Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Chicago State
'Cats Return From Break to Host Chicago State Sunday
12/11/2015 12:52:00 PM | Men's Basketball
| NORTHWESTERN BASKETBALL: GAME DAY INFORMATION | |||||
| DATE | OPPONENT | TIME | LOCATION | BROADCAST | LIVE STATS |
| Sun., Dec. 13 | Chicago State | 6 p.m. | Welsh-Ryan Arena | BTN and BTN2Go | SIDEARM |
| ESPN 1000, Sirius 145, XM 203: Dave Eanet and Joey Meyer BTN: Wayne Randazzo and Stephanie White Social: Twitter (@NUMensBball and @NU_SportsLIVE) | Instagram (@numensbball) | Facebook Game Notes: Northwestern | |||||
PURCHASE TICKETS
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern returns to action Sunday following a seven-day break for final exams as it host Chicago State at Welsh-Ryan Arena. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m.
A win on Sunday would give Northwestern its best nine-game start to a season since 2011-12. The Wildcats opened that campaign 8-1 and started the previous two seasons with eight wins through their first nine games as well.
Northwestern (7-1) is coming off an 81-56 victory over SIU Edwardsville on Saturday, Dec. 5. Alex Olah matched a season high with 21 points and Aaron Falzon came off the bench to add 17. The Wildcats shot 51.7 percent from the field while holding the Cougars to 34.5 percent. Northwestern converted on 18 of its 27 second-half field goals (66.7 percent). Joey van Zegeren swatted five of NU's 11 blocked shots while Tre Demps matched a career high with seven assists. The 11 blocked shots were one shy of the Northwestern single-game record.
Through eight games this season, Northwestern's offense has made a marked improvement from its production a year ago at this time. The Wildcats are averaging 78.6 points per game, compared to 60.2 points per game through eight contests last season. NU is shooting 48.3 percent from the field and 39.9 percent from 3-point range to 40.0 percent and 32.5 percent, respectively, in those categories a year ago.
Tre Demps enters Sunday's contest with 1,137 career points. He is eight points shy of Frank Ehmann (1952-55) for 23rd place on NU's career scoring list, 13 away from Brian Schwabe (1986-90) for 22nd place and 18 shy of Andre Goode (1982-85) for 21st place. Demps' 153 3-point field goals are four shy of Alex Marcotullio (2010-13) for eighth all-time at Northwestern.
Scouting Chicago State
The Cougars take a 3-6 record into their home game against Valparaiso on Friday night. Elliott Cole entered Friday's contest with a team-leading average of 14.3 points per game while Trayvon Palmer contributes 11.3 points and a team-leading 8.0 rebounds per game. Chicago State entered the week ranked sixth in the nation with averages of 10.7 steals and 18.8 turnovers forced per game. Tracy Dildy is in his sixth season as the head coach of the Cougars.
Northwestern leads the all-time series with Chicago State 9-0. Eight of the nine matchups have been played at Welsh-Ryan Arena. The teams last met March 3, 2010 in Evanston with the Wildcats posting a 72-49 victory as John Shurna led the way with 16 points.
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