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Northwestern wraps up non-conference play Saturday when it hosts Northern Kentucky.
With a win the Wildcats would collect their third straight victory and enter Big Ten play with a record of 9-4. Last season Northwestern finished non-conference competition at 7-6.
A two-year-old D-1 program from the Atlantic Sun Conference, Northern Kentucky (6-6) is also searching for a third consecutive win. The Norse enter Evanston firing on all cylinders offensively having averaged 88.0 points over the last four games.
This first-ever meeting between Northern Kentucky and Northwestern features a matchup between two freshmen point guards from the state of Indiana. NU's Bryant McIntosh is fresh off a career-high 22 points against UIC and averages 11 points and 5.1 assists per contest, while NKU's Tayler Persons is coming off a 23-point performance against Idaho and leads his team in scoring (13.5), assists (3.4) and steals (1.3). McIntosh and Persons played on the same Indiana All-Star team over the summer, but on Saturday they'll face off in what should be an exciting and important matchup.
Here's how to follow the game:
Time: 2 p.m. CT
TV: Big Ten Network
Radio: WGN, 720 AM in Chicagoland
Online: BTN2Go
Line: Northwestern opened as a 10.5-point favorite, and is now a 9.5-point favorite.
KenPom: Following Monday's win over UIC Northwestern rose 10 spots in the Kenpom rankings to 145th, while Northern Kentucky is 257th. The website gives the Wildcats an 82% chance of winning and predicts a final score of 65-57.
Key Stat: NKU does not have a player taller than 6-7, so expect Alex Olah to be more aggressive than usual in the low post.
Check back here shortly before the game begins for the gamethread to follow along with the action.
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