Northwestern ushered in a new era in Welsh-Ryan Arena on Monday night, where coach Chris Collins’s squad took on Lehigh in its 2024-25 season opener.
Despite the absence of senior guard Brooks Barnhizer due to a lower-body injury, the Wildcats (1-0, 0-0 Big Ten) pummeled the Mountain Hawks (0-1, 0-0 Patriot League) in a wire-to-wire 90-46 victory. Junior forward Nick Martinelli led all scorers with 26 points and added 10 rebounds, notching a double-double.
Graduate student center Matthew Nicholson jammed home the campaign’s opening points on a fastbreak dunk as NU began the game on a 9-0 run. The ’Cats smothered Lehigh defensively, forcing a flurry of early turnovers and missed shots to establish an early edge…