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There were only two games this Saturday, and unfortunately neither one of them was much of a contest as the home teams defended their arenas admirably.
Game of the Day: Minnesota @ Wisconsin
Except for the hiccup against Rutgers, Wisconsin has been dominate throughout the B1G season, but during rivalry week anything can happen and you know you're going to get your rival's best shot. Minnesota certainly put up a fight, but they trailed most of the game and by the second half the score started to get real ugly. The Badgers' lead got as high as 16 before the Gophers started to claw back at the end. However, it wasn't nearly enough as Wisconsin got one step closer to wrapping up the B1G title with a 63-53 win.
Frank Kaminsky dominated the proceedings with 21 points, 5 rebounds and 3 blocks. Sophomore Bronson Koenig continued to fill in admirably for the injured Traevon Jackson, as he scored 17. The Golden Gophers ended up with three players finishing with 11 points: Nate Mason, Deandre Mathieu, and Carlos Morris. Maurice Walker also added 9 rebounds, 8 points and 2 blocks to Minnesota's effort. Next for the Badgers is a road trip to Maryland on Tuesday in what may be their toughest conference game of the season. Also on Tuesday, Minnesota with travel to East Lansing to face Michigan State.
The Rest
Penn State @ Northwestern
The Penn State Nittany Lions shot horribly on Saturday. Northwestern held them to a 27.3% shooting percentage from the field, yet they were even worse when their was no defense in their way, as they shot 1-8 from the free throw line. Surprisingly, PSU actually started the game with a mini-barrage of threes, shooting five and hitting four in the first five minutes of the game. Unfortunately for Penn State fans, their team would only score eight more points the rest of the half. The lack of offense would continue in the second half, and Northwestern would turn a 28-20 halftime lead into a 60-39 shellacking by the final buzzer.
D.J. Newbill was held to only 3 points by the Wildcats dominant D. For Penn State, the only player in double-figures was Geno Thorpe, while Shep Garner added 9 points, all from deep. Northwestern got a huge game from Vic Law off the bench. The Freshman earned a double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds. Tre Demps would add 16 points, while Bryant McIntosh had an impressive 8 assists. Big man Alex Olah contributed 10 points and 5 boards as well. Penn State now gets a full week off before hosting Iowa next Saturday. For the Wildcats, they get a chance to continue what is now a three-game winning streak when they welcome Indiana to town.