Dec. 20, 2013
| Northwestern (6-5) vs. Brown (6-3) |
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| Date | Sunday, Dec. 22 | 1 p.m. |
| Location | Welsh-Ryan Arena | Evanston, Ill. |
| Watch | BTDN via Wildcats All-Access |
| Listen | WGN 720 and wgnradio.com (Dave Eanet and David Kaplan) |
| Live Stats | Gametracker |
| Tickets | Available at NUsports.com or at box office day of game |
| Social Media | @NUMensBball  | Facebook  |
| Game Notes | Northwestern | Brown |
EVANSTON, Ill. - Northwestern continues it season-long five-game homestand Sunday as it hosts Brown at Welsh-Ryan Arena. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m.
The contest is the annual Take a Kid to a Game Day as two children in grades 8 and under will be admitted free of charge with each adult purchased the day of the game.
The Wildcats have won the first two games of the homestand, including an 84-62 victory over Mississippi Valley State on Monday. Drew Crawford led the way with 26 points, 10 rebounds and five assists. Sanjay Lumpkin also notched a double-double with 13 points and 10 boards. Tre Demps and Alex Olah contributed 18 points apiece.
Crawford and Lumpkin became the first NU duo to record double-doubles in the same game since John Shurna (21 points, 13 rebounds) and Luka Mirkovic (11 points, 11 rebounds) accomplished the feat in a 53-44 win over Texas-Pan American Jan. 7, 2010.
Series History: Northwestern leads 5-2.
Last Meeting: The Wildcats scored the first 15 points of the game and limited the Bears to 30.6 percent shooting as NU notched a 63-42 victory in Evanston Dec. 23, 2012. Dave Sobolewski posted 14 points and eight assists for the 'Cats who assisted on 21 of their 23 field goals.
SCOUTING BROWN
The Bears will be playing their first game since Dec. 10 when they suffered a close 74-68 home loss to Albany. Senior guard Sean McGonagill led Brown with 22 points.
McGonagill paces the team with an average of 18.9 points per game, including shooting 42.1 percent from 3-point range. Rafael Maia contributes 10.9 points and 7.6 rebounds per contest.
Brown's .410 3-point field goal percentage as a team ranked 22nd in the nation through games played last Sunday.
Mike Martin, a 2004 Brown graduate, is in his second season as head coach at his alma mater where he has a 19-18 record.
SHOOTING STAR
Drew Crawford is the Big Ten's active leading scorer with 1,576 career points. The total ranks seventh in school history and is five points behind Vedran Vukusic (2002-06) for sixth place and seven shy of Jim Stack (1979-83) for fifth place. Crawford missed most of last season due to injury and returned to the Northwestern lineup with a vengeance in the season-opener against Eastern Illinois, hitting five 3-pointers and scoring a game-high 25 points. The point total was the highest by a Wildcat in a season-opener since John Shurna scored 31 in a victory at Northern Illinois Nov. 12, 2010. Crawford and Adreian Payne of Michigan State are the only two Big Ten players to currently rank in the top 10 in the conference in both scoring and rebounding.
ON TARGET
Sophomore center Alex Olah has been accurate shooting the rock so far this season. Entering play this weekend, Olah ranks fifth in the Big Ten with a team-leading .554 field goal percentage (36-65). After shooting just .583 from the free throw line as a freshman, Olah has boosted that mark to a team-best .815 (22-27) through 11 contests this year to rank eighth in the Big Ten.
COMMENDABLE COMEBACK
After sitting out all of last season, JerShon Cobb has been impressive in his return to the court. He ranks second on the team and 17th in the Big Ten with an average of 13.6 points per game. Cobb handed out a career-high eight assists in the Wildcats' season-opener vs. Eastern Illinois. He followed up the performance by scoring 19 points at Stanford Nov. 14 and then scored 19 again vs. Illinois State Nov. 17. Cobb's 11 free throws and 14 attempts against the Redbirds were both career highs. The 14 attempts were the most by a Northwestern player since Jitim Young had 15 vs. Michigan State on March 12, 2004. Cobb also posted a career-best 12 rebounds in a win at UIC Nov. 20 and knocked down the game-winning shot with 2.3 seconds remaining in a 63-61 win over IUPUI Nov. 22. His 22 points vs. Missouri Nov. 28 and again the following day vs. UCLA were two shy of his career high achieved vs. Minnesota on March 8, 2012.
HITTING THE GLASS
Redshirt freshman Sanjay Lumpkin has been an effective rebounder so far this season. After grabbing 7 boards at Stanford Nov. 14, Lumpkin notched his first career double-figure rebounding game on Nov. 17 vs. Illinois State. His 11 rebounds were the most by an NU freshman since Drew Crawford had 12 in an NIT game at Rhode Island March 17, 2010. He followed it up with 10 boards at UIC, which coupled with 10 points gave him his first collegiate double-double. Lumpkin is the first NU player with double-figure rebounds in consecutive games since Crawford vs. Purdue (10) and at Rhode Island March 12 and 17 of 2010. A second double-double followed for Lumpkin against Mississippi Valley State Dec. 16, posting 13 points and 10 boards. Lumpkin is the first NU freshman to post 10+ rebounds in three or more games since Evan Eschmeyer had four during the 1995-96 season.
BOOST OFF THE BENCH
Tre Demps has provided Northwestern with some scoring punch off the bench so far this season. The redshirt sophomore is averaging 10.3 points per game, including scoring in double figures seven times in the team's 11 games. Demps tallied 15 points vs. No. 19/21 UCLA Nov. 29 before notching a career best 18 in a win over Mississippi Valley State Dec. 16.
Big Ten Non-Starter Scoring Leaders
(through games played Dec. 19)
Name (Team) - Avg.
Jarrod Uthoff (Iowa) - 10.4
Tre Demps (Northwestern) - 10.3
Bryson Scott (Purdue) - 10.3
Deverell Biggs (Nebraska) - 9.8
Malik Smith (Minnesota) - 9.1
UP NEXT...
Northwestern renews its rivalry with local foe DePaul as the teams square off Dec. 27 at Welsh-Ryan Arena. Tip-off is set for 8 p.m.