When Northwestern and Minnesota got together a few weeks ago in Minneapolis, it was a disaster from the start for the Cats. They fell behind big early and were never able to get back into the game in an embarrassing 77-60 loss.
The roles were reversed on Sunday in Evanston, on Senior Night. Northwestern raced out to a 27-9 lead, and never looked back, running away with a 75-62 win.
The win snapped a two-game losing streak for the Wildcats and gave them their seventh Big Ten win of the year, one more than they won last season.
Northwestern's lead sat at double digits for most of the night, and hot shooting from beyond the arc and a dominant performance from Pete Nance had the Cats rolling. In what he said was his final game at Welsh-Ryan Arena, Nance poured in 19 points and grabbed 13 rebounds, while also adding a trio of blocked shots.
Also in double figures for the Wildcats was Robbie Beran with 15 and Boo Buie with 10.
Minnesota head coach Ben Johnson attributed Northwestern's romp to the Wildcats being much more aggressive this time around. The Golden Gophers were led by Jamison Battle with 20, while Payton Willis added 16 and EJ Stephens had 12.
Here are our takeaways from the win that raised Northwestern's record to 14-15 overall, and 7-13 in the Big Ten:
Nance hits 1,000: Pete Nance's final basket of the night got him to the 1,000-point mark in his career. He became the 38th Wildcat to hit that number.
Head coach Chris Collins likes to say that Nance had to "run his own race" in his development as a player over four years. Nance came to Evanston as a raw, toolsy prospect who has developed into one of the better big men in the Big Ten.
If tonight was the end of Nance's race, it couldn't have been scripted much better. He played one of the best games of his career, put up a dominant double-double, and reached 1,000 career points and left the Welsh-Ryan Arena floor to a standing ovation. He went 8-for-15 from the floor, and hit 3-of-4 three-pointers.
It was also the last home game for point guard Ryan Greer and grad transfer Elyjah Williams.
Beran saves his best for last: Beran has been invisible at times this year, but he made sure Minnesota knew where he was all night long.
The junior forward hit a trio of early threes and finished with 15 points and seven boards. He also was tasked with guarding Minnesota's star in Battle, and made him earn every shot, taking 17 shots to reach 20 points.
Beran hasn't always lived up to the hype that he came into Northwestern with as a scorer, but tonight was an example of the potential that he still has.
An un-Northwestern-like performance: Rebounding and getting to the free throw line haven't been Northwestern's strength this season, but they brought it in both areas against Minnesota.
Northwestern outrebounded Minnesota, 48-31, including a +5 advantage on the offensive glass to give them a 15-2 edge in second-chance points. At the line, NU outshot the Golden Gophers 21-12.
It's not a coincidence that NU played one of their best games of the season while succeeding in those two areas.
Off to Indy: Northwestern, as the 12th seed, will take on 13th-seeded Nebraska in a play-in game on Wednesday to kick off their Big Ten tournament experience.
The season hasn't gone the way Northwestern wanted it to; playing on the opening night of the Big Ten Tournament was not something NU envisioned back in November. That's not stopping the Cats from hoping to take advantage of the opportunity.
"I think we're really excited," Nance said. "Obviously a win tonight helps our confidence. We're excited to have that opportunity and potentially make a run."
While Northwestern swept the season series from the Huskers, beating them by 24 points in Lincoln and 12 in Evanston, Nebraska is now one of the hottest teams in the conference. The Huskers knocked off No. 10 Wisconsin, the Big Ten co-champs, on Sunday in Madison, to give them three straight road wins to close the regular season.
