Northwestern
Minnesota
Late Run Not Enough For Wildcats
2/19/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb 19, 2003
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EVANSTON, Ill. (AP) - Rick Rickert had 22 points and a career-high 13 rebounds, and Maurice Hargrow added 16 as Minnesota held off a late Northwestern rally to win 73-61 on Wednesday night.
Minnesota (15-7, 7-4 Big Ten) opened the game with an 18-4 run, and extended that lead to 27 early in the second half. The Wildcats came to life at that point, however, using a stifling pressure defense and knocking down shots. As a result, they shaved 22 points off the lead and were down just 62-57 with 2:26 to play.
"We made more than a little run there," said NU head coach Bill Carmody. "I told the guys afterward that it was a great thing to see, but why is it that you have two distinct playing styles? I really liked the way we played in the final 10 minutes."
Rickert -- who led all scorers on the night -- ended the Northwestern (10-13, 2-10) threat with a basket down low, and Hargrow followed that with a breakaway layup to extend the lead back to nine.
It was Minnesota's sixth win in its last seven games. The Gophers are one game behind the conference leaders after opening league play with three losses in their first four games.
"We are getting out of here feeling pretty good about ourselves," said Minnesota head coach Dan Monson. "We played pretty well tonight. If someone had told me were were going to win in this fashion before the game, I was have been awfully pleased."
Minnesota led 35-15 at halftime, and then Rickert opened the second half by hitting a short jumper and a three-pointer to spark a 9-2 run that gave the Gophers a 44-17 lead -- their largest of the game.
Northwestern cut the deficit to 52-33, then outscored the Gophers 19-8 over the next 4:46 to make it a nine-point game. It the first time Minnesota's lead dipped to single digits since 12-4.
Bolstered by a suddenly enlivened crowd and a nervous Gopher squad, the Wildcats got the Minnesota lead down to five, but Rickert and Hargrow made consecutive baskets and the Gophers made 6-of-6 free throws down the stretch to put the pesky NU squad away.
Jitim Young had another standout performance for the Wildcats -- he scored 18 points, grabbed six rebounds (five on the offensive glass) and collected three steals for the Wildcats. Senior Jason Burke had 11 points, six boards and three steals.
The Wildcats missed their first seven shots of the game and turned it over five times during that span, lacking the energy that saw them upset Indiana and Purdue at home in recent weeks.
Northwestern also had trouble handling Rickert and the taller Gophers down low. The 6-foot-11 Rickert scored six points during the opening spurt that included a play where he missed twice, only to rebound it both times before finally scoring on the third attempt.
The Gophers extended their lead to 32-8 on a pair of free throws by Kevin Burleson with 4:08 left in the half and led 35-15 at halftime. Minnesota held a 26-13 rebounding edge at the half, including 10 from Rickert.
"We were all embarrassed," said Carmody about his halftime speech. "I did not mention the score, I just said you have nothing to lose so let's go. With about nine minutes to left it seemed like we could make a little bit of a run, and you could see a chance in the way our guys were behaving out there."
Burleson had 12 points and seven assists for Minnesota.
Northwestern is back in action Saturday afternoon, taking on Illinois at the United Center in Chicago at 1 p.m. The game will be broadcast on CBS, a first for the Wildcats.
