Northwestern 64, Minnesota 53: John Shurna sets NU’s scoring record in win
By Tina Akouris takouris@suntimes.com February 18, 2012 8:18PM
Northwestern Wildcats Vs Minnesota Golden Gophers. 2nd-Half-Action. Northwestern's No.24 John Shurma reacts after he broke Northwestern's school basketball record. February 18, 2012 I Scott Stewart~Sun-Times
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Updated: March 20, 2012 8:21AM
John Shurna has never cared about individual statistics, only about the team. So it wasn’t a surprise when Shurna shrugged off perhaps the biggest individual night of his career, when he broke Billy McKinney’s all-time career scoring record with a three-pointer at the 10:44 mark of the second half against Minnesota Saturday at Welsh-Ryan Arena. Shurna finished with 18 points in the Wildcats’ 64-53 victory, a must-win that the Wildcats needed to stay in the hunt for their first-ever NCAA tournament bid. But Shurna’s milestone was the story. Shurna needed 16 points to tie McKinney’s 35-year mark of 1,900. He finished the game with 1,902 career points. “I’ll take it either way,” Shurna said. “They were in a zone and it was the top of the key and I thought I was open so I shot it. I was trying to help the team. We’ve had really great fan support, so it was good to get the record at home. It made it more special.” Shurna’s stat line was impressive. The senior forward was 7 of 14 from the field with five rebounds, five assists, three blocks and four steals. “There’s a lot of pressure on a guy to break that scoring record,” coach Bill Carmody said. “Billy McKinney was a tremendous player here and a really good guy and is a humble guy and John is not unlike that. I’m just really happy for him.” But Shurna started off slow, missing his first three shots. Then Shurna caught fire with 3:40 remaining in the first half, scoring 12 consecutive points for the Wildcats and pushing NU out to a 36-25 lead when his run was over. “It’s nice to have a layup and see the ball go in the basket, but I wasn’t focused on scoring points,” Shurna said. “I think that’s a credit to my teammates knowing I had the hot hand going for a little while and they found me to score. It’s just the flow of the game.” But it wasn’t all about Shurna. Freshman guard Dave Sobo- Guard JerShon Cobb played 24 minutes, his most of the season since he played 27 minutes at Ohio State on Dec. 28. Cobb, who has sat out 12 games with hip, back and leg discomfort, had four steals and four rebounds. Minnesota (17-10, 5-9) outrebounded the Wildcats by a whopping 41-20, but committed 21 turnovers to NU’s 10. Julian Welch led the Golden Gophers with 21 points. The victory puts the Wildcats solely in seventh place in the Big Ten and drops Minnesota into a tie for eighth with Illinois.
lewski scored a game-high 22 points on 6 of 10 shooting and Drew Crawford added 11 points for the Wildcats (16-10, 6-8).
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