Northwestern and Oklahoma to Battle in Marquee Non-Conference Matchup

12/20/2018 1:31:00 PM | Men's Basketball

NORTHWESTERN BASKETBALL: GAME DAY INFORMATION
DATE	OPPONENT	TIME	LOCATION	TELEVISION	LIVE STATS
Friday, Dec. 21	Oklahoma	8 p.m.	The New Welsh-Ryan Arena Evanston, Ill.	BTN	Sidearm
Radio: ESPN Radio AM-1000 (Dave Eanet and Joey Meyer) Social: Twitter (@NUMensBball and @NU_SportsLIVE) \| Instagram (@numensbball) \| Facebook Notes: Northwestern \| Oklahoma

EVANSTON, Ill. – Northwestern basketball is set to host the Oklahoma Sooners, who are receiving votes in both the AP and Coaches' Poll, on Friday night at the new Welsh-Ryan Arena. Tip-off is set for 8 p.m. CT.

The Wildcats are coming off an 88-46 win over Chicago State on Monday evening, a victory that improved NU's home record to 6-1. Northwestern is unblemished in home non-conference affairs.

Chicago's Big Ten Team is one of only two Conference teams with four or more players averaging double-digits in points, highlighted by senior forward Vic Law's 18.4 points per game clip. Dererk Pardon (13.9), Ryan Taylor (11.9), and A.J. Turner (11.1) round out the high-scoring cohort.

This is Northwestern's last game before a lengthy break for the holidays. The Wildcats are back in action on December 30 against Columbia in NU's nonconference finale.

QUOTABLES

"When I see 23 assists and 33 field goals, it means we're playing together; we're playing unselfishly. Guys are sharing it. Everybody who played in the game had an assist. To me, that's a cool stat because it means that we really played as a team, which is important to us."
— Sullivan-Ubben Head Men's Basketball Coach Chris Collins on NU's play against Chicago State

"I thought we were sharing it. I thought we got good ones. And, as long as they're good ones, I'm fine with guys taking them. I never want guys to feel like they should or should or shouldn't shoot. If you feel good, you've got your feet set, you're open — let it fly."
— Collins on NU's offensive style and shooting

"My teammates found me in the right spot. We pushed tempo and got them into some tough positions and got me open."
— First-year Miller Kopp on his strong offensive performance against Chicago State

"We need to share the ball a lot for us to win. That's the way our team is wired and that's how we've always been. Sharing the ball is a good formula for us, especially playing teams that play zone a lot."
— Senior Dererk Pardon on ball movement and NU's offense

STORYLINES TO WATCH

BALL MOVEMENT IS KEY: The Wildcats have been passing the ball effectively as of late, notching back-to-back games with 20-plus assists for the first time since 2015. In NU's 75-68 win over DePaul, the Wildcats assisted on 91.3 percent of its made field goals (21-of-23). The Wildcats tied a season high with 23 dimes in their win against Chicago State, helping push NU's season average to 15.7 assists per game, the second-best mark in the Big Ten. A metric to watch: the Wildcats are an unblemished 6-0 when tallying 15 or more assists in a game.

DEFENSE REMAINS THE CALLING CARD: Stat-heads beware — KenPom tabs the 'Cats as a top-30 team in terms of adjusted defensive efficiency. To wit, Northwestern has limited its last five opponents below their season scoring average, including limiting No. 5 Michigan to 62 points when the Wolverines were averaging over 73 points per game heading into the contest. The Sooners are averaging 76.6 points per game heading into this contest; the Wildcats have allowed more than 76 points only once this season. The game is likely to be decided on defense, as Oklahoma is a top-10 defensive team, per KenPom.

ELECTRIC FROM THE CHARITY STRIPE: Getting to the free throw line has been an indicator of victory for NU — the Wildcats are 4-1 when reaching the charity stripe at least 20 times. This year, NU is 72 percent (174-of-240) from the line, the fifth-best clip among Big Ten squads. Northwestern's free throw shooting effort has been highlighted by graduate student Ryan Taylor's impressive 19-of-20 mark as well as redshirt junior A.J. Turner's 89.5 percent clip (34-of-38), the second-best mark among Big Ten ballers (Taylor does not have enough attempts to qualify).

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