Northwestern guard Brooks Barnhizer might be the toughest player in college basketball. The 6-foot-6 senior continues to be the top contributor for the Wildcats despite multiple incidents throughout the season that left him bruised and battered.
His status for Sunday’s game against Illinois is up in the air after a brutal fall on Wednesday night. This comes in the same month that he lost his front teeth, twice.
Barnhizer, a true fourth-year senior, is currently averaging 18.5 points, 9.2 rebounds, 4.3 assists, 2.5 steals and 1.2 blocks per game for Northwestern during the 2024/25 college basketball season. He is the Wildcats’ leading rebounder and second-leading scorer through their first 19 games.
However, Barnhizer may not be able to go against a top-20 opponent this weekend. It appeared as though he broke his nose against Indiana. It is also possible that he suffered a concussion.
Northwestern battled back from six points down at halftime to take a 77-70 lead with less than 30 seconds remaining. Barnhizer forced a turnover, took the ball the other other way and finished with an emphatic slam dunk to seal an important home win. Unfortunately, he held onto the rim for too long and fell directly on his face. Ouch.
The fall was pretty gnarly. The face plant left Barnhizer. His nose was also mangled and bloodied.
brooks barnhizer from northwestern- first his teeth and now his nose 💥 pic.twitter.com/ouNc5EyZcq
— Julie (@jpr_rn) January 23, 2025
Although the Wildcats have yet to issue a formal update on Brooks Barnhizer, it was immediately clear that he was not okay.
He went face-first into the hardwood.
This kind of thing is not unusual for Barnhizer. His front teeth were knocked out during practice earlier this season.
"I don't really know why I took a charge in practice, but it's just kind of how I play the game." 😊@NUMensBball star Brooks Barnhizer shares the story behind getting his front teeth knocked out 👇#B1GMBBall x @BTNJourney pic.twitter.com/iAQX42a2wD
— Big Ten Men's Basketball (@B1GMBBall) January 11, 2025
His fake teeth were knocked out during a game against Purdue not long thereafter.
Brooks Barnhizer may never want to see the dentist again.
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) January 5, 2025
The @NUMensBball star had the fake teeth on his temporary bridge knocked out on this play. #B1GMBBall pic.twitter.com/4SeDv1tPzb
Brooks Barnhizer did not lose any teeth on Wednesday night but his nose was very broken. Will we see him in a mask on Sunday? Northwestern certainly hopes he can go!