Northwestern University Athletics
Wildcats and Gophers Renew Acquaintances Sunday
1/20/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 20, 2012
Northwestern (12-6, 2-4 Big Ten) at Minnesota (14-5, 2-4 Big Ten)
Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012
Williams Arena (14,625)
Minneapolis, Minn. • 3 p.m.
TV: Big Ten Network (Eric Collins and Shon Morris)
Audio: WGN 720 AM and wgnradio.com (Dave Eanet and Bob Hildebrand)
Satellite Radio: Sirius and XM 91
Gametracker: NUsports.com
In-game Twitter updates: @NU_SportsLIVE
Northwestern Game Notes (PDF)
Follow @NUMensBball Tweet #NUHoops
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern plays its third road game over a four-game span on Sunday as it travels to Minnesota for a key Big Ten matchup. Tip time is set for 3 p.m. with Big Ten Network televising the contest.
The Wildcats are looking to bounce back from a 77-57 loss at Wisconsin on Wednesday. NU trailed by just two points at the break, but 3-point field goals by the Badgers on four straight possessions early in the second half helped the hosts pull away. John Shurna led all scorers with 19 points, while Drew Crawford added 17. Northwestern was limited to seven healthy scholarship players in the contest.
Northwestern and Minnesota enter the contest with identical 2-4 conference records. The squads have played each other even over the last 10 seasons. The Wildcats and the Golden Gophers have split their last 22 meetings dating back to the 2001-02 campaign.
Last Season: Northwestern won two of three meetings with Minnesota a year ago. The Golden Gophers won 81-70 Jan. 26 in Minneapolis before NU posted a 68-57 victory March 2 in Evanston. The 'Cats then notched a 75-65 win March 10 in the opening round of the Big Ten tournament.
SCOUTING MINNESOTA
• The Golden Gophers (14-5, 2-4) have been off since posting an 80-66 win at Penn State Jan. 15. Joe Coleman led Minnesota with 23 points en route to being named Big Ten Freshman of the Week.
• Rodney Williams leads the team with averages of 10.6 points and 6.0 rebounds per game. Julian Welch contributes 10.4 points per contest.
• The Gophers lead the Big Ten with an average of 8.4 steals per game overall. In league play, they're first with norms of 5.7 blocked shots and 15.3 assists per contest.
• Tubby Smith is in his fifth season as the head coach at Minnesota where he has a 94-88 record. He is 481-203 in 21 seasons overall as a head coach.
STRIKING DOWN THE SPARTANS
Northwestern's victory over No. 6 Michigan State on Jan. 14 ranks as a tie for the highest ranked opponent that the Wildcats have beaten in Bill Carmody's 12 seasons as head coach. Purdue was also ranked No. 6 when the 'Cats beat them 72-64 in Evanston Jan. 16, 2010. MSU was ranked No. 7 when the 'Cats posted a 70-63 win over the Spartans in East Lansing Jan. 21, 2009.
A CHALLENGING ROAD
Wednesday's night's game at Wisconsin concluded a span during which Northwestern played six teams over a seven-game stretch against teams that are either currently ranked or have been ranked within the last month. This is the fourth consecutive season that NU has played three ranked teams among its first five conference games. Northwestern has the nation's fifth-highest strength of schedule to date.
WILDCATS IN THE RPI RANKINGS
Northwestern is ranked No. 27 nationally in the RPI through games played Thursday. The Wildcats have already played four teams in the top 6 in the rankings: Baylor (3), Michigan State (4), Seton Hall (5), and Ohio State (6). The team has won two of those games, defeating both Michigan State and Seton Hall. NU has the sixth-best ranked RPI in the Big Ten, trailing Michigan State, Ohio State, Michigan (19), Illinois (21) and Indiana (24).
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 third place on NU's career scoring list with 1,720 career points. He surpassed Michael Thompson (2008-11) in Saturday's victory over Michigan State. 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 35 games of scoring 20 or more points.
HELPING HAND
Northwestern is well known for playing "team" offense and that's reflected in the statistics. The Wildcats rank second in the nation with a 1.58 assist-to-turnover ratio this season. NU ranked second nationally to only Wisconsin with a 1.70 mark a year ago. NU ranks fifth in the country with an average of just 10.2 turnovers per contest and 25th with a norm of 16.1 assists per game. Northwestern is assisting on 65.7 percent of its made field goals, the seventh-highest percentage nationally.
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 18 games, all starts, Sobolewski is averaging 8.2 points and 3.9 assists per game and has committed just 16 turnovers in 595 minutes of action to go along with 60 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 1/19)
1. Randy Davis -- Ball State, Sr. - 3.70
2. Dave Sobolewski -- NU, Fr. - 3.65
3. Andrew Rogers -- Maine, Sr. - 3.45
4. Kendall Marshall -- N. Carolina, So. - 3.29
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 19.1 points per game, while Crawford is the Big Ten's third-leading scorer with a norm of 17.6 points per contest.
UP NEXT...
Northwestern has a mid-week bye before returning to action at home Saturday, Jan. 28 when it takes on Purdue. Tip-off is set for 3 p.m.
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