Northwestern University Athletics
Men's Hoops Falls to No. 25 Minnesota
6/21/1999 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
February 27, 1999
EVANSTON, Ill. -Evan Eschmeyer scored 27 points, including a school-record tying 17 from the free throw line, but No. 25 Minnesota used a 31-point effort from Quincy Lewis to hold off the Wildcats on Saturday afternoon in Welsh-Ryan Arena, 58-51. Minnesota improves to 17-9, 8-8 Big Ten. NU falls to 14-12, 6-10 Big Ten.
NU controlled the early minutes of the game, opening a 13-4 lead with 14:08 remaining in the period. Minnesota would not take its first lead until a Lewis hit a three pointer gave the Gophers a 23-22 edge with 3:51 left in the half. The Wildcats would take a 30-28 lead into the locker room.
Lewis opened the second period nailing three jumpers to give Minnesota a 34-30 lead. The Wildcats would tie the contest (36-36) with 15:45 left in the game on the strength of three Aron Molnar jumpers, however, Minnesota would lead the rest of the way. NU closed the gap to three points (49-46) on a pair of free throws by Eschmeyer with 2:35 remaining. The Gophers connected on 6-of-8 free throws down the stretch to earn the victory.
Eschmeyer's 27 points and five rebounds paced the Wildcats. Molnar and Tavaras Hardy added six points apiece. Minnesota's Kevin Clark notched a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
The Wildcats enter next week's Big Ten Tournament as the eighth seed. The Wildcats will face No. 9 seed Penn State (13-13, 5-11 Big Ten) at 1 p.m. CST on Thur., March 4. The game can be heard on WGN-AM 720 radio and will be televised on ESPN2.
