University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Head to Evanston to Face Northwestern
1/17/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Gophers Head to Evanston to Face Northwestern
The Gophers next road test will be to take on the Northwestern Wildcats in Evanston on Sunday afternoon at Welsh-Ryan Arena. The game is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. and can be seen on the Big Ten Network with Wayne Larrivee calling the game. Larrivee will be joined by former Northwestern Wildcat Tim Doyle and former Gopher Spencer Tollackson.
About the Golden Gophers:
- The Gophers are led by junior guard Lawrence Westbrook, who is averaging a career-high 13.8 ppg. He has scored in double-figures in 14 of the 16 games he has played this season, including a career-high29 points in the overtime victory at Wisconsin on jan. 15. Minnesota is 13-1 this season when Westbrook reaches double-figures.
- Gopher junior Devron Bostick scored 11 points against Wisconsin, in what was his return to his home state. For the season, Bostick, the 2008 Junior College Player of the Year, is shooting .533 (32-60) from the field and .480 (12-25) from three-point land.
- Fellow junior college transfer Paul Carter collected his first career double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds in 23 minutes played against Wisconsin.
About the Wildcats:
- Northwestern is coached by Bill Carmody (13th Season, 9th at Northwestern).
- The Wildcats are 8-6 this season overall and 0-4 in conference play. Most recently, Northwestern fell to Purdue 63-61 in Evanston.
- Northwestern is led by forward Kevin Coble (14.2 ppg, 5.4 rpg) and guards Craig Moore (13.6 ppg) and Michael Thompson (9.7 ppg).
Series History:
- Minnesota leads the all-time series 86-56.
- The Gophers won both regular-season matchups a season ago as well as the matchup in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament.
-Minnesota is on a four game win streak against Northwestern.
-Tubby Smith is 3-0 all-time against Northwestern.
-Tubby Smith is 29-20 all-time against teams that belong to the Big Ten Conference.
- The Gophers have a 671-718 all-time record against teams that belong or have belonged to the Big Ten Conference.
Gophers in the Polls
- The 16-1 Gophers are nationally-ranked for the fourth straight week, as they sit 18th and 17th, respectively, in the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today polls. They entered the AP and ESPN/USA Today polls as the No. 23 ranked team in the country on Dec. 22, the first time they have been ranked since the 2002-03 season.
- The Gophers were last ranked in the AP poll on December 17, 2002 (No. 25) and December 9, 2002 in the ESPN/USA Today poll (No. 25). Minnesota was ranked for six consecutive weeks to start the 2002-03 season.
- The victory over Louisville was the first win over a top 10-ranked opponent since Feb. 9, 200 when Minnesota beat No. 9 Indiana 77-75.
- The win over Louisville was the first over a ranked opponent away from Williams Arena since March 23, 1990 when Minnesota defeated No. 6 Syracuse in the NCAA Southeast Regional in New Orleans (not including vacated games).
- Minnesota is one of four ranked teams from the Big Ten Conference, joining Purdue (AP 19, ESPN 19) and Michigan State (7/10) and Michigan (25/24).
Gophers Big Ten Conference Start
- Minnesota is 4-1 in the Big Ten for the first time since 1981-82.
The Gophers haven't started 5-1 since 1976-77 when they began 7-1.
- Minnesota has only started Big Ten Conference play 4-1 15 times since the Big Ten began basketball in 1905-06. However, this is just the Gophers fourth 4-1 start since 1948-49.
- Minnesota has won four straight Big Ten games for the first time since 2004-05 when Dan Monson's Gophers won the final four games of the regular season. The Gophers also won four consecutive conference games during the 2002-03 and 2001-02 seasons. Minnesota has not won five in a row since 1977-78 (won seven in a row).
Minnesota 78, Wisconsin 74
- Minnesota won at Wisconsin for the first time since January 15,1992 (not including vacated games). The Gophers won at the Kohl Center, which opened in 1998, for the first time in 10 attempts.
- Minnesota was ranked while playing against Wisconsin for the first time since January 30, 1999 (game later vacated).
- Minnesota was ranked in a game against Wisconsin when the Badgers were not ranked for the first time since Jan. 16, 1993 (Minnesota was ranked #19 at the time).
Westbrook has Career Night vs Badgers:
- Westbrook's 29 points are the most by a Gopher since Dan Coleman
notched 29 against UCF on December 12, 2006 (span of 72 games).
- Westbrook's 29 points are the most by a Gopher in a Big Ten game
since Vincent Grier scored 32 against Northwestern on February 9, 2005.
- His 29 points are the most in a road game since Kris Humphries
tallied 36 at Indiana on February 14, 2004.
- His 22 points are the most in a half since Grier went for 26 in the
second half of Minnesota's 60-50 win over Wisconsin on February 5, 2005.
Carter Doubles Up:
- Paul Carter posted Minnesota's first points-rebounds double-double since March 18, 2008 when Damian Johnson had 14 points and 12 rebounds against Maryland in the NIT.
Overtime:
- Minnesota won a road overtime contest for the first time since December 5, 2005 at Arizona State (85-79). It was the first Big Ten road overtime win since January 19, 2005 at Ohio State (60-56).
