Wildcats Ready to Bounce Back at Home vs. Penn State

Monday, February 4

Evanston, Ill.

7 p.m.

Northwestern

Penn State

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Wildcats Ready to Bounce Back at Home vs. Penn State

2/1/2019 1:36:00 PM | Men's Basketball

NORTHWESTERN BASKETBALL: GAME DAY INFORMATION
DATE	OPPONENT	TIME	LOCATION	TELEVISION	LIVE STATS
Monday, Feb. 4	Penn State	7 p.m.	The New Welsh-Ryan Arena Evanston, Ill.	FS1	Sidearm
Radio: WGN Radio AM-720 (Dave Eanet and Joey Meyer) Social: Twitter (@NUMensBball) \| Instagram (@numensbball) \| Facebook Notes: Northwestern \| Penn State

EVANSTON, Ill. – Northwestern returns home to face Penn State at the new Welsh-Ryan Arena on Monday night. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.

The game will be broadcast on FS1 and it will be first regular season Big Ten basketball game ever to be broadcast in 4K.

The Wildcats sit at 12-9 on the season with an impressive 9-3 record at home. Sophomore Anthony Gaines posted a career-high 18 points his last time out against Maryland on Tuesday. Senior center Dererk Pardon also posted his 19th double-digit scoring performance of the season against the Terrapins.

Penn State holds a 7-14 record this campaign and remains winless in Big Ten play through 10 contests. The Nittany Lions forced overtime against Purdue, only to fall, 99-90, their last time out on Thursday night.

The two squads tipped off against each other three times in 2018, with Northwestern winning 70-61 at Allstate Arena behind 18 points from Vic Law.

STORYLINES TO WATCH

GAINING CONFIDENCE: Sophomore Anthony Gaines exploded for a career-high 18 points against No. 21 Maryland on the road Tuesday. His free-throw rate of 75.8 leads the team and ranks 17th among all players in the country. In his last contest at Welsh-Ryan, Gaines dropped six assists against Indiana, his highest total in conference play.

CLIMBING THE RECORD BOOKS: Senior Vic Law is now 10th all-time in career three-pointers made at Northwestern with 171. Law is one of three players to crack the list under head coach Chris Collins, joining Tre Demps (2012-16) and Scottie Lindsey (2015-18). Lindsey leads Law by 27 made triples, with 10 conference games left to play for Law.

SHARING THE ROCK: Northwestern makes an assist on 62.7 percent of all its made baskets, which ranks ninth in the country and second in the Big Ten. The Wildcats' turnover percentage of 16.7 percent also ranks in the top-50 nationally and is fifth in the conference.

QUOTABLES

"It's frustrating, because I know how hard our guys are working. We're getting some good looks. Just been in a little bit of a rut these past couple of games, can't get the ball to go in the basket … We have a few days now before we play on Monday, we have to rebuild some confidence on the offensive end."

-- Sullivan-Ubben Head Men's Basketball Coach Chris Collins on getting shots to fall.

"I've always felt, if you're struggling offensively, put your mind on other things. Get some rebounds. Take a charge. Dive on a loose ball. Play great defense. It's kind of funny how the mind works, when you take your mind off your shot, and you're just playing and fighting and competing, a lot of times you then end up making shots."

-- Collins on how to snap out of a cold streak.

"I'm really pleased with how Anthony is playing. He's getting better. He's playing his tail off. He plays with great energy. He guards every position on the floor. He's attacking and everybody has to follow his lead. If we could get everybody else playing that hard, fighting at that level, throwing themselves into competing, then I think we'll be okay going forward."

-- Collins on Anthony Gaines' strong run of play.

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