Valparaiso visits Martinelli and Northwestern

By Canadian Press on December 15, 2025.

Valparaiso Beacons (6-4) at Northwestern Wildcats (6-4, 0-2 Big Ten)

Evanston, Illinois; Tuesday, 8 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Northwestern faces Valparaiso after Nick Martinelli scored 22 points in Northwestern’s 93-53 victory against the Jackson State Tigers.

The Wildcats have gone 4-1 at home. Northwestern ranks fifth in the Big Ten with 18.6 assists per game led by Jayden Reid averaging 5.5.

The Beacons are 1-2 on the road. Valparaiso ranks second in the MVC with 11.7 offensive rebounds per game led by Shon Tupuola averaging 3.1.

Northwestern makes 50.0% of its shots from the field this season, which is 10.2 percentage points higher than Valparaiso has allowed to its opponents (39.8%). Valparaiso has shot at a 41.0% clip from the field this season, 0.7 percentage points higher than the 40.3% shooting opponents of Northwestern have averaged.

TOP PERFORMERS: Martinelli is scoring 21.2 points per game and averaging 6.7 rebounds for the Wildcats. Max Green is averaging 1.1 made 3-pointers.

Rakim Chaney is averaging 11.9 points, 3.2 assists and 1.7 steals for the Beacons. JT Pettigrew is averaging 10.3 points.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

The Associated Press