Northwestern University Athletics
Wildcats and Gophers to Meet Saturday
1/30/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 30, 2004
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EVANSTON, Ill. - For the second time this week, the Northwestern men's basketball team is playing in a game that can be termed make or break.
The Wildcats host Minnesota in a Saturday matinee, NU's first at Welsh-Ryan this Big Ten season. The 'Cats enter the contest looking to snap a three-game losing streak; the Gophers are the only team left in the conference without a win.
Clearly, something will have to give.
Northwestern was off last weekend before traveling to Penn State for a midweek game. Because of weather conditions both in Chicago and State College, the Wildcats chose to fly in the morning of the game. Whether or not that had an effect on the team's performance, no one can say. However, what is fact is that the Wildcats lost the game in overtime, 63-61.
Following the game, NU head coach Bill Carmody acknowledged that the elements concerning him reared themselves up again in State College.
"We have been allowing teams to shoot 50 percent, and Penn State shot 49 percent," he said. "We have been getting outrebounded by a double-digit average, and Penn State outrebounded us by 15. These are numbers we need to change in order to have success. And I think we can."
Carmody was also concerned with what he perceived to be impatience offensively -- as evidence, he cited the fact that the 'Cats took 31 of their 56 shots in the game from beyond the three-point arc.
"One of the things we need to do is be more patient on offense," he said. "I felt like, at Penn State, we were shooting early in the clock sometimes when a better shot was likely to be available if we continued to run our stuff."
Today's game with Minnesota is NU's first in Welsh-Ryan Arena in 10 days, and Carmody is hoping the success the 'Cats have had here recently will continue. The Wildcats already boast a home win against a ranked team (Illinois on Jan. 10) and another against a team that was receiving votes at game time (Arizona State on Dec. 16).
Carmody is aware that, despite a winless Big Ten mark, the Gophers bring plenty of firepower to the table. While Northwestern may have been disheartened by its OT loss at Penn State, the Wildcats will find no sympathy from Minnesota, which has dropped two straight overtime games-both of them at home (to Indiana and Michigan State).
"Minnesota has not won a game yet in the conference, but they seem to be playing well the last few weeks," said Carmody. "They are just struggling to figure out how to win."
Today's game tips off a four-game stretch in which Northwestern will meet each of the teams it is scheduled to play just once during the conference season. The 'Cats are next at Ohio State (Wednesday), then home for Wisconsin (next Saturday) and at Purdue (Wednesday, Feb. 11).
GAME 18
Northwestern (7-10, 2-4 Big Ten) vs. Minnesota (8-10, 0-6 Big Ten)
Saturday, Jan. 31, 2004 * 3 p.m. CST
Welsh-Ryan Arena (8,117) * Evanston, Ill.
The Coaches
Northwestern: Bill Carmody, 4th season at NU (46-59); 8th season overall (138-84)
Minnesota: Dan Monson, 5th season at UM (75-67); 7th season overall (127-84)
TV: ESPN Regional (Dick Bremer, play-by-play; Mike Kelley, analyst)
RADIO: WGN Radio 720 AM (Dave Eanet, play-by-play; Bob Hildebrand, analyst)
The Fun Fact
Today's game features three of the top six active Big Ten all-time scoring leaders. Jitim Young is currently second in the conference with 1,304 points, behind Bernard Robinson Jr. of Michigan. Minnesota's Michael Bauer (1,077) is fourth on the list, while current Gopher and former Wildcat Ben Johnson is sixth with 1,059 points -- 669 of which he scored in two years at Northwestern.
Northwestern vs. Minnesota
* The Wildcats and the Gophers are meeting for the 146th time, with Minnesota leading the series 93-52.
* These two teams met three times last season. The Gophers knocked off NU in both regular-season meetings (74-57 in Minneapolis, 73-61 in Evanston), but the 'Cats got the last laugh with a 76-64 win in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament.
* NU head coach Bill Carmody is 2-4 vs. Minnesota as the Wildcats' mentor; the other win came here at Welsh-Ryan Arena during the 2002 season, 58-56.
