University of Minnesota Athletics
Game Preview: Minnesota vs. Northwestern
1/31/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
| Minnesota (15-6, 4-4) vs. Northwestern (11-11, 4-5) | |
| Date / Time | Saturday, February 1 | 1 p.m. |
| Location | Williams Arena - Directions |
| Tickets | MyGopherSports.com |
| Travel | Local Weather | Parking | Preferred Hotels |
| TV | BTN |
| Radio | 1500 ESPN | Gopher Radio Network |
| Free Audio | Click Here |
| Live Stats | |
| Live Blog | Click Here |
| Game Notes | Minnesota | Northwestern |
| Official Sites | Minnesota | Northwestern |
| Social Media | @GopherBBall | Facebook |
Jan. 31, 2014
GAME INFORMATION
Date: Saturday, February 1, 2014
Time: 1:00 p.m. CT
Location: Minneapolis, Minn.
Arena: Williams Arena (14,625)
TV: BTN - Mike Couzens (Play-by-Play); Jim Jackson (Analyst)
Radio: Learfield/1500 ESPN Twin Cities - Mike Grimm (Play-by-Play); Spencer Tollackson (Analyst)
Satellite Radio: Sirius 110/XM 198
SERIES INFORMATION
Series: 156th meeting (93-62)
Series (Home): 75th meeting (56-18)
Current Streak: L-1
Richard Pitino vs. Northwestern: First meeting
Minnesota vs. Big Ten: 721-765
Richard Pitino vs. Big Ten: 4-4
GAME DAY TID-BITS
• Minnesota opens the month of February at home, hosting Northwestern in the first of two meetings with the Wildcats.
• The Gophers are 4-4 in Big Ten action, with a 3-1 mark at home in conference play.
• Saturday's matchup is a battle between two first-year Big Ten head coaches, as the 2013-14 campaign is the first for both Richard Pitino and Chris Collins at their respective schools. Saturday is the first game for the Gophers against a first-year head coach in Big Ten play since 2000-01 (Mike Davis - Indiana).
• Minnesota leads the league in steals per game (8.2), is second in free throw percentage (.750), and ranks fourth in three-pointers made per game (7.5) and assists (14.2).
• The Gophers received five votes in this week's Associated Press Top 25 poll, placing them in a tie for 30th in the rankings. Minnesota last received votes in the AP poll on Mar. 4, 2013.
• Minnesota just concluded a stretch of four-straight games against opponents in the Top 15 of the Associated Press poll. It has happened just once before, when in 1987, the Gophers played #4 Iowa, #11 Illinois, #7 Purdue, and #2 Indiana in succession, going 0-4 in the stretch. The Gophers were 2-2 this year during the four-game test.
• With his career night of 18 points and nine rebounds, junior forward Maurice Walker became the sixth different Gopher to lead the team in scoring during a game this season. He had been averaging 4.9 points and 3.2 rebounds per game this season prior to the Jan. 22 win over the Badgers.
• Two of the Gophers' transfers, guards DeAndre Mathieu and Malik Smith, have played integral roles in the team's success this season. Behind top scorer Andre Hollins, Mathieu is second in scoring in B1G games, averaging 11.8 points per game. Smith is the team's top free-throw shooter (.875) while Mathieu leads the Gophers in assists (91).
