Nov. 25, 2008
EVANSTON, Ill. -
A pair of 3-0 teams meet up at Hinkle Fieldhouse Wednesday night as Northwestern travels to reigning Horizon League champion Butler. Tip-off is 6 p.m. Central time with 720 AM WGN providing radio coverage. HorizonLeague Network.tv will offer free live streaming video.
Series History: Northwestern leads, 16-6.
Last Meeting: Butler posted a 71-53 win in Indianapolis Dec. 3, 1986. Shawn Watts led the Wildcats with 12 points while Shon Morris had seven rebounds.
Scouting Butler
The Bulldogs went 30-4 overall and won the Horizon League with a 16-2 mark a year ago. Butler advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament where it was defeated by Tennessee 76-71 in overtime.
Butler lost four starters and its top reserve from last year's team but returns reigning Horizon League Freshman of the Year Matt Howard who is averaging 12.0 points and 6.3 rebounds per game so far this season.
Brad Stevens is in his second seasons as Butler's head coach after spending the previous six season as an assistant coach under current Iowa head coach Todd Lickliter.
Moore Named Co-Big Ten Player of the Week
This Monday, Craig Moore became the first Northwestern player to be named Big Ten Player of the Week since Vedran Vukusic Jan. 9, 2006. Moore had a career night at Brown Nov. 22, scoring a career-high 31 points while hitting a school-record nine 3-pointers. He hit eight of the triples in the first half on just nine attempts for 24 points before the break. The eight 3-pointers in a half are the most ever by a Big Ten player, while the nine overall are one shy of the Big Ten record for a game held by Chris Hill of Michigan State. Moore bested his own previous record of eight in a game set at Michigan Feb. 26, 2008.
Starting Fast
Northwestern is off to a good start this season on multiple levels. The Wildcats are 3-0 for the first time in 15 years when the 1993-94 squad started with nine straight victories. NU has put itself in position to win those games by having strong first halves. The 'Cats have had halftime leads of 18 points against Central Arkansas and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and 22 points against Brown. Northwestern's opponents have averaged 12 turnovers in the first half in those three contests.
Doing It With Defense
The lack of an inside presence hurt Northwestern in many ways last season, including allowing opponents to shoot 48.3 percent from the field, including 39.2 percent from 3-point range. So far this year, the Wildcats' foes have shot a combined 40.3 percent from the field and have committed an average of 19 turnovers per game. NU's first two opponents made a mere 11 combined field goals in the first half while turning the ball over 27 times before the break. Northwestern has a +11.3 turnover margin so far this season. After finishing last in the country with a -10.8 rebounding margin a year ago, NU has out-rebounded two of its first three opponents.
Up Next...
The Wildcats return home next Monday when they face UC Riverside at Welsh-Ryan Arena. Tip-off is set for 8 p.m. with Big Ten Network providing live television coverage.