Minnesota forward Dan Coleman set the tone early for his team against Northwestern on Wednesday night. The senior collected two offensive rebounds – one off of his own missed shot – and made an easy basket for the Golden Gophers’ first points of the game.
Coleman went on to grab six of his nine offensive rebounds in the first half as Minnesota sent NU to its third consecutive loss. He finished with 19 points and 14 rebounds.
But the Cats’ hot shooting gave them the early lead.
“We came out pretty quick; we executed what we wanted to do on offense,” sophomore forward Kevin Coble said of NU’s fast start Wednesday. “They switched to a zone (defense), and it took a while to adjust. By the time we adjusted, it was too late.”
The Gophers switched to a 2-3 zone. The change frustrated NU, helping Minnesota turn a 20-14 deficit into a 42-29 halftime lead. The Gophers held a 21-8 rebounding edge – including eight offensive rebounds – in the first half. The advantage keyed a 16-0 run that gave Minnesota the lead for good.
The Wildcats (5-7, 0-3 Big Ten) play a small lineup – no one on the roster is taller than 6-foot-8 – and have struggled to claim a piece of the boards. NU grabs a Big Ten-worst 24.1 rebounds per game and is out-rebounded by an average of 12.6 rebounds per game.
The Cats hope to find a cure for their rebounding woes when they host Michigan (4-11, 0-3), the second-worst rebounding team in the conference with 33.8 per game, at 5:30 p.m. Saturday.
“We feel if we can keep the rebounds to (a difference of) five or six, we have a chance to win,” junior guard Sterling Williams said. “We’ve talked about it in practice, but we haven’t been able to offset the difference. In our losses, we’ve been out-rebounded by a lot.”
Coble, who led the team in rebounding last season with 5.2 per game, has grabbed 15 rebounds in three games since returning to the lineup. Junior guard Craig Moore averages 3.6 per game, and Williams grabs 3.4 per game.
NU has struggled to rebound since entering Big Ten play. Ohio State forward Kosta Koufos grabbed 12 boards against NU on Sunday. The Buckeyes out-rebounded the Cats by 23 and grabbed 13 offensive rebounds.
Penn State forwards Jamelle Cornley and Geary Claxton each grabbed 11 rebounds to lead a 14-rebound advantage against NU in the Big Ten opener Jan. 2. Minnesota won the rebounding battle by nine Wednesday night.
The Cats are giving up 39.7 rebounds per game in their past three conference games while only grabbing 24.3. Opponents have out-rebounded NU by 16 boards per game in the team’s seven losses. The deficit closes to 7.8 per game in the Cats’ five wins.
Coble said NU is going to continue struggling to out-rebound teams, but it can do simple things like boxing out to limit second chances.
Size is one disadvantage NU has in trying to rebound, but another is their poor shooting.
Coach Bill Carmody said rebounding is a concern, but the team needs to make shots in order to reduce the number of rebounding opportunities for its opponent.
Williams said the team tries to force turnovers to get easy baskets. These extra possessions could make up the difference from large rebounding deficits.
“We play a zone (defense), so we’re at a disadvantage in finding someone to box out,” Williams said. “One of the keys when we play defense is boxing out, going for the ball strong and securing the ball. That’s a fundamental defensive principle, and we’re not doing it.”
Reach Philip Rossman-Reich at [email protected].
