'Cats Aim to Continue Recent Success at Williams Arena

1/8/2016 11:54:00 AM | Men's Basketball

Northwestern has won its last two games at "The Barn"

By: Nick Brilowski

NORTHWESTERN BASKETBALL: GAME DAY INFORMATION
DATE	OPPONENT	TIME	LOCATION	BROADCAST	LIVE STATS
Sat., Jan. 9	Minnesota	1:30 p.m.	Williams Arena; Minneapolis, Minn.	BTN and BTN2GO	GameTracker
720 WGN, Sirius 118, XM 196: Dave Eanet and Joey Meyer BTN: Cory Provus and Stephen Bardo Social: Twitter (@NUMensBball and @NU_SportsLIVE) \| Instagram (@numensbball) \| Facebook Game Notes: Northwestern \| Minnesota

EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern shoots for its third straight victory at Williams Arena on Saturday when the Wildcats take on host Minnesota. Tip-off is set for 1:30 p.m.

The Wildcats have posted victories at "The Barn" each of the last two years, including a 72-66 triumph a year ago behind the strength of 15 3-pointers. Bryant McIntosh led five Northwestern players in double figures with 17 points to go along with 6 assists.

Northwestern is coming off a 65-56 home loss to Ohio State on Wednesday. McIntosh paced the Wildcats with 15 points and freshman Dererk Pardon pulled down a career-high 14 rebounds but NU shot a season-low 31.3 percent from the field. NU closed the first half on a 10-0 run to lead 27-26 at halftime and trailed only 51-50 with six minutes left, but the Buckeyes went on a 14-3 run to pull away.

Pardon ranks second in the Big Ten in league play with 10.7 rebounds per game and 10th with 15.0 points per contest. His 15 offensive rebounds vs. conference foes leads the league. He apppeared in only one contest for the Wildcats prior to the start of conference play before having his redshirt lifted.

Northwestern has won its first three true road games of the season for just the fourth time in school history. The Wildcats have started 4-0 in true road games only once and that was during the 1930-31 season when they went a perfect 7-0.

Saturday's contest is a homecoming for redshirt junior forward Sanjay Lumpkin who is a native of nearby Wayzata, Minnesota, and attended Benilde-St. Margaret's High School. His father, Sean, was an All-Big Ten defensive back for Minnesota, graduating in 1992 before going on to play for the NFL's New Orleans Saints.

Scouting Minnesota
The Golden Gophers fell to 0-3 in Big Ten play (6-9 overall) with an 86-77 loss at Penn State on Tuesday. Joey King led Minnesota with 22 points while Nate Mason added 19. King paces the team with an average of 13.4 points per game while leading the Big Ten with a .926 free throw percentage. Mason contributes 13.0 points per contest while freshman Jordan Murphy adds 10.9 points and a team-leading 8.5 rebounds per game (second in the Big Ten). Richard Pitino is in his third season as the head coach at Minnesota.