Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern Wraps Up Homestand With Eastern Illinois Sunday
12/18/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 18, 2011
Northwestern (9-1) vs. Eastern Illinois (6-3)
Sunday, Dec. 18, 2011
Welsh-Ryan Arena (8,117)
Evanston, Ill. • 5 p.m.
TV: Big Ten Network (Eric Collins and Shon Morris)
Audio: WIND 560 AM and wgnradio.com (Dave Eanet and Tim Doyle)
Gametracker: NUsports.com
In-game Twitter updates: @NU_SportsLIVE
Northwestern Game Notes (PDF)
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern concludes its season-long five-game homestand Sunday as it hosts instate foe Eastern Illinois at Welsh-Ryan Arena. Tip-off is set for 5 p.m.
A victory would improve the Wildcats to 10-1 for the second time in three years and would match the program's best start to a season since opening the 1930-31 campaign with a school-record 12 straight wins. NU started 10-1 in the 2009-10 en route to earning a national ranking. The 1982-83 squad also opened with 10 wins in its first 11 games.
Northwestern is coming off a 70-64 victory over Central Connecticut State Saturday afternoon. Junior Reggie Hearn led the Wildcats, connecting on six of seven field goal attempts, including all four from 3-point range, in scoring a career-best 17 points. Fifteen of Hearn's points came in the second half as the 'Cats overcame an eight-point first-half deficit. Drew Crawford contributed 14 points and John Shurna had 12.
Series History: This is the first meeting between the Wildcats and the Panthers. Northwestern is 6-2 all-time against current members of the Ohio Valley Conference.
SCOUTING EASTERN ILLINOIS
• The Panthers (6-3) are coming off a 64-48 loss at Western Illinois last Saturday, snapping the team's three-game winning streak.
• Senior guard Jeremy Granger leads Eastern Illinois with an average of 17.1 points per game. Alfonzo McKinnie contributes 10.3 points and a team-best 7.7 rebounds per contest.
• Mike Miller (69-116) is in his seventh season as the head coach at Eastern Illinois. He was previously the associate head coach at Kansas State.
TOP 'CATS
This year's senior class posted its 66th career win against Central Connecticut State Dec. 17 to set a program record, topping the class of 2010-11. Northwestern is coming off its third straight postseason appearance--a program best--advancing to the NIT quarterfinal round before falling 69-66 at Washington State in overtime. The Wildcats have posted a school-record 20 wins in each of the last two seasons.
LEADING THE LAND OF LINCOLN
Northwestern has won its last eight games against nonconference instate opponents. The Wildcats' last loss to a non-Big Ten team from the state of Illinois was a narrow 54-53 defeat at DePaul Nov. 17, 2007. Since then, NU has beaten Chicago State three times, Northern Illinois twice and Benedictine, DePaul and SIU Edwardsville once apiece.
UP NEXT...
Northwestern is back in action on Thursday as it travels to Omaha, Neb., to take on Creighton. Tip time is 7:05 p.m. The game can be seen on ESPN3.com.
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