Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Mississippi Valley State
'Cats Face Quick Turnaround, Host Delta Devils Tuesday
12/14/2015 5:31:00 PM | Men's Basketball
| NORTHWESTERN BASKETBALL: GAME DAY INFORMATION | |||||
| DATE | OPPONENT | TIME | LOCATION | BROADCAST | LIVE STATS |
| Tue., Dec. 15 | Mississippi Valley State | 7 p.m. | Welsh-Ryan Arena | BTN Plus | SIDEARM |
| ESPN 1000, Sirius 108: Dave Eanet and Joey Meyer BTN Plus: Greg Mroz and Jason Dorow Social: Twitter (@NUMensBball and @NU_SportsLIVE) | Instagram (@numensbball) | Facebook Game Notes: Northwestern | |||||
PURCHASE TICKETS
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern plays its second game in three days Tuesday as it hosts Mississippi Valley State at Welsh-Ryan Arena. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.
A win on Tuesday would give Northwestern its best 10-game start to a season since 2011-12. The Wildcats opened that campaign 9-1 and started the previous two seasons with nine wins through their first 10 games as well.
Northwestern (8-1) is coming off a 77-35 home win over Chicago State on Sunday night. Tre Demps matched a career high with 23 points while establishing new bests with nine rebounds and five 3-point field goals. Nathan Taphorn contributed 11 points off the bench as the Wildcats knocked down a season-high 15 3-pointers. Northwestern held Chicago State to 25 percent shooting from the field, including 1-of-19 from 3-point range and committed only eight turnovers against a team that came into the game forcing an average of 18.2 per contest.
The 35 points allowed by Northwestern on Sunday matched a low for NU during Chris Collins' three seasons as head coach and equaled a low for an NU opponent in the last 17 seasons going back to a 68-30 win over Oakland on Nov. 21, 1998.
The Wildcats earned votes in this week's Associated Press Top 25 poll for the third straight week and also picked up votes for the first time this season in the USA Today Coaches Poll.
Northwestern entered play this week ranked 10th in the nation and third in the Big Ten with a 1.70 assist-to-turnover ratio. The Wildcats have dished out 168 assists while committing only 99 turnovers through their first nine games. NU's average of 18.7 assists per game ranks 18th nationally and fourth in the conference. The 'Cats assisted on 24 of their 30 field goals in Sunday's win over Chicago State, the second straight game that they dished out 24 helpers. Bryant McIntosh is averaging 6.1 assists per game to rank 24th in the nation.
Northwestern ranks first in the Big Ten with an average of 10.4 3-point field goals per game. The 15 triples the 'Cats posted against Chicago State on Sunday rank as a tie for the fourth-best single-game total in school history. Five different Wildcats have hit at least 10 3-pointers this year.
Scouting Mississippi Valley State
The Delta Devils fell to 0-11 with a 95-60 loss at Evansville on Saturday despite a game-high 25 points by Marcus Romain. Romain leads Mississippi Valley State with an average of 17.6 points per game. Damian Young contributes 11.6 points per contest. The Delta Devils have yet to play a home game this season. Andre Payne is in his second season as the head coach at Mississippi Valley State.
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