Northwestern
Minnesota
Wildcats Advance To Quarterfinal Round; Illinois Next
3/13/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 13, 2003
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By RICK GANO
AP Sports Writer
CHICAGO - Jitim Young scored 20 points and Northwestern all but ended Minnesota's NCAA hopes Thursday, beating the Gophers 76-64 in the first round of the Big Ten tournament.
Northwestern (12-16) advances to Friday's play against Illinois, while disappointed Minnesota (16-12) probably awaits a call from the NIT after ending its season with five straight losses.
"It was a good win for us," said NU head coach Bill Carmody. "We have struggled this year and it was nice to see us hang in there. I thought we executed and stepped up at the line. We made the plays when we had to. I am really happy for our guys."
T.J. Parker, the brother of San Antonio Spurs star Tony Parker, added 18 points as the 10th-seeded Wildcats battled the bigger Gophers on the boards, played solid inside defense and used patience on offense to record the win.
Rick Rickert and Michael Bauer scored 16 points apiece for Minnesota, the No. 7 seed. But the 6-foot-11 Rickert shot just 6-of-17, including 2-of-10 in the first half.
Young, Davor Duvancic, Winston Blake and Parker hit three-pointers in the final five minutes of the first half as the 10th-seeded Wildcats went on a 12-4 spurt to take a 30-28 lead.
Then Northwestern took off on a 13-3 run to start the second half featuring a three-pointer and two free throws by Young, four points by freshman Mohamed Hachad, and a pair of turnaround jumpers by Aaron Jennings. That made it 43-31.
Rickert led a mini-comeback with two jumpers and a 3-pointer to cut the lead to six. But when he was called for an offensive foul -- his third foul of the game -- the Gophers bench was slapped with a technical foul. Parker hit both free throws to give the Wildcats a 54-45 lead with just eight minutes left. The Wildcats then retained possession, and Young hit a hanging jumper to make it an 11-point lead.
Parker's 3-pointer raised the lead to 64-52 with four minutes left and the Wildcats were able to hold on.
Both teams were shaky at the free throw line in the second half, Northwestern missing eight from the line, including 6 of 10 down the stretch. Minnesota made only 7-of-16 from the line in the final 20 minutes.
This marked a reversal of fortunes for the Wildcats; last season, as the seventh seed, they fell to 10th-seeded Michigan.
