Spokesman-Review
National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Northwestern 77, Minnesota 52
When: 2:30 PM ET, Saturday, January 9, 2016
Where: Williams Arena, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Officials: # John Gaffney, # Steve McJunkins, # Lamont Simpson
Attendance: 10436

Freshman forward Aaron Falzon made a season-best six 3-pointers and matched his season high of 20 points as Northwestern rolled to a 77-52 victory over Minnesota on Saturday in Big Ten play at Minneapolis.

Senior guard Tre Demps added 13 points and senior center Joey van Zegeren had 11 points for the Wildcats (14-3, 2-2 in the Big Ten).

Sophomore guard Bryant McIntosh delivered a career-high 11 assists as Northwestern shot 56 percent from the field while halting a two-game slide.

Sophomore guard Nate Mason scored 13 points and sophomore center Bakary Konate added 12 for the Golden Gophers (6-10, 0-4). Minnesota was outrebounded 33-17 and has dropped five straight games and eight of its last nine.

Falzon set the tone for his big performance by making two 3-pointers during a 10-0 burst that gave the Wildcats a 20-11 lead.

A dunk by van Zegeren increased Northwestern's lead to 11 with 3:01 left in the half before the Golden Gophers closed with an 8-3 burst to trail 32-26 at the break.

Falzon was at it again early in the second half as he scored the final five points of the Wildcats' 9-0 run to open the last 20 minutes.

After the Golden Gophers scored the next six points, Falzon drained a 3-pointer to make it 44-32 with 16:07 to play and Northwestern steadily pulled away.

A 3-pointer by Demps with 8:16 left pushed the lead past 20 for the first time at 60-38. The Wildcats led by as many as 27 in the final minutes.
Top Game Performances
 
Northwestern   Minnesota
Aaron Falzon 20 Scoring Nate Mason 13
Bryant McIntosh 11 Assists Nate Mason 6
Sanjay Lumpkin 10 Rebounds Dupree McBrayer 4
Dererk Pardon 3 Free Throws Made Dupree McBrayer 4
Scottie Lindsey 2 Steals Jordan Murphy 2
Aaron Falzon 1 Blocks Bakary Konate 1
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Northwestern 77 56.0 11-25 10-11 18 29 3 6 13
Minnesota 52 39.1 5-18 11-14 12 16 2 4 11