Feb. 22, 2006
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Feb. 23, 2006 - 8 p.m.
Northwestern (12-12, 4-8 Big Ten)
vs. Wisconsin (18-7, 8-4 Big Ten)
Welsh-Ryan Arena (8,117)
Evanston, Ill.
The Broadcasts
Radio--WGN 720 AM
(Dave Eanet, play-by-play; Dave Kaplan analyst)
Television--ESPN2
(Dave Revsine, play-by-play; Steve Bardo, analyst)
The Game
Northwestern begins a crucial stretch run at 8 p.m. Thursday night against Wisconsin in front a nationally televised audience on ESPN2. The Wildcats are 12-12 on the season with three of their last four at the friendly confines of Welsh-Ryan Arena.
The Wildcats dropped two games on the road last week at Illinois and Ohio State, but had chances to win in both. Versus Illinios they were without the services of leading scorer Vedran Vukusic (20.1 ppg), who sat out with a sore back. Against Ohio State, the Wildcats trailed by only two with 3:44 left, but couldn't get over the hump in the 61-52 defeat.
Vedran Vukusic can become the most prolific 3-point shooter in NU history Thursday night. He needs just one to tie and two break the all-time record of 203 makes set by Todd Leslie (1989-94).
Vukusic Hits 1,500 Points
With his first basket at the 16:02 mark in the first half at Ohio State last Saturday, Vedran Vukusic became the seventh player in 101 years of Wildcat basketball to reach 1,500 points. He finished with 17 points (giving him 1,515 for his career) and is now six points away from tying Jitim Young (2000-04; 1,521 points) for sixth place on NU's all-time scoring list. Vukusic leads the Big Ten with 20.1 ppg and is on pace to finish third among the all-time scoring greats in Wildcat history behind Billy McKinney and Evan Eschmeyer.
Further, Vukusic can become the most prolific three-point shooter in Wildcat history tonight. He needs just one to tie and two break the all-time record of 203 makes set by Todd Leslie who played for the Wildcats from 1989-94.
Other Things to Watch For ...
Vukusic is on pace to become the first Wildcat since Ray Ragelis in 1951 to lead the Big Ten 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.
More on Vukusic ...
At 20.1 ppg, Vukusic 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.
Three-Point Barrage
In the 73-49 win over IPFW on Feb. 11, 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.
Hachad Heats Up
Since his four-point effort in the home win over Iowa Feb. 8, senior Mohamed Hachad has rebounded to score 48 points in his last three games (16.0 ppg). He had 12 in just 22 minutes in the win over IPFW before enjoying one of the best offensive weeks of his career last week. He had 17 in the road loss at Illinois and connected on three 3-pointers. Then at Ohio State last Saturday, Hachad scored 19 on a career-high nine field goals and tied a personal best with nine boards. With his team down 15, Hachad scored 15 straight Wildcat points in the midst of a 19-6 NU run that cut OSU's lead to 52-50 with 3:44 left. The senior also had a season-best performance with 20 points, including a career-high four three-pointers, in the win at Purdue Jan. 25.
About The Badgers
Wisconsin enters Thursday's game riding a three-game winning streak with home wins over Indiana and Ohio State with a road win at Penn State in between. The Badgers, 8-4 in the Big Ten, are in a three-way tie for second place (as of Feb. 21) in the Big Ten with Illinois and Ohio State. The are just outside the top 25 in both major polls.
Wisconsin has a tough stretch run to end the season with three of its last four on the road. After tonight they finish up with a home game against Minnesota before consecutive road games at Michigan State and Iowa to close out the regular season.
Junior Alando Tucker is second in the league in scoring with 19.2 ppg (behind NU's Vedran Vukusic). As a team, the Badgers rank among the league leaders in several Big Ten statistical categories and lead the league with a +2.60 turnover margin and 13.0 offensive rebounds per game.
The Series
Thursday is the 162nd meeting between the two schools. Wisconsin leads the all-time series 102-59 and has won five of the last six, but Northwestern has won two of the last three meetings at Welsh-Ryan Arena. NU leads 36-34 all-time in games played in Evanston.
UW Head Coach Bo Ryan
Bo Ryan, the winningest active coach in Division I with at least 20 years of head coaching experience, is in his fifth year in Madison. His impact was immediate in leading the Badgers to a share of its first Big Ten regular season championship since 1947 and a trip to the NCAA Tournament. He has taken the Badgers to the Big Dance all four seasons and advanced to the NCAA Elite Eight last year. Under Ryan, Wisconsin has won two Big Ten regular season titles and captured the school's first Big Ten Tournament championship in 2004.
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