By philip rossman-reich
The Daily Northwestern
Northwestern enjoyed a lot of success at Williams Arena the past three years, winning the past three games in Minneapolis.
But Minnesota freshman Al Nolen was not familiar with NU’s recent dominance at “The Barn.”
Nolen had a hand in seven consecutive points in the second half, helping to stretch an eight-point lead to 15 as Minnesota defeated NU, 82-63 on Wednesday.
The Big Ten’s leader in steals dished the ball to center Spencer Tollackson for a dunk in the lane to start the run.
He then hit a three from well beyond the three-point line, helped guard Lawrence McKenzie force a turnover at midcourt and hit a layup to re-establish a double-digit lead the Golden Gophers (11-3, 1-1 Big Ten) would not relinquish.
“Last year I thought their guys had trouble scoring,” coach Bill Carmody said. “Now they’re a year older and more mature.”
The Cats (5-7, 0-3) trailed Minnesota by 13 at the half and cut the lead to six at the beginning of the second half.
But they got no closer than eight the rest of the way. Minnesota led by as many as 20 points and snapped a two-game losing streak while sending NU to its third consecutive loss.
“Northwestern is always a tricky team,” Minnesota forward Dan Coleman said. “Usually if they beat you, it’s because you didn’t execute well or play well. Tonight we didn’t get beat on those back cuts or trick plays, and that’s huge because that’s energy plays for them.
“If you can stop them from doing what they’re trying to do, that can help you as a team.”
In his first start since returning to the lineup Jan. 2, sophomore forward Kevin Coble led the team with 17 points. He shot 7-14 from the field, including 3-7 from behind the arc and was one of only two starters to shoot better than 40 percent.
Coble added seven rebounds and three steals in a season-high 34 minutes.
Junior guard Craig Moore added 11 points, but went 3-10 on three-point shots. Moore is 8-28 (28.6 percent) in conference play, including 14 attempts at Ohio State, which tied a school record.
Freshman forward Mike Capocci chipped in eight points and led the team in rebounding with eight.
Minnesota stymied NU’s offense. The Cats shot 40.4 percent from the field and committed a season-high 19 turnovers. NU entered the contest second in the country in assist to turnover ratio (1.67) but the Gophers used a stifling defense to trap the ball, forcing errant passes that led to 13 steals.
NU went 8-for-28 from beyond the arc, including 3-for-12 in the second half. The Cats are shooting 39.6 percent in their first three Big Ten games.
NU forced some turnovers and three different shooters drilled threes to take a 20-14 lead about seven minutes into the game.
But the hot shooting ran out, and the Gophers turned up the defense to race into the lead for good.
Minnesota forward Damian Johnson blocked freshman guard Michael Thompson’s break-away layup after a steal at midcourt. Sophomore forward Jeff Ryan rebounded the miss, but Johnson recovered to swat the second shot away.
Minnesota used the momentum to score 16 straight points and closed the half on a 28-9 run to take a double-digit lead into the locker room.
The run was similar to one NU allowed in its first Big Ten game, a 79-68 loss at home to Penn State. In that game, the Nittany Lions opened the second half on a 20-4 run to erase a 35-34 halftime deficit and put the Cats away.
Gophers freshman guard Blake Hoffarber hit five threes in the first half, and Coleman scored 19 points and grabbed 14 rebounds.
The Gophers shot 51.9 percent from the field and 52.6 percent from beyond the arc.
“Coach (Tubby Smith) told us the shot would be there with the zone,” Hoffarber said. “We had a lot of open shots, and a lot of my shots came off skip passes.
“I knew I was feeling it when (one of my shots) hit the front of the rim and it bounced in.”
Minnesota had nine more rebounds than NU. Coleman grabbed six of his nine offensive boards in the first half.
The Cats again had trouble defending size in the paint. The 6-foot-9 Coleman’s size helped him score in double figures, as it helped 6-foot-9 center Tollackson score 12 points.
NU’s offense struggled to gain success inside the Minnesota defense. The Gophers blocked five shots and the Cats settled on outside jumpers as they tried to work their way back into the game.
As the game wore on, the disparity in bench play became apparent. For the contest, the Gophers’ bench outscored the Cats 31-14, including key performances by Hoffarber and Nolen.
“I worked in with the first squad a little bit, and I was getting open and my teammates were finding me,” Hoffarber said.
NU cut the lead to nine points with just more than three minutes to play when Moore found Coble cutting beneath the basket for a layup.
But the Gophers cut off the run when McKenzie drained a three pointer from the corner to extend the lead back to 14 points a minute later.
The Cats will look to earn its first Big Ten win when Michigan (4-11, 0-3) travels to Evanston at 5:30 p.m. Saturday at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
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