Minnesota's Spencer Tollackson, right, completes a dunk as Northwestern's Sterling Williams, left, watches in second half of a college basketball game Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2008 in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)

MINNEAPOLIS -- Dan Coleman had 19 points and 14 rebounds for Minnesota to help end a three-game home losing streak to Northwestern and give Tubby Smith his first Big Ten victory, 82-63 on Wednesday.

Blake Hoffarber scored 15 points, thanks to a perfect first half from 3-point range, and Spencer Tollackson added 12 points for the Gophers (11-3, 1-1), who improved to 8-0 at Williams Arena and bounced back from consecutive defeats by UNLV and Michigan State.

Coleman, a senior, became the 17th player in the program's history to reach 1,000 points and 500 rebounds in his career.

Kevin Coble had 17 points and Craig Moore contributed 11 points for the Wildcats (5-7, 0-3), whose last loss here was nearly five years ago. Minnesota leads the all-time series 84-56, but Northwestern won six straight until a win by the Gophers in Evanston last Jan. 31.

Those struggles served as glaring examples of Dan Monson's failure to revive the Minnesota program after taking over in 1999 following the infamous academic fraud scandal.

The one-three-one zone defense the Wildcats have typically used under coach Bill Carmody frustrated the Gophers in the recent past, frequently making their offensive sets muddled and fruitless. In those three defeats here over the last three years, Minnesota averaged only 47.3 points.

With Smith, the Gophers have looked better prepared. They used their size and athleticism advantage well, outrebounding Northwestern 40-30 and taking about three times as many shots in the paint. This came after losing the battle on the boards to the sixth-ranked Spartans 45-25 in Saturday's six-point loss.

Monson did leave Minnesota with two impressive freshmen from his final recruiting class. Hoffarber hit three of his five long shots during a 16-0 run that lasted more than eight minutes in the latter part of the first half to give the Gophers a 30-20 lead.

Then after halftime, Al Nolen -- who leads the conference in steals -- swished a 3-pointer and used a quick pick in the backcourt by Lawrence McKenzie for a layup during a 12-second sequence. Coleman scored on the next possession to make it 58-41.

The Wildcats brought the second-best assist-to-turnover ratio in the nation to this game, but Minnesota's full-court pressure kept them from getting too comfortable.

The Gophers played with a lot of emotion, highlighted by a hoop-and-harm play inside by Tollackson that gave them the lead for good midway through the first half. The bearded senior pumped his fist and jumped as high as he could to bump bodies with Jamal Abu-Shamala.

Northwestern's best finish under Carmody came in the 2003-04 season, a tie for fifth place in the conference with an 8-8 record. Only once have the Wildcats finished with a winning mark overall in Carmody's seven years, and never in the program's history have they been invited to the NCAA tournament or picked up more than 18 victories. The last Big Ten title came in 1933.