University of Minnesota Athletics
Saturday, March 9
Evanston, IL
8:00 PM
University of Minnesota
at
Northwestern
Players Mentioned
Guard
/ Men's Basketball
Forward
/ Men's Basketball
Forward
/ Men's Basketball
Guard
/ Men's Basketball
Guard
/ Men's Basketball
Forward
/ Men's Basketball
Photo by: Brad Rempel
Gophers Close Out Regular Season at Northwestern
3/8/2024 7:54:00 AM | Men's Basketball
SERIES INFORMATION*
174th Meeting (102-71 all time)
Minnesota Road Record at Northwester: 38-46
Gophers All-Time vs. Big Ten: 796-910
* - excludes vacated games
STARTING FIVE
• Minnesota closes out the regular season at Northwestern on Saturday night. In the lone Big Ten game held on March 9, the Golden Gophers and Wildcats battle at 8 p.m., on Big Ten Network. KFAN 100.3 FM will also broadcast the game. It marks the second time these two teams clash this season and 174th overall. Should the Gophers win, they would finish .500 or better in the league standings for the first time since 2016-17 and just the six time in 24 years. It would also mark the first time in the 20-game league schedule.
• Minnesota and Northwestern faced each other on February 3, as the Gophers earned a 75-66 overtime win at Williams Arena. Dawson Garcia scored a team-best 20 points as Minnesota rallied from a nine-point second-half deficit. Cam Christie finished with 15 points, Pharrel Payne had 14 and a game-high nine rebounds, and Elijah Hawkins recorded his third point-assist double-double of the season with 13 points and 10 assists for the Gophers. Mike Mitchell Jr. added 10 points.
• Minnesota lost its home season finale Wednesday, 70-58, to the Indiana Hoosiers. Parker Fox came off the bench and led the Gophers with 14 points, followed by Mike Mitchell Jr. with 13 and Dawson Garcia with 12. Minnesota shot just 22-of-57 (.386) from the field, including 5-of-26 (.192) from behind the three-point arc, and committed 18 turnovers to Indiana's 14.
• Despite the outcome of the Northwestern game, Minnesota will finish as the 10th or higher seed in next week's Big Ten Tournament, held in Minneapolis at the Target Center. Should the Gophers win over Northwestern, Minnesota could potentially play as the eighth seed in the upcoming tournament. That would mark its best seeding since 2018-19, when the Gophers were the No. 7 overall seed.
• Cam Christie was named Big Ten Freshman of the Week for the second time this season. He scored a team-best 21 points in Minnesota's two games last week against No. 13 Illinois and Penn State. In last Saturday's win over Penn State, Christie tied a game-high 19 points. In the loss at Illinois, Christie scored 23 and ranked second on the team in scoring. The 23 points were the third-most scored by a Big Ten freshman this season.
ABOUT NORTHWESTERN
• Northwestern is 20-10 overall and 11-8 in Big Ten play this season. The Wildcats are 14-2 on their home court, dropping a nonconference game to Chicago State and Iowa in league action last week. Northwestern has gone 3-2 in its last five games with wins at Indiana, vs. Michigan and at Maryland.
• Northwestern has hit an injury bug since the Gophers last face them. Ty Berry is out for the remainder of the season, while Ryan Langborg and Matthew Nicholson have missed games recently. All-Big Ten guard Boo Buie leads the team in scoring averaging 18.8 points, followed by Brooks Barnhizer at 14.2 and Langborg at 12.3. Nick Martinelli has started in replace of Berry and averaging 8.9 ppg.
• As a team, Northwestern averages 73.6 points, while it allows just 69.1. They are shooting 45.7 percent from the field and 39.1 from beyond the arc. The Wildcats also average 31.3 rebounds and shoot 74.6 percent from the charity stripe.
ON THE DOCKET
• Minnesota will compete in the 2024 Big Ten Tournament, March 13-17 in Minneapolis. Date and time of game will be determined based on seedings. Wednesday's games are streamed on Peacock, Thursday's games will be shown on Big Ten Network and Saturday/Sunday tilts on CBS.
