NORTHWESTERN MEN'S BASKETBALL: GAMEDAY INFORMATION
DATE	Opponent	TIME	LOCATION	Television	Live Stats
Sunday, January 17	#5 Iowa	11 am CT	Welsh-Ryan Arena	CBS	Live Stats
Radio: WGN 720 Social: Twitter: @NUMensbball \| Instagram: @numensbball VIRTUAL PRESS BOX \| DIGITAL PROGRAM

EVANSTON, Ill. – Northwestern continues its gauntlet of Big Ten opponents as the Wildcats welcome #5 Iowa to Welsh-Ryan Arena on Sunday for a national TV showdown.

In their last time out on Wednesday, Jan. 13, the 'Cats dropped a close contest at #21 Ohio State, 81-71, to split the season series with the Buckeyes. Chase Audige led NU as he finished with a career-high 25 points on 11-of-23 shooting, including 21 points in the first half. It marked the second 25-point game for Northwestern this season, the first being Boo Buie's 30-point explosion in a win over #4 Michigan State on Dec. 20, as well as the first 20-point half for a Wildcat since Buie scored 21 against the Spartans on Dec. 18, 2019.

In their last meeting with the Hawkeyes this season on Dec. 29, 2020, the Wildcats dropped their first Big Ten contest of the season in an 87-72 setback at Carver-Hawkeye Arena despite a career performance from Pete Nance. Nance scored a career-high 21 points on 9-of-15 shooting, including scoring the first eight points of the game for NU and finishing the first half with 17 points. The 'Cats also held Iowa's reigning National Player of the Year Luka Garza to 18 points (his second-lowest output of the season), snapping Garza's 18-game streak of scoring 20+ points vs. Big Ten opponents.

Sunday marks the sixth-consecutive matchup in which Northwestern has faced a ranked opponent, extending a record for the longest streak of ranked opponents in program history.

Tip-off is scheduled for 11 am CT on CBS with Ian Eagle and Bill Raftery on the call, as well as WGN Radio 720 am.

Storylines

Northwestern currently ranks second in the nation in strength of schedule behind Penn State (per KenPom's adjusted efficiency margin). According to KenPom, no team in the country has faced a more difficult offensive slate to this point in the season than Northwestern.
Iowa marks the second Top-5 ranked opponent Northwestern has faced this season. The Wildcats upset #4 Michigan State on Dec. 20 for the program's first ranked win over a Top-5 opponent since 1979 (also over a #4 ranked MSU, led by Magic Johnson). Since the AP Poll began in 1949, the Wildcats have never beaten two opponents ranked in the Top-5 in the same season. Overall there have been eight victories over Top-5 opponents in school history.
Northwestern is looking for its third ranked win of the year. The last time the 'Cats had three ranked wins in a season was during their historic 2016-17 campaign (#22 Texas, #7 Wisconsin, #25 Maryland). The last time NU defeated three ranked Big Ten opponents in the same season was in 2008-09, defeating #18 Minnesota, #7 Michigan State and #19 Purdue.
First-year Ty Berry ranks is third among all conference rookies with 1.3 made threes/gm and leads all Big Ten freshman with a 42.4% three-point percentage (14-of-33).
The Wildcats currently rank 7th in the nation with a 1.70 assist-to-turnover ratio, while their 10.2 turnovers per game rank 12-fewest in the nation. In their last game at Ohio State, Northwestern committed a season-low four turnovers–their fewest since Feb. 9, 2020 vs. Rutgers–and held a 16-4 advantage in points off turnovers over the Buckeyes.

Northwestern Welcomes #5 Iowa for Sunday Showdown

Storylines

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Chase Audige

Ty Berry

Boo Buie

Pete Nance

Northwestern University Athletics

Northwestern University Athletics

Northwestern Welcomes #5 Iowa for Sunday Showdown

Storylines

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Chase Audige

Ty Berry

Boo Buie

Pete Nance

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