Zack Martinelli scored 17 of his game-high 26 points before halftime and Luke Hunger chipped in 15 points to lift host Northwestern to a 90-46 rout of Lehigh on Monday in Evanston, Ill.
Northwestern led by as many as 50 points in the season opener for both teams. Martinelli grabbed 10 rebounds to notch a double-double.
Jalen Leach scored 12 points for the Wildcats while Ty Berry and K.J. Windham had 10 apiece. Northwestern forced 12 Mountain Hawks turnovers and enjoyed a 45-26 edge on the glass.
Nasir Whitlock paced Lehigh with 11 points. Tyler Whitney-Sidney scored 10 points and Edouard Benoit grabbed eight boards.
The Mountain Hawks were limited to 32.1 percent shooting, including 2-for-17 from 3-point range.
Northwestern featured plenty of cutting and ball movement in its attack, which helped the Wildcats create lots of good looks from close range en route to a 51-15 halftime advantage.
Crisp passing along the perimeter paid dividends, too. Northwestern’s 58.3 percent effort from the field before the break featured 7-for-15 accuracy from long range.
Martinelli, Angelo Ciaravino and Windham combined to connect on three treys over a 57-second span late in the first half to stretch the Wildcats’ advantage to 37 points, 49-12.
Lehigh shot 5-for-26 (19.2) percent from the floor in the first half, including misses on each of its 12 attempts from deep. Whitney-Sidney sparked the Mountain Hawks with eight first-half points.
The Wildcats scored the first nine points of the game and held the Mountain Hawks scoreless until Whitney-Sidney converted a three-point play with 15:51 to go in the first half.
Lehigh, which returns six of its top nine scorers from last season, didn’t reach double digits as a team until a Keith Higgins Jr. jumper with 6:28 left until the break.
Wildcats senior Brooks Barnhizer, a preseason all-Big Ten pick who averaged 14.6 points last season, missed the game with a foot injury.