Jan. 13, 2012
Northwestern (11-5, 1-3 Big Ten) vs. #6/7 Michigan State (15-2, 4-0 Big Ten)
Saturday, Jan. 14, 2012
Welsh-Ryan Arena (8,117)
Evanston, Ill. 2 p.m.
TV: Big Ten Network (Gus Johnson and Jim Jackson)
Audio: WGN 720 AM and wgnradio.com; WNUR 89.3 FM and sports.wnur.org
Gametracker: NUsports.com
In-game Twitter updates: @NU_SportsLIVE
Northwestern Game Notes (PDF)
Follow @NUMensBball Tweet #NUHoops
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern looks to bounce back from consecutive narrow losses as it hosts No. 6/7 Michigan State at Welsh-Ryan Arena on Saturday. Tip time is set for 2 p.m.
The Spartans are NU's fourth ranked opponent in its last six games, including its third in five Big Ten contests. The challenging schedule to date has Northwestern at No. 28 in the RPI, while MSU is No. 6.
The Wildcats led No. 13 Michigan nearly throughout regulation on the road Wednesday, but eventually fell 66-64 in overtime. John Shurna led NU with 21 points, while Drew Crawford. Northwestern suffered the tight defeat despite limiting the Wolverines to 33.3 percent shooting from the field. The contest followed a one-point loss by the Wildcats at home to Illinois.
Shurna enters Saturday's matchup with 1,679 career points, 10 shy of Michael Thompson (2008-11) for third place in school history.
Last Season: Michigan State squeaked past Northwestern twice a season ago. The Spartans held off a late charge by the Wildcats to earn a 65-62 victory Jan. 3 in Evanston before posting a 71-67 overtime win Jan. 15 in East Lansing.
SCOUTING MICHIGAN STATE
The Spartans have won 15 straight games since opening their season with a pair of losses. MSU is coming off a 95-61 home win over Iowa on Tuesday.
Senior forward Draymon Green leads Michigan State with averages of 15.9 points and 9.8 rebounds per game.
MSU leads the Big Ten with a +9.9 rebounding margin, averaging a conference-best 40.8 rebounds per game.
Tom Izzo is in his 17th season as the head coach at Michigan State where he has a 417-178 record.
DOING IT WITH DEFENSE
Northwestern and Michigan State enter Saturday's contest ranked as two of the top three teams in the Big Ten in field goal percentage defense in conference play. The Spartans rank first, allowing opposing teams to shoot just 37.2 percent from the field in their first four league games. Meanwhile, the Wildcats are third in the league, as their foes are shooting just 39.3 percent through their first four contests.
A CHALLENGING ROAD AHEAD
The Wildcats are in the midst of a challenging stretch of their schedule. Beginning with a Dec. 22 contest at Creighton, Northwestern is playing six teams over a seven-game stretch that are either currently ranked or have been ranked within the last month. This is the fourth consecutive season that NU is playing three ranked teams among its first five conference games.
WILDCATS IN THE RPI RANKINGS
Northwestern is ranked No. 28 nationally in the RPI through games played Thursday. The Wildcats have already played four teams in the top 11 in the rankings: Seton Hall (3), Baylor (4), Illinois (9) and Ohio State (11). NU is the sixth-highest ranked team in the Big Ten, trailing Michigan State (6), Illinois (9), Indiana (10), Ohio State (11) and Michigan (17).
CHANGING OF THE GUARD
The Wildcats have some big shoes to fill in the backcourt with the graduation of Michael Thompson. A four-year starter, Thompson completed his career at NU's all-time leader in games played, games started, minutes played and assists, while ranking third all-time in scoring. Freshman Dave Sobolewski has stepped in valiantly in his stead. Through 16 games, all starts, Sobolewski is averaging 8.4 points and 3.8 assists per game and has committed just 15 turnovers in 555 minutes of action to go along with 60 assists. He scored a collegiate-best 20 points in a victory over Penn State Jan. 1. Sobolewski posted a career-high eight assists with no turnovers Dec. 22 at No. 23/21 Creighton.
Nation's Assist-to-Turnover Ratio Leaders
(min. 3.0 assists/game; through 1/12)
1. Andrew Rogers -- Maine, Sr. - 4.33
2. Dave Sobolewski -- NU, Fr. - 4.00
3. Kendall Marshall -- N. Carolina, So. - 3.93
4. Randy Davis -- Ball State, Sr. - 3.91
HELPING HAND
Northwestern is well known for playing "team" offense and that's reflected in the statistics. The Wildcats ranks second in the nation with a 1.57 assist-to-turnover ratio this season. NU ranked second nationally to only Wisconsin with a 1.70 mark a year ago. NU ranks sixth in the country with an average of just 10.4 turnovers per contest and 22nd with a norm of 16.3 assists per game. Northwestern is assisting on 66.1 percent of its made field goals, the seventh-highest percentage nationally.
DYNAMIC DUO
We're not sure which one is Batman and which one is Robin, but senior John Shurna and junior Drew Crawford have already shown that they form a pretty formidable 1-2 punch. Shurna leads the Big Ten with an average of 18.9 points per game, while Crawford is the Big Ten's third-leading scorer with a norm of 17.4 points per contest.
SHOOTING FOR THE TOP
Northwestern's scoring record of 1,900 career points has stood since 1977 when Billy McKinney completed his collegiate eligibility. John Shurna is currently in fourth place on NU's career scoring list with 1,679 career points, just 10 points shy of Michael Thompson (2008-11) for third place. He jumped up three spots with his 32-point performance against Eastern Illinois Dec. 18. Shurna scored a school single-season record 619 points as a sophomore and 531 points last season as a junior. He is the active Big Ten career leader with 32 games of scoring 20 or more points.
UP NEXT...
Northwestern hits the road next Wednesday as it travels to Wisconsin. Tip-off time is 8 p.m.
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