Minnesota plays conference foe Northwestern

Northwestern Wildcats (12-12, 5-10 Big Ten) at Minnesota Golden Gophers (12-12, 3-12 Big Ten)

Minneapolis; Saturday, 4 p.m. EST

LINE: Minnesota -3.5; over/under is 135.5

BOTTOM LINE: Jamison Battle and the Minnesota Golden Gophers host Boo Buie and the Northwestern Wildcats in Big Ten action Saturday.

The Golden Gophers have gone 7-5 at home. Minnesota is 2-1 in games decided by less than 4 points.

The Wildcats have gone 5-10 against Big Ten opponents. Northwestern is fifth in the Big Ten scoring 74.3 points per game and is shooting 43.1%.

The matchup Saturday is the first meeting this season between the two teams in conference play.

TOP PERFORMERS: Battle is averaging 16.4 points and 6.2 rebounds for the Golden Gophers. Payton Willis is averaging 1.6 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games for Minnesota.

Buie is scoring 15.0 points per game with 2.8 rebounds and 4.6 assists for the Wildcats. Chase Audige is averaging 6.8 points over the last 10 games for Northwestern.

LAST 10 GAMES: Golden Gophers: 2-8, averaging 62.7 points, 25.3 rebounds, 11.7 assists, 4.4 steals and 2.4 blocks per game while shooting 42.4% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 73.1 points per game.

Wildcats: 4-6, averaging 68.1 points, 29.5 rebounds, 12.4 assists, 7.0 steals and 2.7 blocks per game while shooting 40.9% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 69.0 points.

___

The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by