Recap: Northwestern 77 Minnesota 74 OT

It's a good thing cats have nine lives. By our count Northwestern has spent five lives against the likes of Tennessee State, Texas Pan American, Illinois, at Michigan, and now Minnesota.

In each of these games Northwestern (17-8, 6-7 Big Ten) overcame significant second half deficits to steal victory from the jaws of defeat. The Wildcats' overtime win over Minnesota (14-10, 5-7) may have been the most death defying of the bunch.

Northwestern trailed by a baker's dozen with eight minutes to go. The turnaround was sparked by a nice move in the low post by Luka Mirkovic for an easy bucket. A quick Minnesota turnover and a John Shurna bomb, his fifth of six on the afternoon, trimmed the deficit to eight points and swung momentum squarely to the white and purple.

From that point a balanced scoring effort and some solid defensive pressure, including two Luka Mirkovic steals, rallied Northwestern to a three point lead with 35 seconds to play. Blake Hoffarber, who had been held scoreless until that point, coolly knocked down a trey to knot the score at 57 at the end of regulation.

Cognizant of the importance of this game to keeping NCAA dreams alive, neither team backed down an inch during overtime. Northwestern opened up the period with a quick Shurna bucket on a beautiful up-and-under move. Minnesota responded with two free throws and a Hoffarber three, his second in a row. At that point it was difficult not to worry about a repeat of the game in Minneapolis in which Hoffarber heated up late to win the day for the Gophers.

NU remained calm and stuck to what got the Wildcats back into this game. Juice Thompson knocked down a big three to draw NU back into a tie. Then it was NU's defense which really made the difference. A Drew Crawford steal in the backcourt resulted in a Jeremy Nash layup and a two point NU lead. Then after Mirkovic got yet another steal Northwestern executed its offense beautifully which resulted in a crowd rousing layup on an assist from Juice Thompson to a cutting Drew Crawford.

Minnesota then shot itself in the foot when Ralph Sampson III missed the front end of a one-in-one with 1:14 to play. From that point it was a free throw contest. Luka Mirkovic defied the Gopher strategy to foul the worst FT shooter on the floor and knocked down four big free throws. NU wanted the ball in Juice's hands, and he made Carmody look like a genius as he knocked down all six of his FTs. Drew Crawford had the lone miss, but that came with only 0.2 seconds left on the clock with the game on ice.

John Shurna showed why he has been mentioned as a Big Ten MVP candidate with a 22 point effort including 6-13 shooting from distance as well as pulling down 5 rebounds and swatting two shots. Drew Crawford poured had 16 and 9 in addition to 3 steals, and Luka Mirkovic recorded another double-double with a 11 and 10 effort and 4 very important steals.

Jeremy Nash made his presence known on defense with 4 rebounds, 2 blocks, and 3 steals. Juice Thompson struggled most of the game but came up big with two big bombs down the stretch and going 6-6 from the charity striped in OT.

It was a great victory for Northwestern that showcased the mental tenacity of this squad. The final 13 minutes of this game are a good example of this team's potential. A harassing defense, a lethal and balance offense, and composure from the charity stripe during pressure packed moments. This team is fun to watch!

Recap: Minnesota 65 Northwestern 61

Northwestern fought valiantly but could not close out Minnesota at the Barn tonight. With the victory Minnesota (13-7, 4-4 Big Ten) kept alive its NCAAs hopes while Northwestern (14-6, 3-5) missed a golden opportunity to move itself off the bubble and into the field of 65.

Northwestern got off to a fast start behind stellar shooting on a balanced team effort. Midway through the half foul trouble forced Jeremy Nash to sit with his second foul, and Minnesota took advantage of Northwestern's short bench to climb back into the game and surge to an eight point lead at half.

Minnesota continued its run early in the second half and built its lead to thirteen points. John Shurna scored NU's first eleven points of the second half on three bombs and a pair of free throws to keep NU in the game. Eventually Northwestern clawed their way all the way back and took a one point lead on a Shurna free throw.

Then it was the Blake Hoffarber show. The marksman lived up to his billing and knocked down three key treys. Northwestern tried to withstand the barrage but ultimately fell short after Shurna missed on a pivotal possession during the last minute and failed to corral a rebound off a Minnesota miss on a front end of a one-and-one.

Northwestern's big three on offense all scored in double digits. Shurna led the effort with 19 points including 4-9 from distance. Juice Thompson knocked down five treys for 15 points, and Drew Crawford sliced his way to 11 points despite some struggles from beyond the arc.

Luka Mirkovic continued his tour de force on the glass in conference play as he hauled down a game-high 14 rebounds. Jeremy Nash played some solid defense and knocked down a key trey as Northwestern made its second half run.

Countdown to Northwestern at Minnesota

Northwestern (14-5, 3-4 Big Ten) travels to Williams Arena to take on Minnesota (12-7, 3-4) at 8PM Central on Tuesday January 26. The game will be televised on the Big Ten Network and radio coverage is on WIND 560-AM and wgnradio.com.

Minnesota leads the series 99-58. Last year the two teams met three times with each team defending its homecourt and the Gophers winning the rubber match in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament. Northwestern has had recent success up at the Barn winning three straight games starting in 2005. That was during the Dan Monson days, and Northwestern has lost both games in Minneapolis since Tubby Smith arrived on the scene. On the whole Tubby has had Carmody's goat as Minnesota has won 5 of 6 meetings over the past couple of years.

Minnesota has been somewhat of a disappointment this year. The Gophers returned all of its key players from last year's team that made the NCAAs. The Gophers also added a nice freshman class -- headlined by Royce White -- in the spring to what was already a deep team. Despite all of the momentum behind the program the Gophers got off to a slow start in the non-conference with three straight losses at one point including what was then considered an embarrassing loss to Portland (they aren't really too bad it turns out). The Gophers did manage a nice win against Butler on a neutral court, and several huge blowouts of cupcakes have impressed some of the various computer ranking sites out there.

In Big Ten play the Gophers have been erratic. The Gophers best victory was a home game against OSU when Evan Turner was still getting his sea legs back; their worst loss was overtime loss to Indiana. That loss is part of Minnesota's current three game conference losing streak (the other two losses were to Michigan State including a nail biter at the Barn).

In other news Al Nolen, the starting point guard, has been ruled academically ineligible. The Gophers are currently challenging that ruling (apparently Mr Nolen had a bunch of incompletes during the fall due to some family troubles), but currently it doesn't look like he will back at all this season. Nolen's abesnce is in addition to Royce White's season-long absence due to legal issues.

Minnesota is desperate for a victory. A home loss to NCAA tourney bid rival Northwestern would be a serious blow to the Gophers. Northwestern would like to win this game as it would help to "build the resume," but the urgency is not quite the same as it was in the game defending the home court against the Illini.

What to expect? This is going to be a difficult game for Northwestern to win. Williams is a tough place to play, and Tubby Smith has shown that he can coach his team to victory over the quirky Wildcats. Minnesota has athletes all around its lineup which traditionally spells trouble for Northwestern. NU needs to get off to a fast start and heat up from outside to keep the crowd out of the game and build upon the self doubt that most likely has begun to creep into the back of the Gophers' minds during their three game losing streak. Even then it won't be easy.