Northwestern Hosts Penn State on Social Media Night

1/15/2016 2:24:00 PM | Men's Basketball

By: Nick Brilowski

NORTHWESTERN BASKETBALL: GAME DAY INFORMATION
DATE	OPPONENT	TIME	LOCATION	BROADCAST	LIVE STATS
Sat., Jan. 16	Penn State	7:30 p.m.	Welsh-Ryan Arena	ESPNU and WatchESPN	SIDEARM
720 WGN, Sirius 135, XM 195: Dave Eanet and Joey Meyer ESPNU: Clay Matvick and Sean Harrington Social: Twitter (@NUMensBball and @NU_SportsLIVE) \| Instagram (@numensbball) \| Facebook Game Notes: Northwestern \| Penn State

EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern wraps up a stretch of four home games over a five-game span Saturday when it hosts Penn State at Welsh-Ryan Arena. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m.

Saturday's contest is the annual Social Media Night game. Fans will have the opportunity to win a number of giveaways by either tweeting their seat location to @NUMensBball or using the hashtag #B1GCats in their social posts. A photo booth area will be set up behind Section 114 where fans can have their picture taken.

Northwestern undergraduate students who arrive early will receive a t-shirt featuring custom emojis bearing the likeness of head coach Chris Collins and Wildcats players. Members of the Wildcats will be wearing shooting shirts that feature their Twitter handles and their personal custom emoji on the back. Big heads of emojis also will be distributed throughout the student section.

Be sure to follow nu_sports on Snapchat as sophomore forward Vic Law takes over the account for the day to provide a behind-the-scenes look at the life of the Northwestern men's basketball team.

As for the game itself, Northwestern brings a 15-3 overall record and a 3-2 Big Ten mark into the contest. The overall record is the program's best mark through 18 games since the 1945-46 season when they also started 15-3. The Wildcats' 3-2 Big Ten record is its best through its first five league games since the 1967-68 campaign when the 'Cats started 4-1.

NU is coming off a 70-65 home win over Wisconsin on Tuesday. Bryant McIntosh posted 28 points, 5 assists and 4 rebounds and the Wildcats used a late 16-6 run to turn a two-point deficit into an eight-point lead. Northwestern out-scored the Badgers 30-18 in the paint and finished with a 34-25 rebounding advantage.

Over its last 11 games, Northwestern has out-rebounded 10 of its opponents and was even with the one other (Ohio State). In Big Ten play, the Wildcats rank first in the league with an average of 12.4 offensive rebounds per game and second with a +8.6 rebound margin.

Scouting Penn State
The Nittany Lions fell to 10-8 overall and 1-4 in Big Ten play following a 74-57 loss at Purdue on Wednesday. Brandon Taylor paced Penn State with 21 points and leads the team with averages of 16.2 points and 6.0 rebounds per game. Shep Garner contributes 14.6 points per contest. Patrick Chambers is in his fifth season as the head coach at Penn State.