Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern Hosts Minnesota Wednesday on Senior Night
3/1/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 1, 2011
Northwestern (16-12, 6-11 Big Ten) vs. Minnesota (17-11, 6-10 Big Ten)
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Welsh-Ryan Arena (8,117)
Evanston, Ill. • 7:30 p.m.
TV: Big Ten Network (Tom Hart and Jim Jackson)
Audio: WIND 560 AM and wgnradio.com (Dave Eanet and Bob Hildebrand)
Satellite Radio: Sirius 91
Gametracker: NUsports.com
In-game Twitter updates: @NU_SportsLIVE
Northwestern Game Notes (PDF)
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern wraps up its regular season Wednesday evening as squares off against Minnesota on Senior Night at Welsh-Ryan Arena. Tip time is set for 7:30 p.m.
The Wildcats will honor seniors Mike Capocci, Ivan Peljusic, Jeff Ryan and Michael Thompson in pregame ceremonies starting at 7:15 p.m. Fans are strongly encouraged to arrive early in order to honor the NU senior class.
At halftime, fans will be treated to a wheelchair basketball game involving members of Rehab Institute of Chicago (RIC).
NU is locked into playing the 8 vs. 9 contest in next Thursday's opening round of the Big Ten tournament in Indianapolis. A loss by Minnesota on Wednesday or against visiting Penn State on Sunday means Northwestern would face the Golden Gophers in the opening round.
The Wildcats are coming off a 78-63 loss at No. 12 Wisconsin on Sunday. NU trimmed a 16-point second-half deficit to three, but couldn't make it all the way back. Thompson hit five 3-pointers in the contest and finished with a team-high 19 points. Davide Curletti contributed a career-high 18 points off the bench.
Last meeting: Northwestern got 18 points from Michael Thompson, but the Wildcats fell 81-70 at No. 16 Minnesota Jan. 26 in Minneapolis.
Scouting Minnesota
• The Golden Gophers (17-11, 6-10) have dropped seven of their last eight, including most recently a 70-63 home loss to Michigan last Saturday. Blake Hoffarber and Trevor Mbakwe led Minnesota with 18 points apiece.
• Hoffarber and Mbakwe each average 13.9 points per game while Mbakwe leads the Big Ten with a norm of 10.4 rebounds per contest.
• Tubby Smith has a 80-50 record in four seasons at Minnesota and a 467-195 mark in 20 overall seasons as a head coach.
Setting the Standard
Northwestern's senior class has posted 61 wins over the last four seasons. With a victory over Illinois Feb. 5, this year's senior class earned its 59th career win to surpass last year's class as the winningest in Northwestern history. The 37 combined wins by the Wildcats over the previous two seasons are a school record for back-to-back campaigns. NU can match that mark with a win Wednesday.
Join the Club
When Northwestern's Michael Thompson notched his 500th career assist Feb. 24 vs. Penn State, he joined Penn State's Talor Battle, Illinois' Demetri McCamey and Michigan State's Kalin Lucas as active Big Ten players with 1,500 points and 500 assists in their careers. Thompson is NU's all-time assists leader.
The Magic Number is 70
When the Wildcats tally at least 70 points this season, their record is 15-1. NU's record falls to 1-11 when it tallies 69 points or less.
Success Under Carmody
NU earned its sixth Big Ten win of the season at Indiana Feb. 19. In head coach Bill Carmody's 11 seasons in Evanston, the Wildcats have recorded at least six Big Ten victories seven times. The program totaled six or more conference wins just five times in the previous 31 years prior to Carmody's arrival.
Climbing the Charts
Senior point guard Michael Thompson currently has 1,561 career points, ranking him sixth in Northwestern history. He is just 22 points shy of third place after starting the season in 21st place. The Chicago native surpassed Patrick Baldwin (1991-94) as NU's all-time assists leader Jan. 15 at Michigan State. Thompson also ranks second all-time at Northwestern with 253 3-point field goals.
Mr. Reliable
It's a rare thing when Michael Thompson isn't on the court for Northwestern. He has started all 123 games during his career as a Wildcat and surpassed Jitim Young (2001-04) Feb. 9 for the most starts in school history. He passed Craig Moore (2006-09) for the most games played in school history vs. Penn State Feb. 24. On Jan. 12 at Iowa, Thompson became the school's all-time leader in minutes played, surpassing Jim Stack (1979-83). He eclipsed 4,000 minutes for his career Jan. 20 vs. SIU Edwardsville. Last season, Thompson ranked fourth in the nation with an average of 37.7 minutes played per game. His average of 36.4 minutes per game this season ranks second in the Big Ten to only Penn State's Talor Battle.
Longest Active String of Consecutive Starts
Through games of 2/28/11
Source: STATS -- Chicago
1. Dairese Gary, New Mexico - 126
2. Tyler Newbold, Utah State - 124
3. Michael Thompson, Northwestern - 123
3. Kevin Anderson, Richmond - 123
On Target
Northwestern has long been known for its accurate 3-point shooting. The Wildcats sport a .383 3-point percentage this season. NU is also third nationally with an average of 9.1 made 3-pointers per game. Individually, John Shurna is sixth in the nation with a .488 3-point percentage. Shurna's 10-for-11 performance overall from the field in a win over Long Island Dec. 13 ranks as a tie for the second-best effort in program history.
Helping Hand
Northwestern is well known for playing "team" offense and that's reflected in the statistics. The Wildcats lead the Big Ten and rank 12th in the nation with an average of 16.9 assists per game. NU's assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.65 (472 assists, 286 turnovers) is the nation's second-best mark, trailing only Wisconsin. The 'Cats are also fourth nationally with an average of only 10.2 turnovers per game.
Bombs Away!
A year after shattering the school season record with 317 3-point makes, the Wildcats have followed suit this season. NU leads the Big Ten and is third nationally with an average of 9.1 3-point makes per game this season. Michael Thompson ranks second among all Big Ten players with an average of 2.71 triples per contest in league play.
Home Sweet Home
The Wildcats are 11-4 at home so far this season, with three of the losses coming to teams that were ranked at the time (Michigan State, Wisconsin, Ohio State). After setting a program best with 13 home wins in 2008-09, the Wildcats established a new mark with 15 victories at Welsh-Ryan Arena in 2009-10. Northwestern has a 36-3 home record against unranked opponents over the last three seasons.
Up Next...
Northwestern opens the play at the 2011 Big Ten Tournament at 1:30 p.m. Central time next Thursday in Indianapolis against an opponent to be determined.
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