Coming into a matchup against one of the most athletic teams in the country, head coach Bill Carmody wanted to slow down the pace. He and his players definitely succeeded, at least for one half.
After an offensively dreadful first twenty minutes, No. 9 Minnesota (14-1,2-0) busted the game open with 52 second-half points, handily defeating the Wildcats 69-51. Behind 20 offensive rebounds and 22 more free-throw attempts than Northwestern (9-6,0-2), the Golden Gophers were able to send the ‘Cats to their first road loss of the season.
The first half was barely tolerable, but that’s exactly what the Wildcats wanted. It finished with the Golden Gophers up 17-14.
There were no fast-break points on either side; instead, the shot clock regularly ran down to under five seconds before a shot was put up. Minnesota had every chance to build a lead with their 10 offensive rebounds, but they shot just 33 percent from the field and 2-of-7 from the free-throw line. Meanwhile, without three long balls, the ‘Cats would have had just five points.
After the break, the pace stayed slow, but Minnesota broke it open by creating second chances. Its frontcourt was dominant, grabbing offensive rebounds and getting the Gophers to the line, where they converted 17-of-28 freebies. Minnesota forward Trevor Mbakwe followed up a block on one end with a thunderous dunk on the other, sending the Williams Arena crowd into a frenzy. And when Carmody tried to slow them down with the 1-3-1 zone, junior Austin Hollins responded with a bang. Actually, five bangs.
In a span of about three minutes, Hollins drilled five three-pointers, one after another, the true definition of a “zone-buster.” By the end of his personal onslaught, the score was 45-25, and the ‘Cats would never recover.
Senior Reggie Hearn, back from the ankle injury that sidelined him for two games, led Northwestern in scoring with 11 points, followed by 10 apiece from sophomore Dave Sobolewski and freshman Tre Demps.
Player grades (1-10, 10 being best)
Dave Sobolewski, 8: The point guard fought like a warrior for the Wildcats. The Gophers kept throwing double teams at him, and he kept breaking them. He drove to the basket for a couple tough layups and clever assists. On the other end, he had four steals and kept Hollins from getting another clean look on a three when the team went back to man-to-man.
Reggie Hearn, 7: Coming back from injury, it was clear that Northwestern’s leading scorer didn’t have the same bounce in his step. He didn’t elevate well on his jumper and was blocked on a reverse layup attempt. However, he still played hard and led the team in scoring.
Kale Abrahamson, 6.5: He had a very quiet 9 points, all on three balls, but he didn’t seem like a threat out on the floor very often. The Gophers found him very easy to guard, and on the defensive end, he was beaten for a couple of offensive rebounds.
Jared Swopshire, 5: Swop did a decent job of holding Minnesota’s most athletic player, Rodney Williams, in check. Still, he was beaten on several occasions to the offensive glass, not because they were more athletic, but simply because it seemed that they wanted it more.
Alex Olah, 4: Olah was given a tough assignment trying to handle Mbakwe, and he just didn’t have it in him. Mbakwe had 5 of his 11 boards on the offensive end, besting the 4 total rebounds grabbed by Olah. On the offensive end, he needed to go stronger to the hole than he did, and on a momentum-changing play, Mbakwe rejected him on a layup attempt and went down for an uncontested jam.
Bench, 5.5: Alex Marcotullio handled the ball well against pressure, but just went through the motions rather than becoming a threat. Mike Turner didn’t grab a single rebound in his time out there, and he fouled out in 11 minutes of game action. Trey Demps, who should’ve probably been put in earlier, played hard until the end and had 10 quick points.