Feb. 23, 2011
Northwestern (16-10, 6-9 Big Ten) vs. Penn State (14-12, 7-8 Big Ten)
Thursday, Feb. 24, 2011
Welsh-Ryan Arena (8,117)
Evanston, Ill. 8 p.m.
TV: ESPN2 and ESPN3.com (Bob Wischusen and Stephen Bardo)
Audio: WIND 560 AM and wgnradio.com (Dave Eanet and Shon Morris)
Satellite Radio: Sirius 121 and XM 141
Gametracker: NUsports.com
In-game Twitter updates: @NU_SportsLIVE
Northwestern Game Notes (PDF)
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern looks to pull even with Penn State in the Big Ten standings Thursday evening as the teams square off at Welsh-Ryan Arena. Tip time is set for 8 p.m.
The Wildcats enter the contest with a 6-9 record in conference play while the Nittany Lions are 7-8. With just two weeks remaining in the Big Ten season, the standings are a logjam. Through games played Tuesday, just one game separated fifth place from ninth place.
NU is coming off a 70-64 win at Indiana last Saturday. Michael Thompson led the way, scoring 22 points including a perfect 11-for-11 effort from the free throw line. John Shurna contributed 19 points to give the Wildcats their sixth win over the Hoosiers in the last seven meetings. Northwestern finished 21 of 25 from the free throw line as a team in the contest.
Penn State is the lone team that Northwestern has failed to defeat over the last four seasons. The Nittany Lions have won the last five meetings dating back to the 2007-08 campaign.
Last meeting: Penn State limited Northwestern to 34.6 percent shooting, including just 2-for-21 shooting from 3-point range, in winning 65-41 Feb. 13 in State College.
Scouting Penn State
The Nittany Lions (14-12, 7-8) suffered a 76-66 loss at Wisconsin on Sunday. Talor Battle hit seven 3-pointers and led Penn State with 23 points.
Battle paces the Big Ten with averages of 20.8 points and 3.08 3-point field goals per game. Jeff Brooks ranks third in the league with a .576 field goal percentage.
Ed DeChellis has a 109-135 record in eight seasons at Penn State and a 214-228 mark in 15 overall seasons as a head coach.
Join the Club
Northwestern's Michael Thompson and Penn State's Talor Battle can both join Illinois' Demetri McCamey and Michigan State's Kalin Lucas as active Big Ten players with 1,500 points and 500 assists in their careers. Thompson is four assists shy of 500 for his career while Battle is three helpers away from the milestone.
The Magic Number is 70
When the Wildcats tally at least 70 points this season, their record is 15-1. NU's record falls to 1-9 when it tallies 69 points or less.
Success Under Carmody
NU earned its sixth Big Ten win of the season at Indiana Feb. 19. In head coach Bill Carmody's 11 seasons in Evanston, the Wildcats have recorded at least six Big Ten victories seven times. The program totaled six or more conference wins just five times in the previous 31 years prior to Carmody's arrival.
Setting the Standard
Northwestern's senior class has posted 61 wins over the last four seasons. With a victory over Illinois Feb. 5, this year's senior class earned its 59th career win to surpass last year's class as the winningest in Northwestern history. The 37 combined wins by the Wildcats over the previous two seasons are a school record for back-to-back campaigns. NU can match that mark with a win Thursday night.
Climbing the Charts
Senior point guard Michael Thompson currently has 1,520 career points, ranking him eighth in Northwestern history. He started the season in 21st place. The Chicago native also has 496 career assists. He surpassed Patrick Baldwin (1991-94) for first place in school history Jan. 15 at Michigan State. Thompson became the second player in NU history to post 400 career assists when he reached the milestone Nov. 30 in a win over Georgia Tech. He also ranks second all-time at Northwestern with 244 3-point field goals.
