Jan. 18, 2010
Northwestern at #21 Ohio State
Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2010
Value City Arena (19,500)
Columbus, Ohio 6 p.m. CT
TV: Big Ten Network (Gus Johnson and Tim Doyle)
Audio: WCPT-FM 92.7, WCPY-FM 92.5, WCPQ-FM 99.9 and wgnradio.com (Dave Eanet and Bob Hildebrand)
Satellite Radio: Sirius 91 and XM 196
Gametracker: NUsports.com
In-game Twitter updates: @NU_SportsLIVE
Northwestern Game Notes (PDF)
EVANSTON, Ill. - Northwestern plays its third consecutive game against a ranked team Tuesday as it travels to No. 21 Ohio State. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. Central time with Big Ten Network providing live television coverage.
The Wildcats are coming off a 72-64 home win over No. 6 Purdue Saturday, marking the highest ranked opponent NU has beaten since downing No. 4 Michigan State 83-65 Jan. 17, 1979. The 'Cats beat the seventh-ranked Spartans a year ago. Michael Thompson paced Northwestern with 20 points, while Luka Mirkovic contributed a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Drew Crawford chipped in with 15 points, including eight over the final 2:05. NU dominated the Boilermakers on the boards, posting a 42-23 advantage.
Tuesday's matchup is the lone regular season meeting between the Wildcats and the Buckeyes. Northwestern's other one-play this season was Purdue.
Last Season: Northwestern and Ohio State split their season series in 2008-09. The Wildcats posted a 72-69 win in Evanston Feb. 18 on John Shurna's 3-pointer with 3.3 seconds remaining. The Buckeyes earned a 52-47 victory March 8 in Columbus in the regular-season finale for both teams.
Scouting Ohio State
Ohio State (13-5, 3-3) has won consecutive games over ranked opponents, winning at No. 6 Purdue Tuesday before posting a 60-51 home win over No. 13 Wisconsin Saturday. David Lighty paced the Buckeyes with 13 points.
Evan Turner has returned from missing a month due to injury to lead Ohio State. The junior paces the Buckeyes with averages of 18.5 points, 9.4 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game.
Thad Matta is in his sixth season at OSU and his 10th season overall as a collegiate head coach.
Shurna Takes Charge
To say that John Shurna has elevated his game this season would be an understatement. After posting norms of 7.3 points and 3.0 rebounds per game as a freshman, Shurna has raised those averages to 16.8 points and 7.1 rebounds per game in 2009-10. He rank fourth in the Big Ten in rebounding and fifth in scoring. The 9.5 point-per-game boost is the largest increase of any Big Ten player from last season to this season. He scored at least 20 points in five straight games from Dec. 19-Jan. 7, including scoring a career-high 29 points against Central Connecticut State Dec. 22 and again vs. Michigan State Jan. 2.
Spreading the Wealth
Northwestern is well known for sharing the basketball while protecting it from the opposition at the same time. That's the case again this season. The Wildcats rank fifth in the nation with a 1.49 assist-to-turnover ratio, having handed out 287 assists while committing only 192 turnovers. In its Dec. 30 overtime contest against Illinois, Northwestern handed out 21 assists while turning the ball over just three times. The three turnovers tied a low in the Carmody era and none of them came over the final 35 minutes of play.
So Far, So Good
Northwestern's 13-4 record marks the best 17-game start to a season during the Carmody era and is the best since the 1945-46 campaign. The Wildcats have started 7-1 in consecutive seasons for the first time in school history. NU earned five wins in the month of November this season for the first time ever. Northwestern's nine-game win streak which was snapped Dec. 30 at Illinois was its longest since the 1993-94 squad opened its season with nine straight victories. The Wildcats 10 wins prior to the new year tied the 2006-07 team for the school record for most victories before Jan. 1.
Mirkovic Contributes in the Post
Sophomore center Luka Mirkovic has given the Wildcats key contributions in the post the last four games. Over that span, the native of Belgrade, Serbia, is averaging 10.7 points, 9.7 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game. After posting his second career double-double (11 pts., 11 reb.) in a win over Texas-Pan American Jan. 7, Mirkovic had another solid all-around game in Sunday's victory at Michigan, notching 13 points, eight rebounds and four assists. In Big Ten play, Mirkovic ranks fourth in the conference with an average of 8.0 rebounds per game.
Burning the Boilers
Northwestern's 72-64 victory over No. 6 Purdue Jan. 16 marked the Wildcats' second victory over a ranked Boilermakers' squad the last two seasons. A year ago, NU ruined 19th-ranked Purdue's Senior Day by posting a 64-61 win. This year's victory marked the highest ranked opponent the Wildcats have beaten since downing No. 4 Michigan State 83-65 Jan. 27, 1979.
Bombs Away!
The Wildcats lead the Big Ten and are 10th nationally with an average 9.12 3-point makes per game, while also ranking fourth in the nation with 25.3 3-point attempts per game. Northwestern's 20 3-point makes and 47 3-point attempts in the win over North Carolina A&T Dec. 13 both established new Big Ten records. NU matched the attempts record with 47 against Illinois Dec. 30. The 20 makes bested the previous conference mark of 18 set by Ohio State against LSU Jan. 15, 2005, while the attempt total topped Michigan's total of 42 against Florida Gulf Coast Dec. 22, 2008. The previous school records were 15 makes vs. Arkansas State Dec. 3, 2007 and 36 attempts at Ohio State Feb. 1, 2003.
Helping Hand
Northwestern is well known for playing "team" offense and that's reflected in the statistics. The Wildcats have assisted on 73 percent of their field goals this season, posting 287 assists on their 393 made baskets. The percentage ranks first in the nation. In fact, NU has ranked in the top five nationally in assist percentage each of Bill Carmody's 10 seasons as head coach.
Marathon Man
There is no questioning Michael Thompson's importance to the Wildcats. Not when you consider that he has played 38 or more minutes in 12 of Northwestern's first 17 contests this season. Thompson leads the Big Ten and is third nationally with an average of 38.2 minutes per game. Despite playing as many minutes as he does, the NU floor general has committed either one or no turnovers in nine of the team's 17 games and sports a 2.74 assist-to-turnover ratio. In Big Ten play, he leads the conference with a 3.86 assist-to-turnover ratio (27 assists, 7 turnovers in 202 minutes played).Northwestern is 11-1 when Thompson scores in double figures and is 2-3 when he doesn't.
Freshmen Sharp-Shooters
Northwestern was looking for a long-range threat to replace the graduated Craig Moore and freshmen Alex Marcotullio and Drew Crawford have made solid contributions from beyond the arch in his stead. Crawford has hit 29 triples and is eighth in the Big Ten with a .408 3-point percentage, while Marcotullio has 26 makes and is 11th with a .377 percentage from 3-point range.
Up Next...
Northwestern returns home Saturday to wrap up its season series with Illinois. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.