WHO: Northwestern Wildcats (19-7, 10-5)
WHEN: 5:37 PM CT
WHERE: Welsh-Ryan Arena (Evanston, IL)
TV: BTN (Brandon Gaudin and Stephen Bardo)
RADIO: Hawkeye Radio Network (Gary Dolphin and Bobby Hansen) | XM 391 or SXM 971
MOBILE: www.foxsports.com/mobile
ONLINE: www.foxsports.com/live
FOLLOW: @IowaAwesome |
@IowaHoops | @IowaonBTN
LINE: Iowa -1.5
KENPOM: Northwestern -2 (55% chance of winning)
PROJECTED STARTING FIVE
Iowa
G
Tony Perkins (11.8 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 2.6 apg, 1.4 spg, 0.4 bpg, 42.3 FG%, 32.7 3FG%)
G
Ahron Ulis (6.6 ppg, 1.7 rpg, 2.4 apg, 0.6 spg, 0.2 bpg, 40.5 FG%, 32.1 3FG%)
F
Connor McCaffery (7.1 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 3.6 apg, 1.5 spg, 0.0 bpg, 41.1 FG%, 36.7 3FG%)
F
Kris Murray (21.0 ppg, 8.3 rpg, 1.8 apg, 1.0 spg, 1.2 bpg, 50.7 FG%, 36.2 3FG%)
F
Filip Rebraca (14.0 ppg, 7.8 rpg, 2.1 apg, 0.5 spg, 1.2 bpg, 57.3 FG%, 33.3 3FG%)
Northwestern
G
Boo Buie (16.8 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 4.4 apg, 1.2 spg, 0.2 bpg, 40.1 FG%, 28.8 3FG%)
G
Chase Audige (15.1 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 2.9 apg, 2.4 spg, 0.7 bpg, 38.3 FG%, 33.7 3FG%)
G
Ty Berry (8.5 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 1.2 apg, 1.5 spg, 0.2 bpg, 35.1 FG%, 29.5 3FG%)
F
Robbie Beran (8.5 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 0.8 apg, 0.6 spg, 0.8 bpg, 37.4 FG%, 33.3 3FG%)
C
Matthew Nicholson (6.1 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 1.3 apg, 0.6 spg, 1.2 bpg, 56.5% FG, 0.0%)
PREVIEW
The last time these two teams met,
Iowa prevailed over
Northwestern 86-70. Northwestern followed that loss with another double-digit defeat, getting thrashed 68-51 by
Michigan in Evanston. At 15-7 overall and 6-5, it would have been easy for the wheels to come off Northwestern's season at that point. Instead, the Wildcats are riding a four-game winning streak into Sunday's rematch with Iowa.
The first two wins of the streak were narrow road victories over
Wisconsin and
Ohio State. But their most recent wins have been two of their most impressive of the season -- Northwestern closed the game with a 17-3 run to upset then-#1
Purdue in Evanston, then followed that up by hanging on for a dramatic last-second win over
Indiana after opening up a 19-point halftime lead. That four-game winning streak has seen Northwestern rise to solo second place in the Big Ten standings.
The first game between Iowa and Northwestern ended up a blowout, but the final score was a bit misleading. Northwestern led for almost the entire first half and held a narrow lead for the first few minutes of the second half as well. Iowa regained the lead for good with a
Payton Sandfort pull-up jumper at the halfway point of the second half. Iowa's offense exploded after that, outscoring the Wildcats 29-14 to turn the game into a laugher.
A significant part of that late Hawkeye run was Sandfort going absolutely molten-hot, scoring 14 points on 4/5 shooting (3/4 from behind the arc) and adding a pair of rebounds and an assist to boot. Sandfort has been far more effective at home in Big Ten play than in road games, though; he's averaging 12.4 ppg in league home games, with double figure scoring in five of eight games, versus 6.0 ppg in league road games, with double figure scoring just once (a 22-point outburst against
Rutgers). Iowa is 6-0 in Big Ten games when Sandfort scores in double figures and just 3-6 in games when he's held to single digits.
MORE HERE:
https://iowa.rivals.com/news/preview-iowa-mbb-vs-northwestern-1
