Northwestern Wildcats (13-17, 5-14 Big Ten) at Minnesota Golden Gophers (14-16, 7-12 Big Ten)
Minneapolis; Saturday, 9 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: Northwestern visits Minnesota after Nick Martinelli scored 28 points in Northwestern’s 70-66 loss to the Purdue Boilermakers.
The Golden Gophers are 12-4 on their home court. Minnesota averages 9.8 turnovers per game and is 8-8 when it wins the turnover battle.
The Wildcats are 5-14 against conference opponents. Northwestern has a 3-2 record in games decided by 3 points or fewer.
Minnesota scores 70.2 points per game, 2.2 fewer points than the 72.4 Northwestern gives up. Northwestern has shot at a 45.8% clip from the field this season, 1.2 percentage points higher than the 44.6% shooting opponents of Minnesota have averaged.
The teams meet for the second time in conference play this season. Minnesota won 84-78 in the last matchup on Jan. 3. Cade Tyson led Minnesota with 24 points, and Martinelli led Northwestern with 26 points.
TOP PERFORMERS: Tyson is shooting 49.4% and averaging 19.7 points for the Golden Gophers. Bobby Durkin is averaging 3.8 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.
Martinelli is shooting 42.1% from beyond the arc with 1.4 made 3-pointers per game for the Wildcats, while averaging 22.7 points and 6.1 rebounds. Jayden Reid is averaging 8.5 points and 4.1 assists over the past 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Golden Gophers: 4-6, averaging 66.6 points, 23.8 rebounds, 15.4 assists, 5.8 steals and 2.3 blocks per game while shooting 46.6% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 68.5 points per game.
Wildcats: 4-6, averaging 67.3 points, 23.0 rebounds, 15.4 assists, 6.8 steals and 3.9 blocks per game while shooting 44.4% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 73.8 points.
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
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