Big Ten Tournament 2011: Northwestern Leads Minnesota At Halftime

Read More: Trevor Mbakwe (F - Minnesota), Blake Hoffarber (G - Minnesota), Ralph Sampson III (F - Minnesota), Nick Fruendt (G - Northwestern), John Shurna (F - Northwestern), Davide Curletti (F - Northwestern), Drew Crawford (G - Northwestern), Alex Marcotullio (G - Northwestern), Minnesota Golden Gophers, Northwestern Wildcats

The 2011 Big Ten Tournament is off to a quick start as the first game of the event is off to a good start with Northwestern leading Minnesota 32-20 at the half in Indianapolis.

Northwestern's Michael Thompson leads all scorers with 13 points, but is only 4-13 shooting. Drew Crawford and John Shurna have two and six points respectively and reserve players Alex Marcotullio, Nick Fruendt and Davide Curletti have combined for 11 points off the bench.

For Minnesota, Ralph Sampson III is leading the way with 10 points. Blake Hoffarber has five points on 2-4 shooting and star forward Trevor Mbakwe has been quiet, tallying only four points and grabbing just three rebounds so far.

Both of these teams are likely on the outside looking in at the NCAA Tournament bubble, but a few wins in Indy might go a long way toward changing that. Whichever team wins this game, though, draws a stern test again No. 1 Ohio State tomorrow, so there's still a long way to go for either team to have a shot at an at-large bid.