Northwestern University Athletics
Wildcats Take On Wisconsin
2/7/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 7, 2003
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EVANSTON, Ill. - The House officially became a home on Wednesday night.
With six games at home in the next month, the Northwestern men's basketball team needed to get the Welsh-Ryan Arena fans back on its side. Wildcat fans-like those at schools all around the country-can be a fickle lot, and an 0-7 start is not a good way to get purple-clad folks passing through the turnstiles.
A positive message needed to be sent in the first of those six games; something that would give the fans reason to come back.
Consider the message sent.
The Wildcats delivered a rousing performance in front of the hometown fans Wednesday night, jumping on Indiana right away and never letting up in gaining a 13-point win over the Hoosiers. Even the most pessimistic fans had to be enthralled by the effort, which put on display scoring prowess, defensive stinginess and a significant advantage on the glass.
All of those things had been issues as the week began; for one game, at least, they were emphatically answered. As a result, the Wildcats enter the weekend-and the second half of the Big Ten season-with confidence high and expectations once again raised.
"The win was important for the psyche of this program-the players, the coaches and the fans," said head coach Bill Carmody. "To beat a team that has been ranked all season is huge; now we need to ride that momentum."
GAME 20 -- Northwestern (9-10, 1-7) vs. Wisconsin (15-5, 5-3)
Date/Time: Saturday, Feb. 8, 2003/1 p.m. CST
Site: Welsh-Ryan Arena (Evanston)
Capacity: 8,117
Television: ESPN
(Dave Strader, PBP; Bucky Waters, analyst)
Radio: WGN 720 AM (also on wgnradio.com)
(Dave Eanet, PBP; Bob Hildebrand, analyst)
