Feb. 27, 2010
Northwestern at Penn State
Sunday, Feb. 28, 2010
Bryce Jordan Center (15,261)
University Park, Pa. 11 a.m. CT
TV: Big Ten Network (Ari Wolfe and Shon Morris)
Audio: WGN 720-AM and wgnradio.com (Dave Eanet and Bob Hildebrand)
Satellite Radio: Sirius 122 and XM 143
Gametracker: NUsports.com
In-game Twitter updates: @NU_SportsLIVE
Northwestern Game Notes (PDF)
EVANSTON, Ill. - Northwestern takes aim at its school-record 19th win of the season Sunday as it travels to Penn State. This season's Wildcats are currently tied with the 1982-83 squad which also won 18 games. Big Ten Network is televising the contest which tips off at 11 a.m. Central time.
NU (18-10, 7-9 Big Ten) established a school record for regular-season victories in a convincing 74-57 home victory over Iowa Thursday night. An early 23-5 run gave Northwestern a 31-11 lead and they never looked back. John Shurna made 7 of 8 first-half field goal attempts en route to scoring 18 of his game-high 29 points before the break. The Wildcats led by as many as 25 in the contest and shot a season-best 58.3 percent from the field.
Sunday's contest is the penultimate Big Ten game of the season for Northwestern. The Wildcats close out league play March 6 at Indiana and plays a nonconference home game in between against Chicago State Wednesday, March 3.
First Meeting: Penn State picked up its first Big Ten win of the season 11 days ago as it defeated Northwestern 81-70 Feb. 17 in Evanston.
Scouting Penn State
Penn State (10-17, 2-13 Big Ten) is coming off a 75-67 home loss to ninth-ranked Ohio State Wednesday. Talor Battle led the Nittany Lions with 22 points. The loss snapped a two-game winning streak for PSU.
Battle ranks second in the Big Ten with an average of 19.1 points per game and leads the team with 5.5 rebounds per contest. David Jackson contributes 9.7 points and 4.6 boards per game.
Ed DeChellis is in his seventh season at Penn State (94-120) and 14th overall (199-212) 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 18.5 points and 6.1 rebounds per game in 2009-10. He ranks fourth in the Big Ten in scoring and 10th in rebounding. The 11.2 point-per-game boost is the largest increase of any Big Ten player from last season to this season, is the eighth largest nationally and is the second-best of any player in a BCS conference. He scored at least 20 points in five straight games from Dec. 19-Jan. 7 and 12 times overall this season. 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 1.56 assist-to-turnover ratio, having handed out 465 assists while committing only 299 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
With 18 wins this season, NU established the school record for regular season victories and has tied the 1982-83 squad's overall win total. 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 fifth nationally with averages of 9.1 3-point makes and seventh with 25.1 3-point attempts per game. NU'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 71.2 percent of their field goals this season, posting 465 assists on their 653 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
NU has reached at least 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 28 contests this season. He leads the Big Ten and is third nationally with an average of 37.8 minutes per game. Despite playing as many minutes as he does, the NU floor general has committed either one or no turnovers 13 times this season and sports a 2.53 assist-to-turnover ratio. In Big Ten play, his assist-to-turnover ratio goes up to 2.78 (67 assists, 26 turnovers in 610 minutes played). Northwestern is 15-4 when Thompson scores in double figures and is 3-6 when he doesn't. He became the 29th member of NU's 1,000-point club Feb. 17 vs. Penn State.
Cardiac 'Cats
Northwestern has proven this season that it isn't over until it's over. The Wildcats first displayed their comeback potential Nov. 22 against Tennessee State. Trailing by eight with 5:26 remaining, NU ended the game on a 16-1 run to earn a 69-62 win. In a Jan. 10 contest at Michigan, Northwestern found itself facing a 17-point first-half deficit. However, Drew Crawford sparked the comeback as the 'Cats rallied for a 68-62 victory. Minnesota was victim to NU's heroics Feb. 14. The Gophers led by 13 with eight minutes remaining before the Wildcats used a 20-4 run to help force overtime before eventually winning 77-74. Northwestern nearly turned the trick again at Wisconsin Feb. 21. Trailing by 14 at the half, the Wildcats rallied back to within a point before coming up just short.
Up Next...
Northwestern closes out its 2009-10 home regular season Wednesday, March 3 as it hosts Chicago State. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.