A long day of turkey and backyard football was capped off by a Northwestern men’s basketball marquee as it took center stage against Oklahoma State at the United Center on Thursday night.
Inside the home of the Chicago Bulls, the ‘Cats (5-2, 0-0 Big Ten) fell to the Cowboys (7-0, 0-0 Big XII), 86-81, in their first-ever Thanksgiving Classic matchup at the United Center, and Chris Collins’ potential 200th victory as NU head coach on the line.
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The star of the show was Anthony Roy, who led OSU down the stretch with 16 points in the second half, going 5 of 7 from the field. In total, five Cowboys scored in double figures on the night: Parsa Fallah, Jaylen Curry, Christian Coleman and Vyctorius Miller joined Roy with more than 10 each, with Curry’s 18 leading the pack.
For the ‘Cats, Nick Martinelli’s 28 points were a game-high. The senior kept Northwestern in the fight until the very end, going 7 of 10 from the field in the final 20 minutes.
First blood was drawn by the Cowboys, as Fallah capitalized on a second-chance layup off an offensive rebound barely a minute into the first half. But Martinelli responded with his signature left-handed floater seconds later for NU’s first bucket of the night.
After a free throw by Angelo Ciaravino, Miller made consecutive 3-pointers to give the Cowboys an 8-3 lead heading into the game’s first media timeout.
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A pair of free throws from Arrinten Page cut the lead to one possession, but Fallah found a cutting Coleman on the left baseline for a slam, making it 10-5 Cowboys after just five minutes. Miller followed up with his own dunk to extend the lead, but Justin Mullins made a layup in transition in response. Fallah continued to work hard for Oklahoma State and made it a tie and one to extend the lead to eight.
Martinelli hit a triple before Page hit three free throws and a jumper during a brief 8-2 run that put the ‘Cats back in the game. Fallah used several pump fakes against Page on the left block to open up for a hook shot, maintaining a two-point lead for the Cowboys. Max Green responded with a catch-and-shoot jumper just inside the college three-point line to make the score 19-17, still in OSU’s favor.
Curry went on a 5-0 run of his own with two charity shots and a three-point play to add some much-needed padding to the Cowboys’ lead. Jayden Reid then hit his first shot of the day – a three from the right wing, to bring NU to the 20-point mark, but Coleman’s off-ball move earned him another dunk, as Curry made the cross-court find.
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Reid, Martinelli and Singleton all scored two points to make the deficit much more manageable for the ‘Cats. A mid-range shot from Curry kept Northwestern up by two, however, with 5:54 left in the half.
The teams then traded free throws after a brief stoppage, with OSU hitting five and NU hitting four, to make the score 33-30. Ciaravino’s layup cut the lead to just one with four minutes left, and Tre Singleton hit two shots at the foul line to give Northwestern its first lead of the game since 3-2.
Curry erased the Wildcats’ lead with a layup, contributing to his game-high first-half total of 16. Martinelli followed up with one of his own for his ninth point of the half, a Wildcats best.
Although Oklahoma State controlled much of the first half, Northwestern found itself with a 40-39 lead at the halftime buzzer. A Curry finger roll, two KJ Windham free throws, two Curry foul shots and a Martinelli turnaround shot ended a half of high-octane basketball where both teams shot above 40 percent from the field, but were both below 20 percent from three-point range.
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At halftime, Martinelli led all NU scorers with 11 points and six rebounds on 5-of-6 shooting. Page (seven points, 5-of-6 from the free-throw line) was a dominant force inside, but two early fouls forced him to sit for the first half. Reid also added seven points along with a trio of assists, but also committed two turnovers.
For Oklahoma State, it was the Jaylen Curry show. The junior guard led all scorers in the first half with 16 points on 5-of-7 shooting. Parsa Fallah and Christian Coleman followed for the Cowboys with eight each.
NU opened the second half by increasing its lead to four. Ciaravino and Martinelli contributed to the effort, both scoring from inside the restricted area. A minute into the game, the Glenview native made another layup and the ‘Cats found themselves riding their largest lead of the game, up 46-40.
OSU’s Anthony Roy cut NU’s advantage to four with his first score in seven attempts. Kanye Clary took two technical shots to further reduce the lead and Miller made two more charity shots following a foul by Jake West. He then threw down a dunk in transition to complete the eight-point swing – a sequence that took place in just 45 seconds.
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Ciaravino took the lead for Northwestern with his first three of the game, while Martinelli followed with his ninth basket of the game, cleaning up an aerial ball from Page. The captain’s missing foot on the next possession gave him 19 on the night.
Curry and Coleman responded with layups, but Windham kept the Cowboys at bay with three free throws after Coleman’s fourth foul of the contest. Andrija Vukovic found his first two points of the match just before the under-12 media timeout.
After the stop, Green made his second shot of the day, creating space on the wing with a difficult step-back jumper as the shot clock expired.
Miller, now playing an expanded role with foul trouble weighing heavily on the Cowboys, found that third three-pointer of the contest, giving OSU the lead back. Roy’s 30-foot bomb forced Collins to take a timeout, losing 62-58.
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Fallah and Page traded buckets down low, but Roy had three more to continue OSU’s 13-2 streak. Martinelli provided a temporary bandage on the Cowboy’s outburst with two foul shots, bringing his point total to 21, but Roy nailed another highly contested triple to make the score 70-62. Windham, Page, Clary and Martinelli scored in succession to make the score 72-68. Three foul shots from Roy allowed Oklahoma State to take another eight-point lead.
Martinelli made good use of his big frame against Clary, framing the smaller guard to open a jumper from the free throw line. Ciaravino sank the right hash and scored two more, but Fallah got a favorable shot on a free throw to keep it a four-point game with 2:15 to play.
Roy and Ciaravino found layups under the two-minute mark, and a turnover led to an and-one opportunity at the other end for the Northwestern sophomore, fouling Coleman in the process. Ciaravino missed the free throw, leaving the ‘Cats trailing by two with a minute remaining and possession with the Cowboys. Fallah arrived with a floater from the line. Martinelli’s scrap on the boards paid off on the next possession, as he fought through contact and made a putback, as well as the ensuing free throw, to bring NU within a point.
With 34.2 seconds left and an 80-79 lead, Oklahoma State reaped the benefits of being in the bonus, as Clary made two free throws following an off-ball foul on Page. Reid came charging the other way and launched a three from the wing, but just missed, nearly ending the ‘Cats’ resilient late-game effort as the ball bounced out of bounds.
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Two free throws from Miller sealed the deal for the Cowboys. Reid got a layup, but Coleman iced the game with two final foul shots. Reid had no choice but to come out of half court as the final 4.8 seconds of the clock ticked down, officially handing the ‘Cats their second non-conference loss of the season.
Following the loss, Northwestern hits the road to begin Big Ten play against Wisconsin on December 3 at 8 p.m. CT.
