Tonight could be the night for Northwestern.
The reeling Wildcats, losers of eight straight, figure to get their best shot at winning a game for the remainder of the season against Minnesota at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
The Wildcats haven't won in more than a month, since taking down Indiana at home on Jan. 22. But they take on a Minnesota team that hasn't fared much better in recent weeks, losing six of its last seven. The Gophers are also 1-8 on the road.
There are quite a few similarities between these two teams. Neither has a true point guard. Both are heavily reliant on two players -- Jordan Murphy (14.9 ppg, 11.8 rpg) and Amir Coffey (14.7 ppg, 3.1 apg) for Minnesota, and Vic Law (15.6 ppg, 6.5 rpg) and Dererk Pardon (13.7 ppg, 7.6 rpg) for Northwestern. And both need a win. Badly.
While Northwestern needs a victory to stop a brutal downward spiral and improve its woeful 3-13 Big Ten record, there is considerably more on the line for the Gophers, who are still flirting with an NCAA Tournament bid despite their struggles. ESPN's Joe Lunardi has the Gophers as one of his last four teams out of of his most recent bracket, even though they are just 7-10 in league play.
Will the Wildcats get off the schneid against the Gophers? We talked to The Gopher Report's E.J. Stevens to get the scoop on Minnesota.
