North Cook News

Wildcats Host City Foe UIC on Tuesday Night

Riding a three-game win streak, the Northwestern men's basketball team will host UIC at 8 p.m. CT on Tuesday, Dec. 20. The game will be televised on BTN with Connor Onion (play-by-play) and Trent Meacham (analyst) on the call, while Dave Eanet (play-by-play) and Tre Demps (analyst) on the call.
 
After defeating DePaul 83-45 on Saturday (Dec. 17) night, the Wildcats (8-2) are looking to improve to 9-2 for the first time since 2016-17. NU is 8-2 for the second consecutive year under head coach Chris Collins. Chase Audige turned in a career-high 28 points while also posting career-bests of six made treys and five steals. He is the first 'Cat to score 25+ points and tally 5+ steals in the same game since at least 2010-11. Audige was also named the Fisher McGrath Award recipient, which is awarded to the MVP of the Northwestern/DePaul game. Boo Buie joined him in double figures with 17 points.
 
The defense forced the Blue Demons into a 30.8% shooting mark (16-for-52) from the field and 22 turnovers. The 38-point margin-of-victory is the largest in the all-time series for either side and is NU's largest margin-of-victory against a Power 6 school since defeating Rutgers by 39 points on Feb. 27, 2015. Northwestern has held seven opponents under 60 points and three under 50, its most in a season since 2016-17 (four times).
 
Northwestern's suffocating defense is surrendering just 55.6 points per game, which ranks seventh nationally and second in the Big Ten. It's a 5.2 points per game improvement over the first 10 games compared to last year. Opponents are shooting just 34.2% from the field, the league's best mark, and the third-highest nationally. Audige is contributing a league-high 2.8 steals per game to go along with a team-high 14.1 points per game. Ty Berry is fifth in the Big Ten averaging 1.7 steals per game.
 
Robbie Beran is 10th in the Big Ten averaging 7.0 rebounds per game, and Matthew Nicholson's 1.4 blocks per game rank seventh. Buie's 89.7% (26-for-29) free throw percentage paces the conference.
 
For the first time since 2014, Northwestern takes on UIC. The 'Cats lead the all-time series 5-4 and won the previous meeting 63-46 on Dec. 22, 2014. NU is 27-14 against the current alignment of the Missouri Valley Conference.
 
The Flames are 8-4 and coming off an 81-73 home victory over Northeastern on Sunday (Dec. 18) night. Jace Carter is the team leading scorer averaging 16.8 points per game and scored 22 against the Huskies. Toby Okani is hauling in a team-high 8.0 rebounds per game. Playing in its first season in the MVC, the Flames were picked 11th in the preseason poll.
 
Northwestern will take a holiday break and return to the Welsh-Ryan Arena floor at Noon CT on Thursday, Dec. 29 against Brown. 

Original source can be found here