Feb. 20, 2010
Northwestern at Wisconsin
Sunday, Feb. 21, 2010
Kohl Center (17,230)
Madison, Wis. 1 p.m.
TV: Big Ten Network (Wayne Larrivee and Shon Morris)
Audio: WGN 720-AM and wgnradio.com (Dave Eanet and Bob Hildebrand)
Satellite Radio: Sirius 90 and XM 196
Gametracker: NUsports.com
In-game Twitter updates: @NU_SportsLIVE
Northwestern Game Notes (PDF)
EVANSTON, Ill. - Northwestern looks to get back on track Sunday as it travels to Madison to take on 14th-ranked Wisconsin. The Wildcats are seeking their 18th win of the season which would match the school record held by the 1982-83 squad.
NU (17-9, 6-8 Big Ten) is coming off an 81-70 home loss to Penn State on Wednesday. John Shurna and Michael Thompson led four Wildcats in double figures with 17 points apiece. Thompson became the 29th player in school history to reach 1,000 career points in the contest.
A victory over Wisconsin would be Northwestern's third over a ranked opponent this season, tying a school record held by the 1993-94 and 2008-09 squads. Earlier this season, the Wildcats defeated No. 23 Notre Dame 72-58 Nov. 27 and No. 6 Purdue 72-64 Jan. 16.
Sunday's contest features the top two players in the Big Ten in assist-to-turnover ratio. Wisconsin's Jordan Taylor is first at 3.36, while Thompson ranks second at 2.57.
First Meeting: Wisconsin rallied past Northwestern for a 60-50 win Jan. 13 in Evanston.
Scouting Wisconsin
Wisconsin (19-7, 9-5) is coming off a 68-52 loss at Minnesota Thursday evening. Trevon Hughes led the Badgers with 19 points, while Jason Bohannon added 18.
Hughes leads Wisconsin with an average of 15.5 points per game. Jon Leuer, who returned to the lineup against Minnesota Thursday after missing nine games due to injury, contributes 14.7 points and 5.9 rebounds per game.
Bo Ryan is in his ninth season at UW and 26th 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 17.8 points and 6.5 rebounds per game in 2009-10. He ranks fourth in the Big Ten in scoring and seventh in rebounding. The 10.5 point-per-game boost is the largest increase of any Big Ten player from last season to this season, is the 10th largest nationally and is the fourth-best of any player in a BCS conference. He scored at least 20 points in five straight games from Dec. 19-Jan. 7. After twice scoring 29 points in a game this season, he established a new career high with 31 points at fifth-ranked Michigan State Jan. 30. Shurna averaged 30.0 points per game in his two contests against the Spartans this season.
30-30 Vision
By virtue of John's Shurna's 31-point effort at Michigan State Jan. 30, Northwestern joined Oklahoma and Lipscomb the only three schools this season to have three different players score at least 30 points in a game. Michael Thompson scored 31 vs. Tennessee State Nov. 22 and Drew Crawford tallied 35 against North Carolina A&T Dec. 13.
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 lead the Big Ten and rank fourth in the nation with a 1.53 assist-to-turnover ratio, having handed out 434 assists while committing only 284 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
At 17-9, Northwestern has matched the school record for regular season wins. The 1982-83 and 2008-09 squads each posted 17 regular-season victories. 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.
Bombs Away!
The Wildcats lead the Big Ten and are third nationally with averages of 9.42 3-point makes and 25.8 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. The 20 makes are tied for the most by any team in the nation this season. 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 tries 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 71.9 percent of their field goals this season, posting 434 assists on their 604 made baskets. The percentage ranks second 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.
Success Under Carmody
Northwestern has reached six Big Ten wins for the sixth time in Bill Carmody's first 10 seasons as head coach. The program totaled six or more conference wins just five times in the previous 31 years prior to Carmody's arrival. NU's seven-game increase in conference wins from the 2007-08 to the 2008-09 season is the biggest jump since Minnesota went from three league wins in 2003-04 to 10 the following campaign.
Marathon Man
There is no questioning Michael Thompson's importance to NU. Not when you consider that he has played 38 or more minutes in 18 of Northwestern's first 26 contests this season. He leads the Big Ten and is third nationally with an average of 37.9 minutes per game. Despite playing as many minutes as he does, the NU floor general has committed either one or no turnovers 12 times this season and sports a 2.57 assist-to-turnover ratio. In Big Ten play, his assist-to-turnover ratio goes up to 2.77 (61 assists, 22 turnovers in 538 minutes played). Northwestern is 14-4 when Thompson scores in double figures and is 3-5 when he doesn't. He became the 29th member of NU's 1,000-point club Feb. 17 vs. Penn State.
Up Next...
Northwestern returns home Thursday, Feb. 25 to take on Iowa. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m.