In what was easily the team’s poorest showing since they were blown out on Jan. 7 at Wisconsin, Northwestern got demolished by the Minnesota Gophers, a team that the ‘Cats defeated earlier in Evanston. The Northwestern offense was unable to do much against a stifling Minnesota defense. The Gophers held the ‘Cats to just 30 percent shooting from the field and in the first half kept Northwestern from scoring for two different stretches longer than four minutes. Northwestern stars junior Kevin Coble and senior Craig Moore were held to five and three points respectively. It was Moore’s lowest point total of the season and the second lowest for Coble, who recorded just three points in an earlier loss at Butler.
In contrast, Minnesota was hot all night offensively, shooting over 50 percent from the field and making seven three pointers. Junior Lawrence Westbrook, a cousin of Philadelphia Eagles star Brian Westbrook, led the Gophers with 17 points.
The ‘Cats, who have suffered from a recent bout of illness, lacked energy from the start of play. Unfortunately, they were matched up against a spirited Minnesota squad playing for its NCAA Tournament life. The Gophers out-hustled Northwestern to every ball, out rebounding the Wildcats 36-18. Whether because he was dismayed at the lack of effort or because he realized that the game was out of reach and thus not worth the risk of injury, Northwestern coach Bill Carmody benched many of his regulars for a majority of the second half. Coble and Moore played less than 25 minutes each.
Northwestern, now 14-11 overall and 5-9 in Big Ten play, travels to Indiana to face the Hoosiers on Wednesday night. The Gophers, 20-7 and 8-7 in the conference, will next play Thursday night at Illinois.
Correction 10:04: The article originally stated that Northwestern lost 72-54, not 72-45.