlad Goldin. Collins was ejected for what looked like remarks to his own bench by referee Jeffrey Anderson at Washington.

After falling behind 14 points to UCLA in the final minutes, Northwestern mounted a furious comeback and had a chance to take the lead down by one point with 20 seconds left. Martinelli drove into the paint and was seemingly hacked in the arm, but didn't get the whistle -- even though he was the Big Ten's scoring leader playing at home. Then, after UCLA recovered the loose ball, Kobe Johnson got off a long outlet pass and KJ Windham was whistled for a flagrant foul and UCLA wound up with a 73-69 win.

Those are just the errors to make top billing; there were too many other smaller slights from the officials all season. Collins kept his cool for most of the campaign, often citing that he wants to keep his paycheck after he drew a $5,000 fine last season after criticizing officials for Purdue's 46-8 free throw attempt advantage.

While some might see this as sour grapes, anyone who watched the Wildcats this season saw that they were given very little respect by the officials. The zebras will loom large when people remember this group of Wildcats.

3. Martinelli Magic

No one stepped up more when needed this season than Nick Martinelli, who set the all-time Northwestern single-season scoring record with 663 points. He became the first Wildcat to lead the Big Ten in scoring since John Shurna in 2011-12, finishing with a season average of 20.5 points per game, 12th in the nation, while playing an 37.6 minutes per game, fourth in the nation and top in the conference.

An old school scorer, Martinelli bullied defenders on dribble-drives into the lane, and then used an array of flips, floaters and jumpers to become one of the most lethal scorers in the league. He increased his scoring from 8.8 points last season to more than 20 and earned Second-Team All-Big Ten honors -- which many decried as a snub.

Martinelli had 18 games of 20+ points, nine games of 25+ points and two buzzer-beating game-winners, against Maryland and USC. As hard as it is to believe, his intangibles were just as impressive as his box scores. Martinelli's season was a display of pure will, parsing each new defensive wrinkle teams tried to throw at him and, after the losses of Barnhizer and Leach, carrying a ragtag squad into every battle the Big Ten had to offer in the home stretch.

"I'm going to remember these guys, what they gave me, the year Nicky had," Collins said. "He was unbelievable, man. I told him after the game, I felt like we rode his wave all year long, his competitive spirit, his heart. I was on his journey."

Best win: Illinois at home

Northwestern began the Big Ten schedule with a devastating road loss to Iowa on a buzzer-beater that left them at 6-3 with a home matchup with then-No. 19 Illinois looming. Rather than crack under the early pressure, the Wildcats rallied to stun the Illini.

The Wildcats' Big Three of Barnhizer, Martinelli and Leach all racked up 40+ minutes. Martinelli posted a game-high 27 points, Barnhizer had a 17-point, 10-rebound double-double and Leach chipped in 16 points and five assists.

The Illini showed up, too, with All-Big Ten Second Team selection Kasparas Jakucionis posting 20 points and 10 rebounds of his own. Center Tomislav Ivisic added 15 points and 12 rebounds.

But Illinois' pair of double-doubles was to no avail and Northwestern picked up their third straight win at home, making the series a 3-3 split in the past three seasons after the Illini had won eight in a row.

Worst loss: Iowa on the road

This one was an early heartbreaker that plagued the Cats the rest of the season. Northwestern hit the road for their first Big Ten game to play the Hawkeyes in Iowa City when they still had their full complement of Owen Freeman, a healthy Payton Sandfort and Josh Dix.

The Wildcats fell behind 45-34 at halftime but came out of the break with a vengeance. Barnhizer had 21 points and 10 rebounds, Berry found his shooting stroke with 20 points, and Martinelli showed early signs of his scoring prowess, even as a No. 2, with 19. They took a 74-68 lead with 2:15 remaining and then ran out of gas.

Iowa regained its form and pulled to within one point at 78-77 with seven seconds left and Berry heading to the line for two free throws. The veteran guard split the pair. Iowa quickly crossed halfcourt and called timeout to draw up a buzzer-beating play: Dix shook free on the inbounds play and drained a 3-point prayer from 30+ feet away to break the Wildcats' hearts. It was eerily similar to Jordan Bohannon's game-winning shot for the Hawkeyes in 2019.

Northwestern had their first Big Ten loss of the season to an Iowa team that would finish 15th in the league, suffering enough disappointment that they would fire the legendary Fran McCaffery at the season's end.

High point: Buzzer-beater over Maryland

The Wildcats were reeling after three straight losses and sprung off the mat to foil what would become a masterful Maryland team at the buzzer, 76-74 in overtime. Martinelli and Barnhizer both posted 20+ points, with Barnhizer adding 10 rebounds, five assists, two blocks and two steals.

Martinelli, though, was the hero. With the game tied at 74 and Northwestern inbounding the ball under Maryland's basket, he came off a series of screens and hit a fadeaway baseline jumper that splashed through the basket as the buzzer sounded to walk it off.

The game took on an importance bordering on cinematic as the two teams' paths diverged sharply. The Terps would go on to win 12 of their next 14 games and earn a No. 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

For Northwestern, it was the beginning of the end of Barnhizer's senior season. He had begged coaches to let him don the jersey once more and his virtuoso performance against the Terrapins would buy him another four games before he had to be shut down.

In a Big Ten Network feature, Barnhizer described his mindset going into this game as "f*ck it, let's go" and he lived up to that phrase, posting 20 and 10 on one foot against a team that finished the season in the Top 15. Seeing Martinelli and Barnhizer thrive together and triumph over what would become such a talented team is the high-water mark of a bittersweet season.

Low point: The loss at Washington

After losing Barnhizer, the Wildcats played two extremely emotional games at home, losing by six to Wisconsin and beating USC by two. In the USC game, another nail hit the coffin as Leach tore his ACL with about five minutes left in the game.

The Wildcats narrowly survived that game with a win but were suddenly faced with trying to chart a course forward without two of their three leading scorers, and their two best ballhandlers.

Sophomore guard Clayton burned his redshirt to get the start and the Wildcats tried to figure it out on the fly in Seattle with some rough results, a 76-71 loss to a Husky team that finished in the Big Ten basement and won just three other conference games all season. Collins was controversially ejected in what would become a cornerstone moment in Collins' case for bias against the Wildcats by the officials and the league.

Northwestern got 23 from Martinelli, 14 from Berry and 13 from Mullins, but just six bench points. After this loss, there were serious questions whether or not the Wildcats would win again without Barnhizer and Leach.

Biggest surprise: Win over Ohio State

After the loss to Washington, the Wildcats would drop two more games, including blowing a 20-point second-half lead to Nebraska at home. But just when it appeared the wheels had come off, the Wildcats went into Columbus and blitzed the Buckeyes, who were on the NCAA bubble at that point, 70-49.

The 49 points were a then-record for the fewest points allowed in conference play as the Wildcats dominated the Buckeyes from tip to buzzer. Four different players scored 10+ points, with Martinelli leading the way with 18 on a sprained ankle. Windham and Berry both had 15, and Matt Nicholson chipped in with 10.

The Wildcats had a 31-24 lead at the break, but wariness abounded after the squandered margin against the Huskers. But Northwestern refused to make the same mistake twice and cracked the game open with a 39-25 run in the second half that was punctuated by a suffocating defense that limited Ohio State to 32.7% shooting fort he game.

After so much adversity, the Wildcats unveiled the ironclad culture that would lead them to win four of their last seven games.

In the next part of our basketball season review, we will hand out individual awards.