Feb. 18, 2008
EVANSTON, Ill. -
Northwestern and Iowa meet up for the first time this season when the Wildcats travel to Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Tuesday for an 8 p.m. tip. The contest is being televised by Big Ten Network with Dave Revsine and Shon Morris on the call.
The game can also be heard on WGN Radio (720 AM) with Dave Eanet and Tim Doyle.
Series History: Iowa leads, 104-51. Northwestern has won four of the last six meetings.
Last Meeting: Adam Haluska scored 29 points as Iowa beat Northwestern 66-58 in Iowa City on Feb. 15, 2007. It was the only meeting between the teams last season.
Last Time Out
Northwestern led through the majority of the first half and was up two with under 10 minutes to go, but a late run by 19th-ranked Purdue allowed the Boilermakers to escape Welsh-Ryan Arena with a 71-56 win Saturday afternoon. Trailing 11-9 in the early going, the Wildcats used a 15-5 run to take their largest lead of the game at eight with 9:18 remaining in the first half. NU's lead was still four with just over five minutes left before the break when E'Twaun Moore scored eight straight points as part of a 10-0 spurt by the Boilermakers that allowed them to take a 35-31 advantage into the intermission. Purdue built a 10-point lead early in the second half, only to see Northwestern respond with 12 straight points to grab a 50-48 lead on Kevin Coble's 3-pointer with 9:45 left. However, Purdue doused the celebration with a 14-0 run that put it back ahead, 62-50. The Wildcats were unable to draw closer than 10 points the rest of the way. NU had only six turnovers to 16 for Purdue.
Dual From Distance
Tuesday's matchup features two of the top 3-point shooters in the Big Ten in Northwestern's Craig Moore and Iowa's Justin Johnson. Moore leads the conference with an average of 3.17 made 3-pointers per game, while Johnson is close behind at 3.12. The Wildcats as a team are tops in the Big Ten with an average of 8.26 made 3-pointers per game.
Close But...
Even though the Wildcats are still looking for their first Big Ten win of the season, they have been able to hang close with each of the teams in the top half of the conference standings.
Opponent (Date) - Status - Result
at #17 Wisconsin (1/19) - Down two at half - L, 62-50
at #11 Indiana (2/3) - Down six 7:47 left - L, 75-63
at #11 Michigan St. (2/9) - Down four 8:24 left - L, 70-55
vs. Ohio State (2/13) - Down six 8:18 left - L, 65-47
vs. #19 Purdue (2/16) - Up two 9:49 left - L, 71-56
Scouting Iowa
Iowa (11-15, 4-9) is trying to snap a three-game losing streak, most recently falling at home to Michigan 60-52 last Thursday. The Hawkeyes led by 11 at the half.
Senior guard Justin Johnson has 226 3-point field goal attempts this season and needs only nine more to break into the top 10 in Big Ten history. Chris Kingsbury holds the Iowa single-season record with 297 attempts.
The Hawkeyes rank second in the Big Ten only behind Wisconsin in scoring defense as they are allowing an average of 57.7 points per game.
First-year head coach Todd Lickliter was named the 2006-07 NABC National Coach of the Year while at Butler.
Up Next...
Northwestern returns home to Welsh-Ryan Arena on Saturday as it plays host to Indiana. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. The game is being televised by Big Ten Network.