January 24, 1999
EVANSTON, Ill. - The Northwestern men's basketball team currently owns the best overall record and RPI rating among Division I teams in the state of Illinois. The 'Cats stand 11-5 overall following Saturday night's 76-47 victory over Texas Pan-American. It is the first time since the 1982-83 season that NU has started a season at least 11-5. Also, Northwestern is tied for sixth place in the Big Ten at 3-3, the school's best conference start since 1967-68.
NU center Evan Eschmeyer is the only player in the country averaging at least 20 points and 10 rebounds per game. The Big Ten and National Player of the Year candidate leads the Big Ten in rebounding (10.9 rpg) and is third in scoring (20.3 ppg). The 'Cats, as a team, rank among the nation's top teams in field goal percentage defense (6th, .367) and scoring defense (7th, 55.5 ppg).
Northwestern hosts 14th-ranked Purdue on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. in Welsh-Ryan Arena. Tickets remain available and can be purchased through the Wildcat ticket office at (847) 491-CATS.
Here is a run-down of the records and RPI of Illinois' Division I teams
(records through games of Jan. 24, RPI through games of Jan. 23):
TEAM RECORD RPI Northwestern 11-5 (.688) 43 Illinois State 12-8 (.600) 50 DePaul 9-8 (.529) 69 Southern Illinois 10-7 (.588) 73 Illinois 8-11 (.421) 83 Eastern Illinois 10-10 (.500) 193 Illinois-Chicago 7-13 (.350) 201 Western Illinois 10-9 (.526) 203 Loyola-Chicago 4-15 (.211) 261 Northern Illinois 4-13 (.235) 266 Chicago State 3-15 (.167) 282