Wildcats Dive Into Big Ten Against Buckeyes on New Year’s Day

NORTHWESTERN MEN'S BASKETBALL: GAME INFORMATION
DATE	Opponent	TIME	LOCATION	Watch	Live Stats
Sunday, Jan. 1	Ohio State	6:30 p.m. CT	Welsh-Ryan Arena Evanston, Ill.	BTN	Live Stats
Radio: ESPN 1000 WMVP Social: Twitter: @NUMensbball \| Instagram: @numensbball \| Digital Program

EVANSTON, Ill. – With a new year comes conference play. The Northwestern men's basketball team enters the heart of Big Ten Conference play with a 10-2 (1-0 B1G) record and welcomes Ohio State at 6:30 p.m. CT to Welsh-Ryan Arena on Sunday, Jan. 1 to ring in 2023. BTN will televise the game with Jeff Levering (play-by-play) and Stephen Bardo (analyst) on the call, while Dave Eanet (play-by-play) and Billy McKinney (analyst) have the radio call on ESPN 1000 WMVP.

The Wildcats defeated Brown 63-58 in their non-conference finale at Welsh-Ryan Arena on Thursday (Dec. 29) afternoon. Chase Audige led the way with a game-high 24 points and poured in his 1,000th career point on a step back jumper four minutes into the second half. Boo Buie (15) and Ty Berry (12) joined Audige in double figures, and the trio accounted for 51 of the team's 63 points. NU was exceptional at the free throw stripe, draining 90.4% (19-for-21) of its attempts, marking the team's single-game high (min. 15 attempts) since converting 95.8% (23-for-24) against St. Peter's in 2017.

Northwestern is 10-2 for the first time since 2016-17 and is on a five-game winning streak. The 'Cats have not won six in a row since the 2016-17 season, which all occurred in conference play (at Nebraska, at Rutgers, Iowa, at Ohio State, Nebraska, Indiana). NU upset then-No. 20 Michigan State on the road 70-63 on Dec. 4 to open conference action.

Audige paces the team averaging 15.3 points per game, which ranks seventh in the Big Ten, while also ranking second in the Big Ten and 13th nationally, registering 2.6 steals per game. The Coram, N.Y. native has recorded 20+ point performances in two of the last three games and is averaging 23.7 points per game over that span. Audige, who spent his first-year season at William & Mary has 154 career steals, with 110 coming in Purple. John Shurna (2009-12) and Vic Law (2015-19) are tied for 10th in program history with 119 career swipes. Audige is the only player in the country averaging at least 15 points, 2.5 steals and 0.8 blocks per game.

Through 12 games, the 'Cats defense has continued to shine, posting top 10 national marks in scoring defense (55.7) and opponent field goal percentage (35.1%). Northwestern has held nine opponents under 60 points, its most since holding 11 under the mark in 2018-19. The defense has held four straight opponents under 60 points first the first time since 2008-09 (Butler, UC Riverside, Florida State, DePaul). As a team, NU ranks second in the conference in steals per game (8.6) and fourth in blocks per game (5.0). Berry trails Audige in the Big Ten steals leaderboard averaging 1.9 per game.

Ohio State (9-3, 1-0 B1G) trounced Alabama A&M 90-59 on Thursday to close out non-conference play. The Buckeyes recorded their lone conference win of the year on Dec. 8 at home against Rutgers 67-66 on a Tanner Holden three-pointer at the buzzer. Freshman Brice Sensabaugh is the reigning two-time Big Ten Freshman of the Week. He leads the team in scoring at 15.8 points per game, which is also fourth among rookies nationally. Zed Key leads the team pulling down 8.2 boards per game. The Buckeyes lead the Big Ten averaging 81.7 points per game.

The Buckeyes lead the all-time series against Northwestern, 122-48. NU has won two of the previous three meetings inside Welsh-Ryan Arena, including the last matchup, a 71-70 triumph over the then-No. 23 Buckeyes in 2020.

Northwestern closes out its six-game homestand at 8 p.m. CT on Wednesday, Jan. 4. Tickets can be purchased here.

Wildcats Dive Into Big Ten Against Buckeyes on New Year’s Day

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Players Mentioned

Chase Audige

Ty Berry

Boo Buie

Northwestern University Athletics