No. 19 Northwestern Ready for Top-25 Showdown at Michigan

1/2/2021 3:13:00 PM | Men's Basketball

NORTHWESTERN MEN'S BASKETBALL: GAMEDAY INFORMATION
DATE	Opponent	TIME	LOCATION	Television	Live Stats
Sunday, January 3	#16 Michigan	6:30 pm CT	Ann Arbor, Mich. (Crisler Center)	Big Ten Network	Live Stats
Radio: WGN 720 Social: Twitter: @NUMensbball \| Instagram: @numensbball VIRTUAL PRESS BOX

ANN ARBOR, Mich – #19 Northwestern is on the road for its second ranked matchup of the week as the Wildcats are set to tip off with #16 Michigan on Sunday night at the Crisler Center. Tip-off is set for 6:30 p.m. CT, with coverage live on Big Ten Network.

The Wildcats made their season-debut in the AP Poll this week, slotting in at No. 19. This is their first ranking since 2017 and the highest a Northwestern team has ranked in the poll this late in the season since 1969.

In their last time out, the 'Cats dropped their first Big Ten contest of the season in an 87-72 setback at #10 Iowa despite a career performance from Pete Nance. Nance finished the night with a career-high 21 points on 9-of-15 shooting (3-of-4 from deep) after scoring 17 points in the first half alone. It marked the second-straight road game in which an NU player scored 17 points in a single half, with Chase Audige also doing so in the second half of the Wildcats' win at Indiana on Dec. 23.

At 3-1 in conference play, the Wildcats currently sit in a tie for second in the Big Ten standings behind only the Wolverines, who are unbeaten in conference play and a perfect 8-0 to open their season. A win on Sunday would mark the Wildcats' first road win over a Top-25 opponent since defeating #7 Wisconsin on Feb. 12, 2017 at the Kohl Center.

Sunday's game will be the first time in 175 meetings between the two programs in which Northwestern and Michigan are both ranked in the Top-25 nationally.

Storylines

Northwestern is looking for its third ranked win of the early season. The last time the 'Cats had three ranked wins in a season was during their historic 2016-17 campaign. NU's last Big Ten win as a ranked team came on Jan. 4, 1969, when the #19 ranked 'Cats defeated Michigan State, 85-71.
Miller Kopp is averaging a team-leading 14.6 ppg and shooting 56% from the field. Kopp is also shooting 57.6% (19-of-33) from behind the arc this season which ranks second in the Big Ten (min. 25 attempts). Additionally, Kopp has a true shooting percentage of 71.2%, which ranks 28th in the nation and fourth in the Big Ten behind only Illinois' Da'Monte Williams, Michigan's Hunter Dickinson and Purdue's Sasha Stefanovic.
Boo Buie has led the Wildcats in assists in seven-straight games. Buie's 45 assists through the first seven games are the most for a Wildcat since Bryant McIntosh had 46 assists to open the 2017-18 season. Despite a slow scoring output in his last game at #10 Iowa, Buie dished out a career-high eight assists while also pulling down a career-high six rebounds.

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