Northwestern University Athletics
Wildcats Square Off Against Iowa Saturday on Senior Day
2/27/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 27, 2009
EVANSTON, Ill. -
Northwestern closes out its 2008-09 home regular season at 1 p.m. Saturday as it hosts Iowa on Senior Day at Welsh-Ryan Arena. The team will recognize seniors Craig Moore, Sterling Williams, Patrick Houlihan and Marlon Day in pregame ceremonies. Big Ten Network is televising the game live with Wayne Larrivee and Shon Morris on the call.
The contest can be heard on 720 AM-WGN and online at wgnradio.com with Dave Eanet and David Kaplan.
The Wildcats are coming off their first win at Indiana in 41 years, downing the Hoosiers 75-53 at Assembly Hall on Wednesday. Moore paced five NU players in double figures with 17 points, while Michael Thompson added 16. The victory completed Northwestern's first season sweep of Indiana since the 1967-68 campaign. The 'Cats shot 56.5 percent from the field in the contest, matching the same mark from their first meeting against the Hoosiers Jan. 28 and their third-highest percentage in a game this season.
Series History: Iowa leads, 107-51.
Last Meeting: Craig Moore scored 20 points, but it wasn't enough as Iowa took a lead it wouldn't relinquish with 1:05 remaining in defeating the Wildcats 56-51 in Iowa City Feb. 7.
Scouting Iowa
• The Hawkeyes (14-14, 4-11) are coming off a 62-54 loss at Michigan State Wednesday night. Reigning Big Ten Player of the Week Jake Kelly paced Iowa with 20 points and five rebounds.
• Freshman guard Matt Gatens leads four players averaging in double figures with an average of 11.0 points per game. He leads the Big Ten with a .909 free throw percentage and ranks third with a .431 3-point percentage.
• Todd Lickliter is in his second season as the head coach at Iowa where he has a 27-33 record. He is 158-94 in eight overall seasons as a head coach, including six years at his alma mater, Butler.
Indiana Game Notes
The Wildcats' win is their first in Bloomington since an 86-81 victory Jan. 13, 1968 and their first win ever at Assembly Hall ... NU's 22-point margin of victory is its largest in a Big Ten road game since a 77-20 win at Chicago Jan. 14, 1944 ... The victory mark's NU first season sweep of Indiana since the 1967-68 campaign ... The 'Cats had five players reach double figures in scoring for the first time since the 2006-07 season-opener vs. Cornell ... The 22-point win is the largest by any Big Ten road team in conference play this season ... Craig Moore hit five 3-pointers in the contest to raise his career total to 302 and passing Illinois' Dee Brown for fifth place in Big Ten history.
Senior Salute
Northwestern is honoring its four seniors in pregame ceremonies this afternoon. Marlon Day has been a member of the team the past two seasons and has appeared in nine games. He was recognized as an Academic All-Big Ten selection last season. Patrick Houlihan is a four-year member of the team and has made 37 appearances over that span. A two-time Academic All-Big Ten pick, he is the current vice president of the Northwestern Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. Sterling Williams has been with the program the last five seasons. He became the first Chicago Public League recruit to come to Northwestern since the early 1980s and has gone on to rank in the top 10 in school history by appearing in 114 career games, starting 64 of those contests. Williams has earned Academic All-Big Ten distinction three times and graduated last June with a degree in political science. He is currently working toward his master's degree in communication studies. Craig Moore is the most decorated of the Wildcat seniors. By season's end, he'll have appeared in the most games of any player in school history. An honorable mention All-Big Ten pick a year ago, Moore ranks first in school history and fifth in Big Ten annals for career 3-pointers made and attempted. He enters today's contest ranked 13th all-time at Northwestern with 1,228 career points. He also ranks fifth with 295 assists and sixth with 136 steals.
Freshman Impact
Northwestern has received great contributions from its touted freshman class this season. Forward John Shurna has been the most impressive, starting every game this season, ranking fourth on the team with an average of 7.9 points per game while shooting 47.7 percent from the floor. He scored 17 points vs. Michigan Feb. 15 and tallied 16 in his first Big Ten game at Penn State Dec. 31. However, his biggest moment this season came against Ohio State Feb. 18 when he broke a tie game by hitting a game-winning 3-pointer with 3.3 seconds remaining. Forward/center Luka Mirkovic has come on strong in the second half of the Big Ten season. He has scored at least seven points in four of the last six games he has appeared in, including posting 14 points and 12 rebounds in his first career start vs. Illinois Feb. 12. The double-double was Northwestern's first of the season. Despite being slowed by a recent illness, Mirkovic is shooting 62.2 percent from the field in conference play. Center Kyle Rowley has shown flashes of why he could be a force in the years to come, starting 23 of 26 games, shooting 47.1 percent from the floor and averaging 3.9 points per game.
Up Next...
NU hits the road for the final week of the regular season beginning with a 5:30 p.m. Central time game Wednesday at Purdue.
