Thursday, March 12th, 12:00 p.m. (et).

FACTS & STATS: Site: Conseco Fieldhouse (18,165) -- Indianapolis, Indiana. Television: Big Ten Network. Home Record: Northwestern 13-4, Minnesota 16-3. Away Record: Northwestern 4-8, Minnesota 4-6. Neutral Record: Northwestern 0-0, Minnesota 1-0. Conference Record: Northwestern 8-10, Minnesota 9-9. Series Record: Minnesota leads, 98-58.

GAME NOTES: The 12th annual Big Ten Tournament is set to tip off at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianpolis, with the eighth-seeded Minnesota Golden Gophers taking on the ninth-seeded Northwestern Wildcats in the opening matchup. Each team won at home during the season series, although Minnesota leads the all- time series, 98-58. The winner of this game gets a date with top-seeded Michigan State on Friday. Northwestern compiled a 17-12 overall record and an 8-10 mark in conference play. The 17 regular season wins tied a school record, although the Wildcats lost a lot of close games during their league slate. They saw their modest three-game win streak snapped in Sunday's season finale at Ohio State, as they fell to the Buckeyes in a 52-47 final. The Golden Gophers are coming off a solid 21-win campaign, which marked the program's second-highest regular season win total, trailing only a 24-win run back in 1976-77. Last season, Minnesota knocked off Northwestern in the first round of this event and advanced all the way to the semifinals. But to repeat that same type of run, the Gophers will have to rediscover their offense after averaging just 52 ppg over their last three games.

The Wildcats found themselves in a 21-6 hole midway through the first half against Ohio State, and they spent the rest of the game trying to play catch up. They eventually made up the ground, taking a one-point lead with 12 minutes to play in the game, but they weren't able to sustain it. NU shot just 6-of-23 from the floor in the first half and had all of 15 points at halftime. If the Wildcats get off to a similar start in this one, they'll be punching their ticket home. Craig Moore shot 6-of-15 (all from three-point range) en route to a team-high 18 points for Northwestern, while Kevin Coble added 13 points and Michael Thompson finished with 12. Coble leads the team with 15.3 ppg on the season. Moore is making 3.6 threes per game (.419) and scoring 14.4 ppg, while Thompson nets 10.1 ppg. The Wildcats are a +4.1 in turnover margin, but they are being outrebounded by an average of 5.1 boards per game.

Minnesota head coach Tubby Smith is no stranger to postseason play, boasting a 30-11 career mark in tournament action. The longtime Kentucky coach has wasted no time making his imprint on Minnesota's program, guiding the Golden Gophers to consecutive 20-win seasons for the first time in school history. Now, they'll look to continue their run in the postseason. One player who will be counted on is Damian Johnson, a Big Ten All-Defensive Team selection who averaged 13.7 points, 3.7 steals and 1.7 blocks over the final three games. Lawrence Westbrook, who is scoring a career-best 12.4 ppg, will need to kickstart the offense. The team is 16-5 this season when Westbrook reaches double figures. He scored a team-high 16 points against Michigan last Saturday, although the Gophers lost despite shooting 55 percent from the floor. They also made 18-of-19 free throws. But Michigan swung the momentum in its favor by hitting 5-of-10 three-pointers in the second half, while Minnesota went 0-of-4.

While both of these teams put together solid regular seasons, neither enters this game very hot offensively. But the Golden Gophers have been a bit more consistent, and with coach Smith at the helm, they've got the tools to move on to the next round.

Predicted Outcome

Minnesota 71, Northwestern 67