Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern Seeks Fourth Straight Win at Minnesota Wednesday
1/8/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 8, 2008
EVANSTON, Ill. -
Northwestern takes its third shot at its first Big Ten victory of the season Wednesday night as it travels to Minnesota. Tip-off is set for 8 p.m. with Big Ten Network providing television coverage. Jay Wilson and Trent Tucker will have the call. The Wildcats have won the last three meetings between the teams at Williams Arena.
The game can also be heard on WGN Radio (720 AM) with Dave Eanet and Shon Morris describing the action.
Series History: Minnesota leads, 94-57. NU has won six of the last seven meetings, including the last three in Minneapolis. Northwestern has come away with victories in each of its last three trips to Minnesota, including a convincing 55-40 win Jan. 20, 2007. Vince Scott led the Wildcats with 15 points while Kevin Coble added 13. NU limited the Golden Gophers to 33.3 percent shooting in the game, including 3 of 19 from 3-point range.
Last Meeting: The Golden Gophers snapped the Wildcats' six-game winning streak in the series with a 62-55 victory in Evanston Jan. 31, 2007.
Last Time Out
Northwestern was able to hang tight with Ohio State at Value City Arena Sunday afternoon, but the Wildcats were unable to make it all the way back from an early deficit in falling to the Buckeyes 62-51. Craig Moore led NU with 16 points including tying a school record with 14 3-point attempts in the contest. Kevin Coble added 11 points while Michael Thompson was also in double figures with 10 points. Kosta Koufos scored all but two of his game-high 17 points before intermission to help the Buckeyes to a 12-point halftime lead, 37-25. The Wildcats pulled to within 43-39 on back-to-back 3-pointers by Coble and Moore and a basket and free throw from Sterling Williams. The Buckeyes got the lead to a dozen again before the Wildcats rallied to 51-44. But Othello Hunter slammed an inbounds pass from Butler with 6:10 remaining and Koufos followed with another dunk. The Wildcats weren't able to get any closer than nine the rest of the way. Northwestern forced 20 Ohio State turnovers and turned them into 20 points, but couldn't overcome 31.0 percent (18 of 58) shooting from the field.
From Way Downtown
The Wildcats were busy shooting from long distance in their game at Ohio State Sunday, launching a season-high 32 3-point attempts. The total ranks as a tie for the fourth-highest single-game total in school history. The program record of 36 was set at Ohio State Feb. 1, 2003. Individually, Craig Moore's 14 attempts from behind the arc tied a school record. Geno Carlisle twice accomplished the feat during the 1995-96 season, first against Brown and then against Wisconsin.
Wildcats Among the Nation's Leaders
The Wildcats rank a close second in all of NCAA Division I with a 1.67 assist-to-turnover ratio through games played Jan. 6. Tennessee ranks first at 1.68. Northwestern has dished out 204 assists this season while turning the ball over just 122 times. The Wildcats also rank among the nation's leaders in fewest turnovers per game (8th, 11.1 pg), assists per game (10th, 18.5 pg), 3-point field goals made per game (12th, 9.5 pg) and steals per game (24th, 9.6 pg). Craig Moore has NU's top individual national ranking, coming in 26th with an average of 3.4 made 3-point field goals per contest.
Scouting Minnesota
• The Golden Gophers (10-3, 0-1) have lost two in a row since starting out the season winning 10 of their first 11. Minnesota hung tight with No. 6 Michigan State Saturday before falling on the road 65-59. Spencer Tollackson paced the Gophers with 12 points.
• Senior forward Dan Coleman leads the team with averages of 14.1 points and 5.7 rebounds per game. Freshman Al Nolan paces the Big Ten with an average of 2.4 steals per contest.
• Minnesota is atop the Big Ten in steals per game with a norm of 10.69, while Northwestern is second at 9.64 per contest.
• Head coach Tubby Smith is in his first season with the Golden Gophers and has posted 14 straight 20-win seasons, including the last 10 at Kentucky.
Up Next...
The Wildcats return home to Evanston this Saturday when they host Michigan at 5:30 p.m. at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
