Northwestern University Athletics
Wildcats Open Home Stretch Against Wolverines Tuesday
2/1/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 1, 2010
Michigan at Northwestern
Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2010
Welsh-Ryan Arena (8,117)
Evanston, Ill. • 6 p.m.
TV: Big Ten Network (Dave Revsine and Jim Jackson)
Audio: WGN-AM 720 and wgnradio.com (Dave Eanet and Shon Morris)
Satellite Radio: Sirius 91 and XM 196
Gametracker: NUsports.com
In-game Twitter updates: @NU_SportsLIVE
Northwestern Game Notes (PDF)
EVANSTON, Ill. - Northwestern opens the second half of the Big Ten season Tuesday as it hosts Michigan at Welsh-Ryan Arena. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. with Big Ten Network providing live television coverage.
Northwestern Athletics will be assisting in the relief efforts for Haiti at Tuesday's game. All fans are encouraged to bring gently worn sneakers or other supplies like Band-Aids, toothbrush/toothpaste or canned food items to the game to donate to the relief efforts in Haiti.
Red wristbands will be passed out to contributing fans and worn by players during warm-ups as well as coaches and gameday staff to show Northwestern's support of those affected by the earthquake. Tickets for the game are still available and can be purchased by calling 847-491-2287 or by visiting NUsports.com.
Tuesday's contest features the Big Ten's two leading scorers in conference play. Michigan's DeShawn Sims averages 20.6 points per game against league opponents, while NU's John Shurna ranks second with a norm of 20.1 points per contest.
The Wildcats are coming off a 79-70 loss at fifth-ranked Michigan State Saturday. Shurna hit six 3-pointers and scored a career-high 31 points in defeat. The sophomore forward averaged 30.0 points per game in his two regular-season meetings with the Spartans.
First Meeting: Drew Crawford scored 25 points, including 11 straight during one first-half stretch, as Northwestern rallied from a 17-point deficit to defeat Michigan 68-62 in Ann Arbor Jan. 10.
Scouting Michigan
• Michigan (11-10, 4-5 Big Ten) is coming off a 60-46 home win over Iowa on Saturday, snapping a three-game losing streak in the process. DeShawn Sims and Manny Harris led the Wolverines with 20 points apiece as the Hawkeyes were limited to 30.9 percent shooting from the field.
• Sims leads Michigan and the Big Ten with an average of 20.6 points per game in Big Ten play. Meanwhile, Harris is tops in the conference in all games played at 19.1 points per contest.
• John Beilein is in his third season at Michigan and his 32nd 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 18.0 points and 6.7 rebounds per game in 2009-10. He ranks fifth in the Big Ten in scoring and sixth in rebounding. The 10.7 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. After twice scoring 29 points in a game this season, he established a new career high with 31 points at fifth-ranked Michigan State Jan. 30. Shurna averaged 30.0 points per game in his two contests against the Spartans this season.
30-30 Vision
By virtue of John's Shurna's 31-point effort at Michigan State Saturday night, Northwestern joined Oklahoma as the only two BCS conference schools this season to have three different players score at least 30 points in a game. Michael Thompson scored 31 vs. Tennessee State Nov. 22 and Drew Crawford tallied 35 against North Carolina A&T Dec. 13.
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 sixth in the nation with a 1.48 assist-to-turnover ratio, having handed out 347 assists while committing only 235 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 14-7 record marks the best 21-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
Sophomore center Luka Mirkovic has given the Wildcats key contributions as of late. Over a seven-game span from Jan. 10-30, the native of Belgrade, Serbia, averaged 9.3 points, 9.3 rebounds and 3.3 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. His 14 boards at Minnesota Jan. 26 matched a high for an individual during the Carmody era at Northwestern.
Bombs Away!
The Wildcats lead the Big Ten and are sixth nationally with an average 9.24 3-point makes per game, while also ranking fourth in the nation with 25.5 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 tries 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 72.7 percent of their field goals this season, posting 347 assists on their 477 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 14 of Northwestern's first 21 contests this season. Thompson leads the Big Ten and is fifth nationally with an average of 37.7 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 21 games and sports a 2.67 assist-to-turnover ratio. In Big Ten play, he is second in the conference with a 3.15 assist-to-turnover ratio (41 assists, 13 turnovers in 344 minutes played). Northwestern is 11-2 when Thompson scores in double figures and is 3-5 when he doesn't.
Up Next
Northwestern remains at Welsh-Ryan Arena this coming Sunday as it hosts Indiana. Tip-off is set for 1:30 p.m.