• Mike Grimm and Al Nolen will provide the radio broadcast on KFAN 100.3 FM.
174th Meeting (102-71 all time)
Minnesota Road Record at Northwester: 38-46
Gophers All-Time vs. Big Ten: 796-910
* - excludes vacated games
STARTING FIVE
• Minnesota closes out the regular season at Northwestern on Saturday night. In the lone Big Ten game held on March 9, the Golden Gophers and Wildcats battle at 8 p.m., on Big Ten Network. KFAN 100.3 FM will also broadcast the game. It marks the second time these two teams clash this season and 174th overall. Should the Gophers win, they would finish .500 or better in the league standings for the first time since 2016-17 and just the six time in 24 years. It would also mark the first time in the 20-game league schedule.
• Minnesota and Northwestern faced each other on February 3, as the Gophers earned a 75-66 overtime win at Williams Arena. Dawson Garcia scored a team-best 20 points as Minnesota rallied from a nine-point second-half deficit. Cam Christie finished with 15 points, Pharrel Payne had 14 and a game-high nine rebounds, and Elijah Hawkins recorded his third point-assist double-double of the season with 13 points and 10 assists for the Gophers. Mike Mitchell Jr. added 10 points.
• Minnesota lost its home season finale Wednesday, 70-58, to the Indiana Hoosiers. Parker Fox came off the bench and led the Gophers with 14 points, followed by Mike Mitchell Jr. with 13 and Dawson Garcia with 12. Minnesota shot just 22-of-57 (.386) from the field, including 5-of-26 (.192) from behind the three-point arc, and committed 18 turnovers to Indiana's 14.
• Despite the outcome of the Northwestern game, Minnesota will finish as the 10th or higher seed in next week's Big Ten Tournament, held in Minneapolis at the Target Center. Should the Gophers win over Northwestern, Minnesota could potentially play as the eighth seed in the upcoming tournament. That would mark its best seeding since 2018-19, when the Gophers were the No. 7 overall seed.
• Cam Christie was named Big Ten Freshman of the Week for the second time this season. He scored a team-best 21 points in Minnesota's two games last week against No. 13 Illinois and Penn State. In last Saturday's win over Penn State, Christie tied a game-high 19 points. In the loss at Illinois, Christie scored 23 and ranked second on the team in scoring. The 23 points were the third-most scored by a Big Ten freshman this season.
ABOUT NORTHWESTERN
• Northwestern is 20-10 overall and 11-8 in Big Ten play this season. The Wildcats are 14-2 on their home court, dropping a nonconference game to Chicago State and Iowa in league action last week. Northwestern has gone 3-2 in its last five games with wins at Indiana, vs. Michigan and at Maryland.
• Northwestern has hit an injury bug since the Gophers last face them. Ty Berry is out for the remainder of the season, while Ryan Langborg and Matthew Nicholson have missed games recently. All-Big Ten guard Boo Buie leads the team in scoring averaging 18.8 points, followed by Brooks Barnhizer at 14.2 and Langborg at 12.3. Nick Martinelli has started in replace of Berry and averaging 8.9 ppg.
• As a team, Northwestern averages 73.6 points, while it allows just 69.1. They are shooting 45.7 percent from the field and 39.1 from beyond the arc. The Wildcats also average 31.3 rebounds and shoot 74.6 percent from the charity stripe.
ON THE DOCKET
• Minnesota will compete in the 2024 Big Ten Tournament, March 13-17 in Minneapolis. Date and time of game will be determined based on seedings. Wednesday's games are streamed on Peacock, Thursday's games will be shown on Big Ten Network and Saturday/Sunday tilts on CBS.
• Mike Grimm and Al Nolen will provide the radio broadcast on KFAN 100.3 FM.
Highlights: Gophers 80, NDSU 54
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