Northwestern Seeks Hall of Fame Tip-Off Tournament Title

11/17/2017 3:42:00 PM | Men's Basketball

By: Nick Brilowski

NORTHWESTERN BASKETBALL: GAME DAY INFORMATION
DATE	OPPONENT	TIME	LOCATION	BROADCAST	LIVE STATS
Sat., Nov. 18	La Salle	1:30 p.m. CT	Mohegan Sun Arena; Uncasville, Conn.	ESPN3	TBA
Sun., Nov. 19	Texas Tech or Boston College	2 or 4:30 p.m. CT	Mohegan Sun Arena; Uncasville, Conn.	ESPN2 and WatchESPN	TBA
Radio: WYLL 1160 (Andy Masur and Joey Meyer) TV: ESPN3 (John Brickley and Chris Spatola) Social: Twitter (@NUMensBball and @NU_SportsLIVE) \| Instagram (@numensbball) \| Facebook Game Notes: Northwestern \| La Salle

EVANSTON, Ill. -- No. 20/20 Northwestern gets its first opportunity to win a championship this weekend as it travels to Connecticut to participate in the Hall of Fame Tip-Off Tournament at Mohegan Sun Arena.

The Wildcats open the tournament by taking on La Salle at 1:30 p.m. Central time Saturday. The other semifinal matchup features Texas Tech taking on Boston College. Sunday's losers will square off at 2 p.m. Sunday while the winners meet for the title at 4:30.

NU (2-1) is looking to bounce back from its first loss of the season. The Wildcats rallied back from a 15-point first-half deficit to take a lead early in the second half before eventually dropping a tight 92-88 decision to Creighton on Wednesday at Allstate Arena. Vic Law led NU with a career-high 30 points, while Bryant McIntosh contributed 24 points and 9 assists.

The loss snapped a 39-game winning streak by the Wildcats when scoring 80 or more points and a 36-game streak when scoring 85 or more. NU hadn't lost when scoring at least 85 points since Feb. 3, 1993 when it dropped a 101-87 decision at Wisconsin. The 180 combined points by the teams were the most in a game involving Northwestern since Iowa defeated the Wildcats 116-77 Feb. 9, 1995.

Saturday's game is the fourth of five games over a 10-day span for the Wildcats to open the season. NU is seeking its first in-season tournament title since winning the 2013 South Padre Island Invitational when it defeated TCU and Illinois State.

La Salle has won each of the previous three meetings in the series. Northwestern senior guard Scottie Lindsey and La Salle head coach Dr. John Giannini claim the same high school as their alma mater, Fenwick High School in Oak Park, Illinois. Additionally, redshirt first-year guard Tino Malnati's father, Rick, is the current head boy's basketball coach at Fenwick.

Scouting La Salle
The Explorers improved to 3-0 on the season with an 81-73 victory over South Alabama on Thursday. Syracuse transfer B.J. Johnson, who is averaging 21.7 points and 12.0 rebounds per game, led the way with his third double-double, posting 30 points and 11 rebounds. Pookie Powell contributes 15.0 points per game. La Salle posted a 15-15 record a year ago, including a 9-9 mark in Atlantic 10 play.