Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern Seeks Resume-Building Win at Minnesota
1/25/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 25, 2010
Northwestern at Minnesota
Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2010
Williams Arena (14,625)
Minneapolis, Minn. • 8 p.m.
TV: Big Ten Network (Dave Revsine and Bob Ford)
Audio: WIND 560-AM and wgnradio.com (Dave Eanet and Bob Hildebrand)
Satellite Radio: Sirius 90 and XM 196
Gametracker: NUsports.com
In-game Twitter updates: @NU_SportsLIVE
Northwestern Game Notes (PDF)
EVANSTON, Ill. - Northwestern opens a challenging week on the road Tuesday as it travels to Minnesota. The contest precedes the Wildcats' matchup at fifth-ranked Michigan State Saturday. Tip-off from Williams Arena is set for 8 p.m. Tuesday with Big Ten Network providing live television coverage.
A victory Tuesday would get NU back to .500 in Big Ten play and would be the team's second conference road win. The showdown with the Gophers marks Northwestern's eighth of 10 straight games against 2009 NCAA Tournament participants to open league play.
The Wildcats come into the contest against Minnesota fresh off a 73-68 home win over in-state rival Illinois Saturday night. Jeremy Nash paced NU with a career-high 22 points, while John Shurna and Drew Crawford added 19 and 15, respectively. Trailing 49-41, Northwestern used a 20-5 run to take control. The 'Cats forced 16 turnovers by the Illini and turned them into 23 points.
Last Season: Northwestern and Minnesota split their regular season series a year ago with each team winning on its home court. The Gophers won the rubber match in the Big Ten Tournament, defeating the Wildcats by a score of 66-53.
Scouting Minnesota
• Minnesota (12-7, 3-4) led throughout the majority of its contest at home against Michigan State Saturday but couldn't hold on, falling 65-64. Lawrence Westbrook and Devoe Joseph led the Gophers with 16 points apiece.
• Westbrook leads a balanced scoring attack with an average of 13.4 points per game. Blake Hoffarber contributes 11.1 points per game and leads the Big Ten with a .486 3-point percentage.
• Tubby Smith is in his third season at the helm at Minnesota where he has a 54-32 record. He is 441-177 in 19 overall seasons 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 17.2 points and 6.7 rebounds per game in 2009-10. He ranks fifth in the Big Ten in scoring and seventh in rebounding. The 9.9 point-per-game boost is the largest increase of any Big Ten player from last season to this season. He scored at least 20 points in five straight games from Dec. 19-Jan. 7, including scoring 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 1.48 assist-to-turnover ratio, having handed out 315 assists while committing only 213 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 14-5 record marks the best 19-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.
Mirkovic Contributes in the Post
Despite being held to two points and three rebounds at Ohio State Tuesday, sophomore center Luka Mirkovic has given the Wildcats key contributions as of late. Over the last six games, the native of Belgrade, Serbia, averaged 9.8 points, 8.5 rebounds and 3.2 assists per contest. After posting his second career double-double (11 pts., 11 reb.) in a win over Texas-Pan American Jan. 7, Mirkovic notched his third in a win over No. 6 Purdue Jan. 16 with a career-high 16 points and 10 boards. In Big Ten play, Mirkovic ranks fourth in the conference with an average of 7.7 rebounds per game.
Bombs Away!
The Wildcats lead the Big Ten and are eighth nationally with an average 9.0 3-point makes per game, while also ranking fourth in the nation with 25.3 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 72.9 percent of their field goals this season, posting 315 assists on their 432 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 12 of Northwestern's first 19 contests this season. Thompson leads the Big Ten and is sixth nationally with an average of 37.5 minutes per game. Despite playing as many minutes as he does, the NU floor general has committed either one or no turnovers in 10 of the team's 19 games and sports a 2.76 assist-to-turnover ratio. In Big Ten play, he is second in the conference with a 3.67 assist-to-turnover ratio (33 assists, 9 turnovers in 265 minutes played). Northwestern is 11-1 when Thompson scores in double figures and is 3-4 when he doesn't.
Up Next...
Northwestern continues its week on the road Saturday as it travels to fifth-ranked Michigan State. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. Central time.
