| Northwestern vs. Houston Baptist |
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| Date | Friday, Nov. 14 | 7 p.m. |
| Location | Welsh-Ryan Arena | Evanston, Ill. |
| Watch | BTN Plus on BTN2Go |
| Listen | 87.7 The Game and wgnradio.com (Dave Eanet and Joey Meyer |
| Live Stats | Gametracker |
| Buy Tickets | NUsports.com |
| Social Media | @NUMensBball  | Facebook  |
| Game Notes | Northwestern | Houston Baptist |
EVANSTON, Ill. -- After months of waiting, college basketball returns Friday night as Northwestern host Houston Baptist at 7 p.m. at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
Northwestern is beginning its second season under head coach Chris Collins. The Wildcats have won their last six season-openers, including a 72-55 home victory over Eastern Illinois in Collins' first game as head coach.
Northwestern rolled to a 102-52 exhibition win over NCAA Division II foe McKendree University last Friday. Five Wildcats scored in double figures paced by 18 points by Alex Olah. Bryant McIntosh had a double-double with 15 points and 11 assists as NU shot 71.9 percent from the field.
The Wildcats return four starters and six letterwinners from last year's team that went 14-19 overall and 6-12 in Big Ten play.
Northwestern is scheduled to play 18 regular-season home games this season, just one shy of the school record. The Wildcats played 19 home games during the regular season in 2009-10 as well as in 2012-13.
Saturday's meeting will be the first between Northwestern and Houston Baptist. Northwestern is 8-1 all-time against current members of the Southland Conference. The last meeting between the 'Cats and a Southland conference school was a 66-48 victory by NU over Texas A&M Corpus Christi Nov. 19, 2008 in Evanston.
Scouting Houston Baptist
The Huskies posted a 6-25 record last season, including a 2-16 mark in Southland Conference play. The team returns four starters and nine letterwinners from last year's squad.
Senior guard Tyler Russell is the team's top returning scorer after averaging 8.3 points per game last season. Senior center Ricmonds Vilde shot a team-best .539 from the field a year ago while averaging 6.5 points and 4.7 rebounds per contest.
Ron Cottrell is in his 24th season as the head coach at Houston Baptist where he has a 426-317 record. Cottrell helped the Huskies transition from NAIA to NCAA Division I.
UP NEXT...
Northwestern hits the road for the first time in the 2014-15 season Monday as it travels to Providence, R.I., to face Brown. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. Central time.
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