Mr. Reliable
It's a rare thing when Michael Thompson isn't on the court for Northwestern. He has started all 121 games during his career as a Wildcat and surpassed Jitim Young (2001-04) Feb. 9 for the most starts in school history. He's set to pass Craig Moore (2006-09) for the most games played in school history Thursday night. On Jan. 12 at Iowa, Thompson became the school's all-time leader in minutes played, surpassing Jim Stack (1979-83). He eclipsed 4,000 minutes for his career Jan. 20 vs. SIU Edwardsville. Last season, Thompson ranked fourth in the nation with an average of 37.7 minutes played per game. His average of 36.2 minutes per game this season ranks second in the Big Ten to only Penn State's Talor Battle.
Longest Active String of Consecutive Starts
Through games of 2/21/11
Source: STATS -- Chicago
1. Dairese Gary, New Mexico - 124
2. Tyler Newbold, Utah State - 123
3. Kevin Anderson, Richmond - 122
4. Michael Thompson, Northwestern - 121
On Target
Northwestern has long been known for its accurate 3-point shooting. The Wildcats sport a .384 3-point percentage this season. NU is also fifth nationally with an average of 9.2 made 3-pointers per game. Individually, John Shurna is third in the nation with a .500 3-point percentage. Shurna's 10-for-11 performance overall from the field in a win over Long Island Dec. 13 ranks as a tie for the second-best effort in program history.
Helping Hand
Northwestern is well known for playing "team" offense and that's reflected in the statistics. The Wildcats lead the Big Ten and rank 10th in the nation with an average of 17.2 assists per game. NU's assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.66 (446 assists, 269 turnovers) is the nation's second-best mark, trailing only Wisconsin. The 'Cats are also fourth nationally with an average of only 10.3 turnovers per game.
Bombs Away!
A year after shattering the school season record with 317 3-point makes, the Wildcats have followed suit this season. NU leads the Big Ten and is fifth nationally with an average of 9.2 3-point makes per game this season. Michael Thompson ranks fourth among all Big Ten players with an average of 2.42 triples per contest.
Scoring Spree
A year after leading the Big Ten in scoring during league play, Northwestern is putting a number of points on the board again this year. The 'Cats currently rank third in the Big Ten with an average of 73.1 points per game. NU has scored over 90 points in a game six times this season, the most since the 1970-71 campaign when it also reached the mark six times. Northwestern had scored 90 points in a game just twice in Bill Carmody's first 10 seasons as head coach.
Scoring Spree, Part 2
Northwestern's 93-81 victory over Indiana Jan. 9 marked the team's most points in a Big Ten game since a 97-93 overtime win over No. 8 Michigan on March 12, 1994. Coupled with a 90-71 victory at Iowa Jan. 12, it marked NU's first time scoring at least 90 points in consecutive Big Ten games since Jan. 3 and 10, 1970 vs. Michigan (L, 96-92) and at Michigan State (L, 98-93), respectively. The Wildcats' 98 points against SIU Edwardsville Jan. 20 were their most since a 100-89 win over Wisconsin March 6, 1993.
Settling In
Freshman JerShon Cobb has gotten his NU career off to a good start. The Georgia native has started all 23 of the games that he has appeared in. He scored in double figures in four of his first five Big Ten games, including tallying a collegiate-best 18 points at No. 20 Illinois Jan. 6. Cobb ranks fifth among all conference freshmen with an average of 8.2 points per game. In league play, that average goes up to 9.2 points per contest, also the fifth-best mark of any Big Ten frosh.
Home Sweet Home
The Wildcats are 11-3 at home so far this season, with all the losses coming to teams that were ranked at the time (Michigan State, Wisconsin, Ohio State). After setting a program best with 13 home wins in 2008-09, the Wildcats established a new mark with 15 victories at Welsh-Ryan Arena in 2009-10. Northwestern went 15-4 at home during the campaign with three of the losses coming to nationally ranked opponents: Butler, Michigan State and Wisconsin.
Up Next...
Northwestern hits the road Sunday as it travels to Madison to face No. 12 Wisconsin. Tip time is set for 5 p.m. with Big Ten Network providing live television coverage.
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