Northwestern Tips Off 2015-16 Season at Home Friday

11/11/2015 4:14:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Wildcats square off with UMass Lowell

By: Nick Brilowski

NORTHWESTERN BASKETBALL: GAME DAY INFORMATION
DATE	OPPONENT	TIME	LOCATION	BROADCAST	LIVE STATS
Friday, Nov. 13	UMass Lowell	7 p.m.	Welsh-Ryan Arena	BTN2Go	SIDEARM
BTN Plus: Jesse Kirsch and Jason Dorow 720 AM WGN: Dave Eanet and Joey Meyer Social: Twitter (@NUMensBball and @NU_SportsLIVE) \| Instagram (@numensbball) \| Facebook Game Notes: Northwestern \| UMass Lowell

WATCH: V. Law, T. Demps & S. Lindsey Meet the Media

EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern's men's basketball team tips off its 110th season of competition at 7 p.m. Friday as it hosts UMass Lowell at Welsh-Ryan Arena. Tickets are available at NUsports.com or by calling 888-GO-PURPLE.

Northwestern undergraduate students who attend the game and will receive free admission, as well as a t-shirt and pizza.

Head coach Chris Collins begins his third season at the helm of the Wildcats and has a solid returning core in place. Northwestern returns 87.6 percent of its scoring and 77.9 percent of its rebounding from last season. The 'Cats welcome back seven of their top eight scorers from a year ago.

Northwestern returns three individuals who earned postseason honors from the Big Ten last season. Redshirt junior guard Tre Demps was a consensus honorable mention All-Big Ten selection, earning the recognition from both the league's coaches and media. Junior center Alex Olah was named an honorable mention pick of the media. Additionally, guard Bryant McIntosh earned a selection to the five-member Big Ten All-Freshman Team. McIntosh is the fifth Northwestern player to receive the honor over the last 10 years.

The Wildcats have won their regular-season openers in each of Chris Collins' first two seasons as head coach and its last seven season-openers overall. Last season, Northwestern posted a 65-58 win over Houston Baptist as Alex Olah scored 18 of his game-high 21 points in the second half to go along with 10 rebounds.

Friday's contest is the first of 18 regular-season home games for the Wildcats and the first of three consecutive at home for NU to open the season.

In its lone tuneup for the regular season, Northwestern shot an even 50 percent in an 80-64 exhibition win over Quincy on Nov. 5 at Welsh-Ryan Arena. Four Wildcats scored in double figures, including freshman Aaron Falzon who recorded an efficient 15 points on six shots in his collegiate debut. In his first game as a Wildcat, center Joey van Zegeren grabbed six offensive rebounds – 10 total – and two blocks. As a team, Northwestern outrebounded the Hawks 48-33 and limited them to 30.8 percent shooting. Alex Olah scored 12 points and Tre Demps stuffed the stat sheet with 13 points, six assists and five rebounds.