Northwestern University Athletics
Wildcats' Challenging Week Opens Wednesday Against 13th-Ranked Badgers
1/12/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 12, 2010
#13 Wisconsin at Northwestern
Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2010
Welsh-Ryan Arena (8,117)
Evanston, Ill. • 7:30 p.m.
TV: Big Ten Network (Wayne Larrivee and Shon Morris)
Audio: WGN-AM 720 and wgnradio.com (Mark Carman and David Kaplan)
Satellite Radio: Sirius 91 and XM 196
Gametracker: NUsports.com
In-game Twitter updates: @NU_SportsLIVE
Northwestern Game Notes (PDF)
EVANSTON, Ill. - Fresh off a comeback win at Michigan Sunday afternoon, Northwestern continues its torturous opening stretch to the Big Ten season Wednesday as it hosts 13th-ranked Wisconsin at Welsh-Ryan Arena. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m.
The game against the Badgers precedes Saturday's home matchup against sixth-ranked Purdue. Each of Northwestern's first 10 Big Ten games are against teams that participated in the 2009 NCAA Tournament.
At 0-2 in conference play and staring down a 17-point first-half deficit Sunday, the Wildcats rallied back behind the play of freshman Drew Crawford to post a 68-62 victory at Michigan. Crawford single-handedly went on an 11-point run to get the Wildcats back in the game en route to a game-high 25 points. A 45-18 run spanning both halves helped NU take a 10-point lead late in the second half. Michigan rallied to take a one-point advantage with 1:28 remaining, but Northwestern scored the game's final seven points to earn the key victory.
Crawford's 25 points came on just nine field goal attempts as he connected on seven, including four of five from 3-point range, while making seven of eight free throw attempts. It was his third 20-point game of the season.
Last Meeting: Northwestern got 26 points from Craig Moore to post a 66-63 win over Wisconsin Jan. 31, 2009 in Evanston.
Scouting Wisconsin
• Wisconsin (13-3, 3-1 Big Ten) is coming off an impressive 73-66 home win Saturday over previously undefeated Purdue. Jordan Taylor came off the bench to lead the Badgers with 23 points, while Jason Bohannon added 20.
• Senior point guard Trevon Hughes leads Wisconsin with an average of 15.8 points per game. The Badgers suffered a significant loss in the Purdue game, however, as junior forward Jon Leuer (15.4 ppg, 6.2 rpg) broke his wrist and will be sidelined indefinitely.
• Bo Ryan is in his ninth season as the helm of the Badgers and his 26th season overall as a collegiate head coach.
Shurna Takes Charge
To say that John Shurna has elevated his game this season would be an understatement. After posting norms of 7.3 points and 3.0 rebounds per game as a freshman, Shurna has raised those averages to 17.5 points and 7.3 rebounds per game in 2009-10. Both averages rank third in the Big Ten. The 10.2 point-per-game boost is the largest increase of any Big Ten player from last season to this season. Shurna is averaging 23.2 points and 7.3 rebounds over the last six contests, scoring at least 20 points in each of those first five games. He scored a career-high 29 points against Central Connecticut State Dec. 22 and again vs. Michigan State Jan. 2.
Spreading the Wealth
Northwestern is well known for sharing the basketball while protecting it from the opposition at the same time. That's the case again this season. The Wildcats rank fifth in the nation with a 1.54 assist-to-turnover ratio, having handed out 261 assists while committing only 170 turnovers. In its Dec. 30 overtime contest against Illinois, Northwestern handed out 21 assists while turning the ball over just three times. The three turnovers tied a low in the Carmody era and none of them came over the final 35 minutes of play.
So Far, So Good
Northwestern's 12-3 record marks the best 15-game start to a season during the Carmody era and is the best since the 1945-46 campaign. The Wildcats have started 7-1 in consecutive seasons for the first time in school history. NU earned five wins in the month of November this season for the first time ever. Northwestern's nine-game win streak which was snapped Dec. 30 at Illinois was its longest since the 1993-94 squad opened its season with nine straight victories. The Wildcats 10 wins prior to the new year tied the 2006-07 team for the school record for most victories before Jan. 1.
Bombs Away!
The Wildcats lead the Big Ten and are sixth nationally with an average 9.7 3-point makes per game, while also ranking third in the nation with 27.1 3-point attempts per game. Northwestern's 20 3-point makes and 47 3-point attempts in the win over North Carolina A&T Dec. 13 both established new Big Ten records. NU matched the attempts record with 47 against Illinois Dec. 30. The 20 makes bested the previous conference mark of 18 set by Ohio State against LSU Jan. 15, 2005, while the attempt total topped Michigan's total of 42 against Florida Gulf Coast Dec. 22, 2008. The previous school records were 15 makes vs. Arkansas State Dec. 3, 2007 and 36 attempts at Ohio State Feb. 1, 2003.
Helping Hand
Northwestern is well known for playing "team" offense and that's reflected in the statistics. The Wildcats have assisted on 73.7 percent of their field goals this season, posting 261 assists on their 354 made baskets. The percentage ranks first in the nation. In fact, NU has ranked in the top five nationally in assist percentage each of Bill Carmody's 10 seasons as head coach.
Marathon Man
There is no questioning Michael Thompson's importance to the Wildcats. Not when you consider that he has played 38 or more minutes in 10 of Northwestern's first 15 contests this season. Thompson leads the Big Ten and is fourth nationally with an average of 38.0 minutes per game. Despite playing as many minutes as he does, the NU floor general has committed either one or no turnovers in eight of the team's 15 games and sports a 2.79 assist-to-turnover ratio. In the Wildcats' first three Big Ten games, Thompson handed out 20 assists while committing only four turnover in 123 minutes of action.
