Northwestern University Athletics
Wildcats Ready to Tangle With Wolverines
1/11/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 11, 2005
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EVANSTON, Ill. - Northwestern's first two Big Ten games of 2005 indicated the vast chasm between its home success and road woes.
Northwestern at Michigan
Wednesday, Jan. 12 * 7 p.m. Eastern (6 p.m. Central)
Crisler Arena (Ann Arbor, Mich.)
TV: ESPN+ Local (Mike Gleason, play-by-play; Shon Morris, analyst)
Radio: WGN 720 AM (Dave Eanet, play-by-play; Bob Hildebrand, analyst)
Last Wednesday, the Wildcats opened with a 21-point victory over Indiana in the friendly confines of Welsh-Ryan Arena. Playing in front of a raucous crowd, the 'Cats shot 52 percent from the field and dished out 21 assists on their 26 baskets while committing only seven turnovers. Defensively, they forced 18 Hoosier turnovers and collected a season-high 11 steals.
Saturday, by contrast, proved to be a nightmare at Michigan State's Breslin Center. While the Wildcats again shot lights out--they were 56.3 percent from the field--they were only able to muster up 32 shots. Instead, NU's turnovers were the story; the 'Cats had 19, compared to just eight by the Spartans.
With that in mind, the Wildcats arrive in Ann Arbor Wednesday still looking for their first win in an opponent's gym. In fact, Northwestern is looking for its first win in a gym other than its own since opening night, when a buzzer-beating shot by T.J. Parker knocked off Portland in the first round of the Top of the World Classic in Fairbanks, Alaska.
"We have yet to prove we can win on the road," said NU head coach Bill Carmody. "That is the biggest challenge facing us Wednesday."
Carmody knows, however, that the challenge goes beyond the Wildcats' having success at Crisler Arena--NU enters Wednesday's game with some players still battling flu-like symptoms.
"We have had some guys missing games, but we cannot use that as an excuse," said Carmody. "Michigan has had Horton out for awhile, they lost Abram for the season, and Brown is out--but nobody cares who is out or why. All they care about is can you win with what you have?
Did You Know?
Northwestern has won five Big Ten road games in the four-plus years that Bill Carmody has been head coach, and two of them were here at Crisler Arena. In fact, Carmody's 2-1 record in Ann Arbor is his best in any of the Big Ten venues (the other wins came at Iowa, Penn State and Purdue).
The Series With Michigan
• Today marks the 147th meeting between the Wildcats and the Wolverines in men's basketball.
• Michigan leads the series, 96-50, and has won four in a row.
• NU head coach Bill Carmody is 2-5 against Michigan; both of those wins came here at Crisler Arena, where his teams are 2-1 since he arrived in Evanston.
• Michigan was one of just two Big Ten teams the Wildcats did not beat last year; the other was Michigan State. The Wolverines won 78-54 here in Ann Arbor, and 63-56 in Evanston.
