Jan. 17, 2012
Northwestern (12-5, 2-3) at Wisconsin (14-5, 3-3)
Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2012
Welsh-Ryan Arena (8,117)
Madison, Wis. 8 p.m.
TV: Big Ten Network (Eric Collins and Shon Morris)
Audio: WIND 560 AM and wgnradio.com (Dave Eanet and Tim Doyle), WNUR 89.3 FM and sports.wnur.org
Gametracker: NUsports.com
In-game Twitter updates: @NU_SportsLIVE
Northwestern Game Notes (PDF)
Skip Myslenski Game Preview
Follow @NUMensBball Tweet #NUHoops
EVANSTON, Ill. -- On the heels of a victory over sixth-ranked Michigan State on Saturday, Northwestern aims to even its Big Ten record Wednesday as it travels to Wisconsin. Tip-off is set for 8 p.m.
The Wildcats led by as many as 12 points in the second half in handing the Spartans an 81-74 defeat at Welsh-Ryan Arena. John Shurna led the way with 22 points, five rebounds and five assists, while Drew Crawford contributed 20 points and Davide Curletti added a season-high 17. NU's victory snapped Michigan State's 15-game winning streak. Northwestern shot 50 percent from the field in the contest, the highest mark by an MSU opponent so far this season.
Wednesday's matchup features one of the Big Ten's top 3-point shooting teams against its top 3-point field goal defense. Northwestern leads the league with an average of 8.8 makes per game from beyond the arc, while the Badgers are third in the nation, limiting teams to 26 percent shooting from 3-point range.
Last Season: Wisconsin won both meetings a year ago, posting a 78-46 win Jan. 23 in Evanston and a 78-63 victory Feb. 27 in Madison.
SCOUTING WISCONSIN
The Badgers (14-5, 3-3) won consecutive games last week, posting a 67-62 victory at Purdue on Thursday before notching a 50-45 home win over Nebraska on Sunday.
Senior point guard Jordan Taylor leads Wisconsin with an average of 13.8 points per game, while Jared Berggren contributes 10.9 points and 5.2 rebounds per contest.
The Badgers rank first in the nation in scoring defense (48.5 ppg), field goal percentage defense (.351) and fewest turnovers per game (9.0).
Bo Ryan is in his 11th season as the head coach at Wisconsin where he has a 256-96 record. He is 639-199 in 28 seasons overall.
STRIKING DOWN THE SPARTANS
Northwestern's victory over No. 6 Michigan State on Jan. 14 ranks as a tie for the highest ranked opponent that the Wildcats have beaten in Bill Carmody's 12 seasons as head coach. Purdue was also ranked No. 6 when the 'Cats beat them 72-64 in Evanston Jan. 16, 2010. MSU was ranked No. 7 when the 'Cats posted a 70-63 win over the Spartans in East Lansing Jan. 21, 2009.
A CHALLENGING ROAD
The Wildcats are in the midst of a challenging stretch of their schedule. Wednesday's night's game concludes a span during which Northwestern will have played six teams over a seven-game stretch against teams that are either currently ranked or have been ranked within the last month. This is the fourth consecutive season that NU has played three ranked teams among its first five conference games. Northwestern has the nation's fifth-highest strength of schedule to date.
WILDCATS IN THE RPI RANKINGS
Northwestern is ranked No. 25 nationally in the RPI through games played Sunday. The Wildcats have already played four teams in the top 7 in the rankings: Baylor (3), Seton Hall (5), Michigan State (6) and Ohio State (7). The team has won two of those games, defeating both Michigan State and Seton Hall. NU has the fifth-best ranked RPI in the Big Ten, trailing Michigan State (6), Ohio State (7), Indiana (12) and Illinois (16).
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 third place on NU's career scoring list with 1,701 career points. He surpassed Michael Thompson (2008-11) in Saturday's victory over Michigan State. 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 35 games of scoring 20 or more points.
POST PRODUCTION
Davide Curletti made just his second career start Jan. 14 against sixth-ranked Michigan State, but he made Bill Carmody's decision look pretty good. The senior scored 13 of his season-high 17 points in the first half of the Wildcats' victory. He made five of seven field goals attempts and also tied a career high with six rebounds to go along with four assists, a blocked shot and two steals. The point total was one shy of his career high of 18 achieved at Wisconsin Feb. 27, 2011. NU also won Curletti's only other career start, defeating Ohio State 72-69 Feb. 18, 2009.
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 1.62 assist-to-turnover ratio this season. NU ranked second nationally to only Wisconsin with a 1.70 mark a year ago. NU ranks fifth in the country with an average of just 10.2 turnovers per contest and 17th with a norm of 16.5 assists per game. Northwestern is assisting on 66.7 percent of its made field goals, the fourth-highest percentage nationally.
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 17 games, all starts, Sobolewski is averaging 8.2 points and 3.9 assists per game and has committed just 16 turnovers in 595 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 1/15)
1. Dave Sobolewski -- NU, Fr. - 4.19
2. Andrew Rogers -- Maine, Sr. - 3.72
3. Randy Davis -- Ball State, Sr. - 3.60
4. Kendall Marshall -- N. Carolina, So. - 3.46
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 19.1 points per game, while Crawford is the Big Ten's third-leading scorer with a norm of 17.6 points per contest.
UP NEXT...
Northwestern remains on the road Sunday as it travels to Minnesota. Tip time is set for 3 p.m. The contest is being televised by Big Ten Network.
Be the first to know what's going on with the 'Cats -- Follow @NU_Sports on Twitter, become a fan of Northwestern Athletics on Facebook! and subscribe to the NU Sports Express e-newsletter to receive the latest news, schedule updates and video and to interact with NU. For more information on following specific Northwestern teams online, visit our Social Media page!