The Minnesota Golden Gophers remained on a roll Sunday evening, beating the Northwestern Wildcats 75-52 to win their third-straight Big Ten game while making their way toward the middle of the pack in the conference.
The Gophers set the tone early ambushing the Wildcats with an 11-0 start and never looked back, leading by 16 points at the half and then extending that lead to the final 23-point margin in impressive fashion. Coach Tubby Smith had his team executing well on offense, working the ball for good shots without relying on the three-point shot.
All five starters scored in double figures for Minnesota with Joe Coleman leading the way with 16 points and 5 rebounds. Fellow guard Julian Welch made 7 of 8 shots to score 14 points with 7 rebounds and 5 assists.
Northwestern struggled to shooting most of the game as they turned to the three-point line while playing from behind. As a team, the Wildcats shot 32.7% from the field and made just 8 of 26 (31%) three-point attempts. John Shurna led Northwestern with 21 points, while Alex Marcotullio added 11 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists.
Minnesota will put their win streak to the test on Wednesday when they hit the road to play the Michigan State Spartans in the hostile Breslin Center.
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