Jan. 26, 2011

Northwestern (14-6, 3-4) at Minnesota (8-12, 0-7)
Thursday, Feb. 27, 2011
Williams Arena (14,625)
Minneapolis, Minn. • 7 p.m.
Streaming Video: bigtennetwork.com
Audio: 89.3 FM WNUR (Adam Seidel and Jim Sannes)
Gametracker: gophersports.com
In-game Twitter updates: @NU_SportsLIVE
Northwestern Game Notes (PDF)

EVANSTON, Ill. --Coming out of its bye week, Northwestern visits the Twin Cities for a 7 p.m. battle in the Barn against Minnesota Thursday evening. The game will be streamed live on bigtennetwork.com. The Gophers enter the tilt winless in Big Ten play, while NU is looking to even its Conference mark to .500, having come up on the short end of its last two outings.

Following Thursday's contest, the Wildcats (14-6, 3-4) return to the familiar surroundings of Welsh-Ryan Arena, hosting Wisconsin at 2 p.m. The game will be streamed live on bigtennetwork.com and also is Scout Day. Northwestern will host a pre-game clinic for the Girl Scouts which will begin around noon.

Regarding Minnesota...
The two teams have split the last four contests, each winning on their respective courts. Northwestern's victory last season was the first time the Wildcats had defeated Minnesota since 2000.

'Cats Among Nation's RPI, Strength of Schedule Leaders
Northwestern owns an RPI of 31 in the this week's rankings. The Wildcats are in good company, joining fellow Conference squads Ohio State (12), Iowa (14), Michigan State (16) and Michigan (17) in the top 31. Additionally, the Wildcats' schedule is ranked 40th according to RealtimeRPI.com.

Bringing The Wildcats Back
What Northwestern has accomplished the week of Jan. 9--defeating Illinois and No. 24 Ohio State--is unprecedented in the past decade. The Wildcats snapped a 21-game losing streak dating back to Feb 5, 1999 with their 69-66 overtime victory over Illinois last Sunday. NU continued the trend Thursday against No. 24 Ohio State, claiming a win over the Bucks for the first time since that same year (Jan. 17, 1999), a 19-game drought.

High Five
In this week's NCAA statistics, senior Amy Jaeschke ranks sixth in the nation in scoring (22.9 ppg) and fourth in blocks per game (3.9). She continues to be a conference leader in several categories, appearing in the top five in rebounding (9.4), defensive rebounds (7.5) and in minutes (36.1). Additionally, Jaeschke has been named Big Ten Player of the Week on three occasions.

Complete game notes can be found by clicking on the PDF above.

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