Northwestern Ready to Take On Iowa On Wednesday

1/8/2019 12:13:00 PM | Men's Basketball

NORTHWESTERN BASKETBALL: GAME DAY INFORMATION
DATE	OPPONENT	TIME	LOCATION	TELEVISION	LIVE STATS
Wednesday, Jan. 8	Iowa	8 p.m.	The New Welsh-Ryan Arena Evanston, Ill.	BTN	Sidearm
Radio: ESPN Radio AM-1000 (Dave Eanet and Joey Meyer) Social: Twitter (@NUMensBball) \| Instagram (@numensbball) \| Facebook Notes: Northwestern \| Illinois

EVANSTON, Ill. — Northwestern (10-5) will play its third Big Ten home game of the season on Wednesday night as the Wildcats take on the Iowa Hawkeyes (10-3) at the new Welsh-Ryan Arena. Tip-off is set for 8 p.m.

In their last meeting at Welsh-Ryan Arena (Jan. 15, 2017), Northwestern topped Iowa, 89-54. The 35-point margin of victory was NU's largest-ever over Iowa.

Northwestern seeks to add to its two-game winning streak at home, as the Wildcats are now 8-2 at the new Welsh-Ryan Arena. NU's two home setbacks were an overtime loss to Oklahoma and a two-point loss to a top-five Michigan team.

The 'Cats are coming off a thrilling, 68-66 victory over Illinois on Sunday afternoon. Five NU players scored in double-digits, led by Vic Law's double-double. He scored 13 points and compiled 10 rebounds.

STORYLINES TO WATCH

NO THREES FOR YOU: In NU's win over Illinois, the 'Cats kept the Fighting Illini scoreless from 11 tries beyond the arc. This was the first time NU achieved this defensive feat under Sullivan-Ubben Head Men's Basketball Coach Chris Collins and NU had not kept a team from scoring any three-pointers since November 23, 2012, when NU secured a 55-31 win over TCU on the road. The contest was only one of seven NCAA games this season in which a team limited their opponents to zero three-pointers.

COUNT 'EM: For the first time this season, Northwestern had five players score in double figures in their 68-66 win over Illinois last Sunday. The last time the 'Cats accomplished this was on January 17th, 2018 in against #22 Ohio State.

ELECTRIC FROM THE CHARITY STRIPE: The 'Cats went 20-for-26 from the free throw line in their win against Illinois — a performance that has been characteristic of the Wildcats this season. The Wildcats own a 72.7 free throw percentage, the fourth-highest in the Big Ten this year. Senior forward Vic Law went five-for-five at the charity stripe, while center Dererk Pardon and forward A.J. Turner both went six-for-eight. Sophomore guard Anthony Gaines also made three-of-five free throw attempts.

QUOTABLES

"If teams don't hit 8 to 10 threes against you, then it's going to be hard to put up a high point total. … Even though we gave up some post scores, to hold them to zero-for-11 was definitely something that was a high priority for us."

Sullivan-Ubben Head Men's Basketball Coach Chris Collins on perimeter defense vs. Illinois

"Sometimes you put yourself out there and it doesn't work, but you're never going to know what you can do unless you go for it. … We'll live with the results, whatever happens."

Collins on the team's courage and confidence

"Quite frankly, I've challenged our bench guys. I think we have to get more production out of that group of five that's on the bench there. … Seventeen points off our bench in a 68-point game … that matters."

Collins on bench players

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