Indiana Basketball meets a shorthanded Northwestern in a season-defining rematch

For indiana basketball, the next possession comes with little room to spare: a Wednesday night meeting with Northwestern at the United Center in Chicago, a rematch that doubles as a test of what is left in the Hoosiers’ season. The opponent is familiar, the stakes are blunt, and the margins are shaped by what happened in Bloomington on February 24 — and by who will not be on the floor this time.

United Center in Chicago turns one February 24 loss into a new chance

Indiana opens postseason play in the 2026 Big Ten tournament against No. 15 seed Northwestern on Wednesday night, with a 6: 30 p. m. ET tip-off on BTN at the United Center. Northwestern arrives after beating Penn State 76-66 on Tuesday night in the same building, setting the bracket in motion and setting up a second crack at a matchup that already bent Indiana’s season.

The only regular-season meeting ended 72-68 in Northwestern’s favor on February 24 in Bloomington. Indiana led by as many as 13 points in the first half, then fell apart after the break. The loss extended a painful trend: it was Indiana’s sixth straight loss to Northwestern and the fourth consecutive defeat to the Wildcats in Assembly Hall.

That single game also offered a clear portrait of how narrow Indiana’s path has been. Indiana’s offense scored 42 points in the first half and produced 1. 5 points per possession before turning into a different team over the final 20 minutes. Indiana shot 8-for-26 from the field in the second half, including 2-for-12 on 3-pointers, and the missed shots fed directly into Northwestern’s edge on the glass.

Arrinten Page’s absence reshapes Northwestern, Chris Collins says

Northwestern will be shorthanded in the rematch. Wildcats head coach Chris Collins said 6-foot-11 center Arrinten Page, who has missed the last two games, will be unavailable against Indiana on Wednesday evening.

Page is Northwestern’s second-leading scorer at 10. 2 points per game, adding 4. 5 rebounds and 1. 2 blocks in 22. 9 minutes per contest. He also played a key role in the February 24 win. In 27 minutes against Indiana, Page produced 10 points, six rebounds, four assists, two steals, and a block — a stat line that reflected both his size and his ability to affect possessions in multiple ways.

Collins, describing what Northwestern must do without him, pointed to responsibilities that spread beyond a single replacement. “This is who we got. Guys have to just by committee, we’ve got to figure things out, ” Collins said Tuesday evening. “We’ve got to guard the paint. We’ve got to rebound. We’ve got to bring physicality. Can’t just be on those three guys, Nick, Tre, and Tyler. It’s got to be on the guards too. We’ve got to get in there, help rebound, bring physicality. ”

Page’s absence also changes Northwestern’s shape. He is the only player in the Wildcats rotation above 6-foot-9. Northwestern started 6-foot-9 freshman Tyler Kropp against Indiana on February 24, but he played only six minutes in that game. Kropp played 21 minutes off the bench against Penn State on Tuesday. Collins started 6-foot-6 Angelo Ciaravino, 6-foot-8 Tre Singleton, and 6-foot-7 Nick Martinelli along the frontcourt Tuesday evening, a look that underlines how much Northwestern will need to assemble its size and rebounding across multiple positions.

Nick Martinelli, second-chance points, and what Indiana must answer now

Indiana’s February 24 collapse was not only about missed shots; it was also about the way Northwestern converted misses into extra chances. The Wildcats “beat Indiana up on the boards, ” grabbing 37. 9 percent of their missed shots and outscoring Indiana 12-1 in second-chance points. That advantage is striking given that, across the 20 regular-season Big Ten conference games, Northwestern was the conference’s worst defensive rebounding team — a weakness Indiana failed to exploit in the first meeting.

The game also belonged to Nick Martinelli, a second-team All-Big Ten selection. After shooting 3-for-9 and scoring seven points in the first half, he surged late, shooting 9-for-12 after halftime and scoring 21 of his game-high 28 points in the second half. Northwestern recorded its third road win of the season that night, and Indiana’s defense — “an issue for most of the Big Ten season” — allowed 1. 178 points per possession, the fourth-highest total in a game for the Wildcats at the time.

Those numbers connect directly to Wednesday’s immediate decision points for indiana basketball: whether it can turn Northwestern’s known rebounding limitations into points, and whether it can keep Martinelli from owning the same stretches again. Both teams finished the regular season in the bottom five of the Big Ten in points per possession allowed, ranking 14th and 15th respectively, a sign that stops and second chances may decide the rematch as much as shot-making.

Indiana’s tournament position makes that urgency explicit. After dropping five of its last six regular-season games, Indiana enters with what was described as one last chance to secure a bid for the 2026 NCAA tournament. A win Wednesday would set up a meeting with No. 7 seed Purdue on Thursday night and put a potential 20th win in play. A loss would end Indiana’s 2025-26 season in all likelihood.

Wednesday’s scene at the United Center circles back to the same hinge Indiana felt on February 24: a game that slipped away after leading by 13 in the first half. Now, with Northwestern missing Arrinten Page and with the tip set for 6: 30 p. m. ET, the rematch offers Indiana a defined target — reverse the second-half fade, meet Northwestern on the glass, and keep its season alive long enough to see Thursday night.