In my first men’s college basketball game of the season, Northwestern defeated its first ranked opponent since it defeated then #18 Iowa on February 8, 2006. Northwestern used a 16-0 run early in the second half to take a 47-37 lead over Minnesota and never looked back, defeating the Golden Gophers 74-65.

The arena was mostly Minnesota fans who (after the 16-0 run) began complaining about each referee call that went against them. However, they were not nearly as bad as the Wisconsin fans I sat next to last year.

Obtaining Tickets
I was a few minutes late to the game so there were no fans with extra tickets outside the arena. I offered the ticket brokers outside the arena $10 for a single ticket. However, none of them would take it. They countered with $15. Instead of paying $15 right away, I looked for my own single from a fan but nobody had any extras. Rather than spend $20 at the Northwestern box office, I bought the single for $15. Of course, as I entered the arena, I did find a fan with an extra ticket. But he would not sell his single for $5 to a broker so I would have had to spend $10 or $15 anyway.

Parking
Parking on a Sunday afternoon is easy around Welsh-Ryan Arena. Rather than pay $10 in the official lot, I parked on the corner of Lincoln St. and Ashland Ave. for free – a 3 block walk from the arena that allows me to walk by all the Northwestern scalpers.