'Cats Open Big Ten Tournament vs. Minnesota

3/10/2021 11:10:00 AM | Men's Basketball

NORTHWESTERN MEN'S BASKETBALL: GAMEDAY INFORMATION
DATE	Opponent	TIME	LOCATION	Television	Live Stats
Wednesday, March 10	Minnesota	5:30 pm CT	Lucas Oil Stadium Indianapolis, Ind.	Big Ten Network	Live Stats
Radio: WGN 720 AM Social: Twitter: @NUMensbball \| Instagram: @numensbball VIRTUAL PRESS BOX

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Northwestern is set to kick off Big Ten Tournament on Wednesday evening for a matchup with the Minnesota Golden Gophers at Lucas Oil Stadium.

The Wildcats are red hot entering the postseason, riding a three-game winning streak to close out the regular season. In the Wildcats' regular season finale this past Sunday, Northwestern notched its third straight victory with a 79-78 win over Nebraska at Welsh-Ryan Arena. For the second game in a row, Ryan Young came up clutch in the final minutes as he scored the go-ahead basket on a putback to give NU the lead with 2 seconds remaining.

Wednesday marks the second meeting of the season between Northwestern and Minnesota. In their previous matchup on Feb. 25, the Wildcats rallied in the second half to defeat Minnesota, 67-59, at Williams Arena. Boo Buie led the way for the Wildcats with a game-high 25 points, including 19 in the second half to help fuel the Wildcats' comeback.

Tip-off is slated for 5:30 pm CT, with coverage live on Big Ten Network and WGN Radio 720 AM.

Storylines:

Northwestern has faced Minnesota seven times in the Big Ten Tournament, the most of any NU opponent since the tournament began in 1998. The Gophers hold a 5-2 advantage in those meetings.
Prior to this year, Northwestern had faced 10 different Big Ten opponents in its last 10 Big Ten Tournament matchups dating back to 2014.
NU is looking to defeat Minnesota twice in a season for the first time since sweeping the regular season series vs. the Gophers in the 2017-18 season.
Six Wildcats finished the game vs. Nebraska in double figures, the first time since Dec. 20, 2016 against IUPUI. The last time Northwestern had six players in double figures against a conference opponent was in the 2002-03 season.
Boo Buie has led the Wildcats in scoring in three of their last four games and is averaging 17.5 points per game and 43.5% shooting (10-23) from behind the arc in that stretch ... Buie has scored in double figures in four straight games, his longest streak against conference opponents in his career.