gophers gameday

5 P.M. at Northwestern • Welsh-Ryan ARENA • BTN, 1500-AM

Gophers at a glance: The Gophers (16-9, 5-7 Big Ten) are coming off a 78-70 loss at Wisconsin on Thursday where they showed none of the fight they had in their previous matchup at Williams Arena. It was their fourth loss in five games. The Gophers will try to snap out of their funk at Northwestern, where they haven't won since 2008. The Gophers picked up their outside game Thursday, going 9-for-17 from three-point range, but they were unable to score inside as effectively as they had been previously, finishing with only 20 points in the paint. The silver lining was that Andre Hollins, in his third game back from an ankle injury, looked like his old self, scoring 22 points and coming alive down the stretch, when the junior guard had 11 points in the last 5:36.

Northwestern at a glance: The Wildcats (12-13, 5-7) have dropped their past two games, but even then it has been a successful Big Ten season for Northwestern and first-year coach Chris Collins, who took over one of the less-talented teams in the league. Northwestern won 55-54 at Williams Arena on Feb. 1 when JerShon Cobb matched a season high with 22 points and the Wildcats held the Gophers to 21.4 percent shooting and kept them off-balance with Collins' no-risk, fundamental defense. Since Jan. 11, Northwestern has held opponents to 34.2 shooting from the floor, and they rank 39th nationally in three-point defense. That victory over the Gophers was one of three road victories in a row for the Wildcats, who are only 2-4 at home in Big Ten play.

AMELIA RAYNO