Northwestern Continues Challenging Stretch Saturday at Indiana

1/22/2016 12:11:00 PM | Men's Basketball

By: Nick Brilowski

NORTHWESTERN BASKETBALL: GAME DAY INFORMATION
DATE	OPPONENT	TIME	LOCATION	BROADCAST	LIVE STATS
Sat., Jan. 23	Indiana	11 a.m. CT	Assembly Hall; Bloomington, Ind.	ESPN2 and WatchESPN	iuhoosiers.com
720 AM WGN, Sirius 135, XM 195: Dave Eanet and Joey Meyer ESPN2: Clay Matvick and Sean Harrington Social: Twitter (@NUMensBball and @NU_SportsLIVE) \| Instagram (@numensbball) \| Facebook Game Notes: Northwestern \| Indiana

EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern continues to navigate perhaps the most challenging portion of its schedule Saturday when it travels to Assembly Hall to face No. 25/23 Indiana. Tip-off is set for 11 a.m. Central time.

Saturday's game is the second of four consecutive against teams that are ranked in this week's Associated Press top 25 poll. The 'Cats are following up on a contest at No. 7/5 Maryland on Tuesday. After taking on the Hoosiers, Northwestern hosts No. 11 Michigan State next Thursday prior to heading to No. 9 Iowa on Jan. 31.

The Wildcats are looking to bounce back after suffering a 62-56 overtime defeat at Maryland. Aaron Falzon led three Wildcats in double figures with 13 points. NU out-rebound the Terrapins 41-32, including a 16-4 offensive rebounding advantage.

The Wildcats bring in a 15-5 record into Saturday's contest, the program's best mark through 20 games since the 1945-46 season when they also went 15-5. A win Saturday would give the team its best 21-game start in school history.

Northwestern has come away victorious in three of its last five trips to Assembly Hall and is 8-5 overall against Indiana going back to the 2008-09 season. The Wildcats posted a 54-47 win in their last visit to Bloomington on Jan. 18, 2014.

Northwestern and Indiana split their two meetings last season. The Wildcats won 72-65 Feb. 25 in Evanston before the Hoosiers won 71-56 March 12 in the second round of the Big Ten tournament.

The Wildcats have one Indiana native on their roster in sophomore guard Bryant McIntosh. The Greensburg native leads the Big Ten and ranks seventh in the nation with an average of 7.1 assists per game.

Scouting Indiana
The Hoosiers improved to 6-0 in Big Ten play (16-3 overall) and won their 11th in a row overall with a 103-69 rout of Illinois on Tuesday behind the strength of 19 3-point field goals. Troy Williams paced the Hoosiers with 21 points while Yogi Ferrell added 16 points and 9 assists, including becoming IU's career leader in assists in the process. Ferrell paces the team with an average of 17.1 points per game. Indiana leads the Big Ten with an average of 85.9 points per game, a .523 team field goal percentage and .443 team 3-point percentage.