Northwestern University Athletics
Michigan Week Opens Wednesday as 'Cats Travel to Face Wolverines
1/10/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 10, 2012
Northwestern (11-4, 1-2 Big Ten) at #13/13 Michigan (13-3, 3-1 Big Ten)
Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2012
Crisler Center (12,721)
Ann Arbor, Mich. • 5:30 p.m. CT
TV: Big Ten Network (Tom Hart and Greg Kelser)
Audio: WGN 720 AM and wgnradio.com (Dave Eanet and Tim Doyle)
Gametracker: NUsports.com
In-game Twitter updates: @NU_SportsLIVE
Northwestern Game Notes (PDF)
Skip Myslenski's Scatter Shots
Follow @NUMensBball Tweet #NUHoops
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern faces its fourth ranked opponent of the season and third in its last five games as it travels to 13th-ranked Michigan on Wednesday. Tip-off is set for 5:30 p.m. Central time.
NU is coming off a narrow 57-56 home loss to Illinois last Wednesday. The Wildcats rallied back from an eight-point deficit with 1:44 left to tie the game with 17.2 seconds to go before coming up just short. Senior forward John Shurna scored 17 of his game-high 20 points in the first half for Northwestern which shot just 24 percent in the second half.
Wednesday's matchup features two of the top freshman point guards not only in the Big Ten, but also the country. NU's Dave Sobolewski averages 8.3 points and 3.8 assists per game while ranking third in the nation with a 4.07 assist-to-turnover ratio. Michigan's Trey Burke posts norms of 13.8 points and 5.0 assists per contest.
Last Season: The teams split their season series a year ago with each squad winning on its home court. Northwestern posted a 74-60 win Jan. 18 in Evanston before Michigan earned a 75-66 victory Feb. 9 in Ann Arbor.
SCOUTING MICHIGAN
• The Wolverines (13-3, 3-1 Big Ten) posted a 59-41 home victory over No. 18/19 Wisconsin on Sunday. Tim Hardaway Jr. led Michigan with 17 points and 10 rebounds.
• Hardaway leads the team with an average of 15.9 points per game, while freshman Trey Burke contributes 13.8 points and 5.0 assists per contest.
• Michigan ranks second in the Big Ten to only Northwestern with an average of 8.4 3-point field goals per game.
• John Beilein is in his fifth season as the head coach at Michigan (80-70). He is 631-388 in 34 overall seasons as a head coach, including 556-345 at four-year schools.
Northwestern's last two visits to the Crisler Center have resulted in a pair of big comebacks, one that resulted in a win and another that came up just short. The Wildcats trailed the Wolverines by as many as 17 points in the first half Jan. 10, 2010 before NU rallied back for a 68-62 victory behind 25 points by then-freshman Drew Crawford. A year ago on Feb. 9, Northwestern trailed Michigan by 15 with five minutes left before the 'Cats went on a 14-0 run to trim the deficit to one with 2:20 remaining. However, Michigan scored the last eight points of the game to hold on for a 75-66 win.
A CHALLENGING ROAD AHEAD
The Wildcats are in the midst of a challenging stretch of their schedule. Beginning with a Dec. 22 contest at Creighton, Northwestern is playing six teams over a seven-game stretch that are either currently ranked or have been ranked within the last month. This is the fourth consecutive season that NU is playing three ranked teams among its first five conference games.
WILDCATS IN THE RPI RANKINGS
Northwestern is ranked No. 33 nationally in the RPI according to the NCAA through games played Sunday. The Wildcats have already played three teams in the top 11 in the rankings: Seton Hall (3), Baylor (4) and Ohio State (11). NU is the sixth-highest ranked team in the Big Ten, trailing Michigan State (5), Indiana (6), Ohio State (11), Illinois (17) and Michigan (32).
CRAWFORD JOINS 1,000-POINT CLUB
Junior forward Drew Crawford scored 21 points against Penn State Jan. 1 to become the 31st Wildcat to reach the 1,000 career-point milestone. He's the 17th Northwestern player to reach the mark in his first three seasons of action. Crawford currently has 1,010 career points to rank 30th in school history.
