Minnesota just too big for Wildcats

Perhaps Jared Sullinger can be lulled into a false sense of security when he sees how Minnesota's big men dominated Northwestern on Wednesday night.

Trevor Mbakwe, Colton Iverson and Ralph Sampson combined for 47 points and 22 rebounds as the 16th-ranked Gophers ruled the second half to win 81-70 at Williams Arena.

Juice Thompson (18 points) and John Shurna (16 points) paced the Wildcats, who dropped to 0-5 against ranked teams this season.

“It was just like men amongst boys out there,” said Northwestern coach Bill Carmody, whose squad hosts Sullinger and top-ranked Ohio State on Saturday.

While Northwestern stood outside and fired up 39 3-point attempts, Minnesota pounded the ball inside for easy baskets and a slew of fouls.

The Gophers (16-4, 5-3 Big Ten) converted 31 of 46 free throws, while the Wildcats (13-7, 3-6) made 10 of 11.

Despite those outsized numbers, Northwestern rallied from a 13-point first-half deficit to take a 34-33 halftime edge. Drew Crawford (15 points) drilled 3 of his 5 3-pointers in the first half.

But Minnesota used the break to draw up ways to get the ball low against the Wildcats' effective 1-3-1 trap.

The 6-foot-10, 258-pound Iverson scored all 15 of his points after the break as NU gave up the lead for good on Iverson's 3-point play at the 17:42 mark.

The Wildcats picked up 7 fouls in the first seven minutes as Minnesota proceeded to shoot 35 second-half free throws to NU's 2.

“We weren't getting the pressure on the wings from Drew (Crawford) and Johnny (Shurna) that we have to get,” Carmody said on WGN 720-AM's postgame show. “So they were finding guys underneath. The physicality there was just something we couldn't match.”

Shurna discovered the physicality extended to the other end of the court, too.

Shurna needed several stitches in his chin after he was pushed face first into the basket stanchion with 3:07 left in the first half.

Shurna was on a breakaway and trying to scoop a layup through three Gophers. Sampson trailed the play and gave Shurna a two-handed nudge into the stanchion.

No foul was called as Shurna lay face down out of bounds. He left a small pool of blood on the “N” in GOLDEN GOPHERS before being helped to the locker room.

Shurna returned with 17:42 to go with giant bandages taped to his chin. He managed just 5 points and 1 rebound after producing 11 points and 7 rebounds in the first 17 minutes.

“I thought he played differently, that's for sure,” Carmody said. “In the first half, he was aggressive.”