Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern Heads to Michigan Seeking First Big Ten Win
1/9/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 9, 2010
Northwestern at Michigan
Sunday, Jan. 10, 2010
Ann Arbor, Mich. • 1:30 p.m. CT
Crisler Arena (13,751)
TV: Big Ten Network (Tom Hamilton and Greg Kelser)
Audio: WGN-AM 720 and wgnradio.com (Dave Eanet and Bob Hildebrand)
Satellite Radio: Sirius 91 and XM 104
Gametracker: NUsports.com
In-game Twitter updates: @NU_SportsLIVE
Northwestern Game Notes (PDF)
EVANSTON, Ill. - Northwestern returns to Big Ten play Sunday in search of its first win of the conference season as it travels to Michigan. Tip-off is set for 1:30 p.m. Central time with Big Ten Network providing live television coverage.
At 11-3 overall, the Wildcats are off to their best start since the 1982-83 campaign. NU gutted through a 53-44 home victory over Texas-Pan American on Thursday, holding the Broncs to 28.1 percent shooting from the field. John Shurna led the way, posting his first career double-double with 21 points and a career-high 13 rebounds. Luka Mirkovic notched a double-double as well with 11 points and 11 rebounds.
Shurna has scored over 20 points in five consecutive contests, the first Wildcat to do so since Vedran Vukusic went over 20 in the first six games of the 2005-06 season. The sophomore forward ranks third in scoring in the Big Ten at 18.0 points per game, trailing only Michigan's Manny Harris (19.4) and Penn State's Talor Battle (18.1).
Series History: Michigan leads, 101-53.
Last Meeting: Michigan won both meetings last season, posting a 68-59 win in Ann Arbor and a 70-67 overtime victory in Evanston.
Scouting Michigan
• The Wolverines (8-6, 2-1 Big Ten) rallied back from a 16-points second-half deficit to stun host Penn State 64-55 Thursday evening. DeShawn Sims led the way with 25 points as Michigan went on a 38-13 run.
• Manny Harris leads the Big Ten with an average of 19.4 points per game, while Sims ranks fourth at 17.3 per contest. The Wolverines and the Wildcats each rank atop the conference with a 1.56 assist-to-turnover ratio.
• John Beilein is in third season as the head coach at Michigan where he has a 39-42 record. He is 515-317 in 28 overall seasons as a 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 18.0 points and 7.5 rebounds per game in 2009-10. Both averages rank third in the Big Ten. The 10.7 point-per-game boost is the largest increase of any Big Ten player from last season to this season. Shurna is averaging 25.6 points and 8.0 rebounds over the last five contests, scoring at least 20 points in each game. He is the first Wildcat to score at least 20 points in five straight games since Vedran Vukusic opened the 2005-06 season by doing so in six consecutive contests.
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 third in the nation with a 1.56 assist-to-turnover ratio, having handed out 247 assists while committing only 158 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 11-3 record marks the best 14-game start to a season during the Carmody era. A win over Michigan would be NU's best start through 15 games 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 seventh nationally with an average 9.64 3-point makes per game, while also ranking third in the nation with 27.4 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 74.6 percent of their field goals this season, posting 247 assists on their 331 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's little question that Michael Thompson is the most important player on the court for Northwestern. Not when you consider that he has played 38 or more minutes in nine of the Wildcats' first 14 contests this season. Thompson leads the Big Ten and is fifth nationally with an average of 37.9 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 14 games and sports a 2.95 assist-to-turnover ratio. In the Wildcats' first two Big Ten games, Thompson handed out 15 assists while committing only one turnover in 83 minutes of action.
Shurna Twice Named Big Ten Player of the Week
John Shurna earned his second Big Ten Player of the Week honor this season Jan. 4 after scoring 27 points at Illinois and tying a career high with 29 points vs. No. 11 Michigan State. He is the first NU player to earn multiple Big Ten Player of the Week honors in the same season since Evan Eschmeyer won it three times in 1998-99. Shurna also picked up the accolade Nov. 30 after scoring 25 and 23 points in wins over Notre Dame and Iowa State, respectively.
Cracking the Top 25
When the Wildcats made an appearance at No. 25 in the Associated Press poll Dec. 28, it marked NU's first ranking in the AP poll since they were No. 17 on Jan. 14, 1969, the final week of a three-week stint in what was then a top-20 poll.
Home Sweet Home
After setting a program best with 13 home wins in 2008-09, the Wildcats play a school-record 19 regular-season home games during the 2009-10 campaign. NU's lone nonconference road game was at N.C. State in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge. Northwestern is 8-2 at home so far this season with the two losses coming to nationally ranked opponents Butler Nov. 18 and Michigan State Jan. 2.
A Challenging Slate
The 'Cats face a challenging slate in 2009-10, playing 18 of their 31 regular-season games against teams that participated in postseason play a year ago. Northwestern's Big Ten slate should prove to be quite the challenge as the Wildcats' first 10 games are being played against teams that reached the 2009 NCAA Tournament. In the 18-game conference schedule, NU will not host Ohio State or travel to Purdue this season.
On the Marc
Northwestern was looking for a long-range threat to replace the graduated Craig Moore and may have found it in freshman Alex Marcotullio. The southpaw hit four 3-pointers at Illinois Dec. 30 and again vs. Michigan State Jan. 2 and has hit three in a game on three other occassions. He is tied for the team lead and ranks ninth in the Big Ten with a .400 3-point percentage (26-65).
Up Next...
Northwestern return home Wednesday, Jan. 13 to host Wisconsin. Tip-of is set for 7:30 p.m.
