Northwestern University Athletics
Wildcats, Illini Set to Battle at United Center
2/21/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 21, 2003
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EVANSTON, Ill. - Today marks a historic day for the Northwestern men's basketball program, and as a result this seems like a good time for a history lesson in Wildcat basketball.
There was a time when Northwestern appeared regularly in the Second City. Prior to the construction of Welsh-Ryan Arena in the early 1950s, the Wildcats played a majority of their games-including nearly every Big Ten contest-at the old Chicago Stadium.
Times change, of course. Welsh-Ryan has been the home of the Wildcats for 50 years now. Chicago Stadium is long gone, replaced by the site of today's game, the United Center. And the Wildcats' opponent today, Illinois, has usurped NU's spot by playing a few games each year at the UC-not a surprise, given all the alums in the Windy City. That actually holds true today; this game is Illinos' home game, not Northwestern's.
However, head coach Bill Carmody feels he has a program on the rise, and while expectations have not been met in 2002-03 there is a feeling within the program that the future is bright-freshmen T.J. Parker and Mohamed Hachad are proving to be a nice backcourt, and if a few of NU's injured players come back at full strength next year the 'Cats could be poised to jump quickly in the Big Ten.
When that happens, maybe it will be time to renew a Northwestern basketball tradition. Who knows? Illinois-Northwestern at the United Center: maybe today we are starting one.
GAME 24 -- Northwestern (10-13, 2-10) vs. Illinois (17-5, 7-4)
Date/Time: Saturday, Feb. 22, 2003/1 p.m. CST
Site: United Center (Chicago, Ill.)
Capacity: 21,711
Television: CBS
(Gus Johnson, PBP; Clark Kellogg, analyst)
Radio: WGN 720 AM (also on wgnradio.com)
(Dave Eanet, PBP; Shon Morris, analyst)
The Fun Fact
Today's game represents Northwestern's first appearance on CBS, and it is also the Wildcats first time playing a regular-season game in the United Center. Previously they have played five Big Ten Tournament games at this venue, but none against Illinois.
