Vedran Vukusic leads the Big Ten in scoring with a 20.2 ppg average.Vedran Vukusic leads the Big Ten in scoring with a 20.2 ppg average.

'Cats Take on No. 12 Ohio State Saturday in Columbus

Feb. 16, 2006

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Feb. 18, 2006 - 12:15 p.m. ET
Northwestern (12-11, 4-7 Big Ten)
at No.12 Ohio State (18-4, 7-4 Big Ten)

Value City Arena (19,100)
Columbus, Ohio

The Broadcasts
Radio--WGN 720 AM
(Dave Eanet, play-by-play; Nate Pomeday analyst)

Television--ESPN+ Regional (WCIU in Chicago)
(Wayne Larrivee, play-by-play; Greg Kelser, analyst)

The Game

  • Northwestern takes on its fifth straight ranked opponent in Big Ten play when they travel to Columbus to take on the 12th-ranked Buckeyes at 11:15 a.m. CT Saturday in Columbus. Northwestern gave No. 14 Illinois all it could handle on the road Wednesday, playing without the services of Big Ten scoring leader Vedran Vukusic (20.2. ppg) who sat out with a sore back.
  • No player in the Big Ten has meant more to his team than Vukusic who has accounted for 34 percent of NU's scoring this season in games in which he has played. He has a chance Saturday to add two more milestones to his resume. (see page 3 for details).
  • At 20.2 ppg, Vukusic, a candidate for Big Ten Player of the Year and All-America honors, is on pace to become the first Wildcat since Ray Ragelis in 1951 to lead the Big Ten in scoring.

    • Vukusic Nearing 1,500 Points
    Vedran Vukusic will shoot for not one, but two milestones Saturday at Ohio State:

  • With 1,498 points going into Saturday, he needs just two to become the seventh player in 101 years of Wildcat basketball to record 1,500 points and needs 24 to surpass Jitim Young for sixth place on the all-time scoring list. At his current scoring rate of 20.2 ppg, he is on pace to finish third among the all-time scoring greats in Wildcat history behind Billy McKinney (1,900 points; 1973-77) and Evan Eschmeyer (1,805 points; 1995-99).
  • Further, Vukusic can become the most prolific three-point shooter in Wildcat history Saturday. He needs just two to tie and three break the all-time record of 203 makes set by Todd Leslie who played for the Wildcats from 1989-94.
  • Vukusic is on pace to become the first Wildcat since Ray Ragelis in 1951 to lead the Big Ten in scoring.
  • Taking it a step further, Vukusic also would become the first European player in Big Ten history to lead the conference in scoring.
  • Vukusic has led the Wildcats in scoring 18 times this season, four away from tying the modern day record held by Evan Eschmeyer who led NU in scoring 22 times during the 1998-99 season.

    • Vukusic Looks to Stay Hot vs. OSU
    In the last two meetings with Ohio State, Vedran Vukusic has averaged 19.5 points per game, including 24 in his last trip to Value City Arena (2/4/04) where he hit a career-high six three-point field goals and 8-of-13 overall. Last year in the home loss to Ohio State, Vukusic had 15 points on 6-of-9 from the floor as Ohio State roared back in the final minutes to steal the victory.

    Three-Point Barrage
    In the 73-49 win over IPFW last Saturday, a school record eight different Wildcats connected on at least one three-point field goal. NU was red-hot from the start, hitting 7-of-11 (.636) in the first half. The Wildcats shot 73.9 percent (17-of-23) in the first half and 57.4 percent (27-of-47) overall, their best shooting performance of the season.

    First Time for Everything
    Since arriving in Evanston in 2000, head coach Bill Carmody has defeated every Big Ten team at least once during his tenure: except for Ohio State. Carmody came close last season as NU led 51-43 late before the Buckeyes used a game-ending 22-1 run to steal the win. NU also came close in 2002 when Ohio State escaped with a 58-57 win in Columbus after Northwestern out-played Ohio State for most of the game.

    'Cats Nationally
    According to the official NCAA statistical report as of Feb. 13, the 'Cats rank fifth in the nation with only 14.7 personal fouls per game, are 12th in scoring defense (58.4) and 23rd with only 12.4 turnovers.

    About The Buckeyes

  • Ohio State enters Saturday's game ranked 12th in both the Associated Press and ESPN/USA TODAY Top 25 polls. Ohio State went undefeated during the non-conference portion of its schedule which was highlighted by wins at St. Joseph's, Iowa State and home against LSU.
  • Ohio State is one of the surprise teams in the Big Ten this year and lead the conference in scoring (78.6 ppg), field goal percentage (.491) and three-point field goal percentage (.421). They are second in scoring margin (+12.9) and assists per game (16.2). In all, OSU ranks in the top 5 in 11 major statistical categories.
  • The Buckeyes feature four players who average in double figures with Terence Dials (14.6) and Je'Kel Foster (14.5) who leads the nation in 3-point shooting (2.9 per game; .516).
  • Last season Ohio State was the only team to knock off national runner-up Illinois during the regular season.

    • The Series
    Saturday is the 150th meeting in the all-time series between the Wildcats and Buckeyes. Ohio State leads 105-44 and have won the last 11 meetings. The Wildcats have not won in Columbus since 1977 and last defeated the Buckeyes in 1998, a 70-62 victory in Evanston. Ohio State owns a 62-14 lead in games played in Columbus and 43-30 advantage in Evanston.

    OSU Head Coach Thad Matta
    Thad Matta is in his second season as the head man in Columbus after spending three years as the head coach at Xavier (2001-04) and one year at Butler (2000-01), leading each of those teams to the NCAA Tournament all four years. He is 38-16 at Ohio State and 140-47 overall heading into Saturday.

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