National Basketball Association
Northwestern 64, Minnesota 53
When: 7:00 PM ET, Saturday, February 18, 2012
Where: Welsh-Ryan Arena, Evanston, Illinois
Officials:
# Scott Thornley, # Gerald Williams, # Terry Wymer
Attendance:
7522
By SportsDirect Inc.
NORTHWESTERN 64, MINNESOTA 53: Dave Sobolewski scored 22 points and John Shurna added 18 to become Northwestern's all-time leading scorer as the host Wildcats prevailed in a key Big Ten Conference game between potential NCAA bubble teams.
Shurna, who has 1,902 career points, passed Billy McKinney's mark of 1,900 which stood for 35 years as Northwestern (16-10, 6-8 Big Ten) snapped a two-game losing streak.
Minnesota (17-10, 5-9), which lost its third straight game, saw its NCAA Tournament hopes take a major hit. Julian Welch led the Golden Gophers with 21 points and Joe Coleman added 12.
Both teams came out hot in the first half as Minnesota shot 57 percent and Northwestern 56. The Gophers trailed 36-28 at halftime largely because of 12 first-half turnovers.
The second half saw both teams shoot only 33 percent as Minnesota could only get as close as seven before Northwestern sealed the game by making 11 of 16 from the free throw line in the final 20 minutes.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Shurna, who blocked four shots, ranks third on Northwestern's all-time list with 124. ... Minnesota, the Big Ten's top shot blocking team each of the past three seasons and again this year averaging 5.2 per game, blocked only two. ... Minnesota finished with 21 turnovers compared to Northwestern's 10. ... The Gophers dominated the boards 41-20, including 17 offensive rebounds.
Top Game Performances
| Minnesota |
|
Northwestern |
|
Julian Welch 21 |
Scoring |
Dave Sobolewski 22 |
|
Julian Welch 5 |
Assists |
John Shurna 5 |
|
Rodney Williams 8 |
Rebounds |
John Shurna 6 |
|
Oto Osenieks 2 |
Free Throws Made |
Dave Sobolewski 6 |
|
Julian Welch 2 |
Steals |
JerShon Cobb 5 |
|
Elliott Eliason 1 |
Blocks |
John Shurna 5 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
| Minnesota
|
53 |
42.0 |
5-17 |
6-13 |
14 |
36 |
3 |
6 |
19 |
| Northwestern
|
64 |
43.8 |
10-28 |
12-18 |
14 |
20 |
5 |
9 |
9 |