STARTING FAST
Northwestern started its season 10-1 for the third time in school history, matching the 1982-83 and 2009-10 teams. It's the best start for the Wildcats since beginning the 1930-31 season with a school-record 12 straight wins. Northwestern set a school record this year with six victories in the month of November after going a perfect 5-0 in the month last season. NU has won 16 of its 17 games in the month of November over the last three seasons.
BOMBS AWAY!
John Shurna tied a Northwestern record and was one shy of the Big Ten record when he knocked down nine 3-pointers in the Wildcats' win over Eastern Illinois Dec. 18. The nine triples tied Craig Moore's record established Nov. 22, 2008 at Brown. Shurna went 9-for-12 from beyond the arc in the contest and scored 32 points, marking his fifth career game scoring 30 or more points in a contest. He ranks second in the Big Ten with an average of 2.7 3-point field goals per game.
BOMBS AWAY!, PART 2
Northwestern leads the Big Ten and ranks ninth nationally with an average of 9.0 3-point makes per game. The Wildcats are 8-1 this season when making at least nine triples in a game. NU scorched the nets for 20 3-point field goals in its 92-67 win over Mississippi Valley State Dec. 2. The mark tied the school and Big Ten record for 3-pointers in a game, matching Northwestern's total against North Carolina A&T Dec. 13, 2009. NU assisted on 30 of its 34 field goals in the contest with the 30 helpers ranking as a tie for second in school history, two shy of the top mark and tied for the most against a Division I opponent.
CHANGING OF THE GUARD
The Wildcats have some big shoes to fill in the backcourt with the graduation of Michael Thompson. A four-year starter, Thompson completed his career at NU's all-time leader in games played, games started, minutes played and assists, while ranking third all-time in scoring. Freshman Dave Sobolewski has stepped in valiantly in his stead. Through 15 games, all starts, Sobolewski is averaging 8.3 points and 3.8 assists per game and has committed just 14 turnovers in 512 minutes of action to go along with 57 assists. He scored a collegiate-best 20 points in a victory over Penn State Jan. 1. Sobolewski posted a career-high eight assists with no turnovers Dec. 22 at No. 23/21 Creighton.
Nation's Assist-to-Turnover Ratio Leaders
(min. 3.0 assists/game; through 1/8)
1. Andrew Rogers--Maine, Sr. - 4.36
2. Kendall Marshall--N. Carolina, So. - 4.13
3. Dave Sobolewski--NU, Fr. - 4.07
HELPING HAND
Northwestern is well known for playing "team" offense and that's reflected in the statistics. The Wildcats ranks first in the nation with a 1.67 assist-to-turnover ratio this season. NU ranked second nationally to only Wisconsin with a 1.70 mark a year ago. NU ranks fourth in the country with an average of just 10.0 turnovers per contest and 16th with a norm of 16.7 assists per game. Northwestern is assisting on 67.7 percent of its made field goals, the fifth-highest percentage nationally.
DYNAMIC DUO
We're not sure which one is Batman and which one is Robin, but senior John Shurna and junior Drew Crawford have already shown that they form a pretty formidable 1-2 punch. Shurna leads the Big Ten with an average of 18.7 points per game, while Crawford is the Big Ten's third-leading scorer with a norm of 17.3 points per contest.
SHOOTING FOR THE TOP
Northwestern's scoring record of 1,900 career points has stood since 1977 when Billy McKinney completed his collegiate eligibility. John Shurna is currently in fourth place on NU's career scoring list with 1,658 career points. He jumped up three spots with his 32-point performance against Eastern Illinois Dec. 18. Shurna scored a school single-season record 619 points as a sophomore and 531 points last season as a junior. He is the active Big Ten career leader with 32 games of scoring 20 or more points.
UP NEXT...
Northwestern returns home Saturday as it hosts No. 6/7 Michigan State. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m.
