Northwestern has regained confidence after posting consecutive victories over Rutgers and Nebraska last week.
The Wildcats (11-10, 4-8 Big Ten) will look to extend their winning streak to three games on Tuesday night when they host Indiana in Evanston, Ill.
Northwestern made a season-high 13 3-pointers — 10 in the first half — in an 87-63 rout at Nebraska on Saturday. The 24-point margin was the second-largest road conference win for Northwestern since 1950.
“The thing I was really proud of was we hit 10 3s in the first half,” Wildcats coach Chris Collins said. “We really don’t have that one guy every night that we lean on like some of the teams do to get 20 to 25; it can be a different guy each night.”
Northwestern continues to benefit from balanced scoring. The Wildcats have three players averaging in double figures — Pete Nance (15.6 points per game), Boo Buie (15.3) and Chase Audige (11.6).
Indiana (16-6, 7-5) is coming off a 74-57 loss at home to then-No. 18 Illinois on Saturday. The Hoosiers led by as many as four points in the second half but were outscored 32-11 in the final 13:11.
“We just didn’t have much going for us in the second half,” Indiana coach Mike Woodson said.
The game will be a homecoming for Hoosiers forward Miller Kopp, who transferred from Northwestern this past offseason. Kopp has started all 22 games for Indiana this season, averaging 6.2 points and 2.4 rebounds while shooting 38.7 percent from 3-point range.
“It’s definitely going to be super exciting to go back there and see some old friends and old teammates and stuff, but really I just want to win,” Kopp said. “That’s really all I care about, but overall it’s just going to be weird. I don’t know what to expect just emotion-wise.”
After losing its first four road games, Indiana has back-to-back road wins at Nebraska and at Maryland. The Hoosiers will be vying for their first three-game road winning streak since defeating Rutgers, Nebraska and Minnesota during the 2015-16 season.
–Field Level Media
