The Nebraska Cornhuskers (14-16) travel to Northwestern to play the Wildcats (19-11) in a game that has the potential to be low-scoring. The game gets underway at 2:00 pm ET on Sunday, Mar. 6 and will air on BTN.
The Wildcats were victorious over Penn State 71-61 on Thursday. Tre Demps led all scorers on the team with 23 points on 9-for-20 shooting. The Cornhuskers are coming off an awful 81-62 loss at the hands of Purdue on Tuesday. Shavon Shields had a good shooting night, leading the game with 32 points.
Demps has been playing at a high level as of late for the Wildcats, averaging 19.0 points, 4.4 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 0.6 steals, and 3.4 three-pointers over the last five games.
Half-court execution will be at a premium as Northwestern ranks 338th in the nation in possessions per game (65.1 possessions per game), while Nebraska is 282nd (67.0).
This will be the second matchup of the season between these two teams. The Wildcats won the first game 81-72. Dererk Pardon recorded a double-double with 28 points and 12 rebounds.
The Wildcats enter the game with records of 19-11 Straight Up (SU) and 14-14-2 Against The Spread (ATS). The Wildcats, sporting the fifth-best assist-to-turnover ratio in Division I (1.60), have proven themselves to be an extremely efficient offensive team. As for the Northwestern defense, teams routinely struggle to score points against the Wildcats, who allow only 66.2 points per game. Teams have to fight for open shots against the Wildcats, who have one of the best opponent field-goal percentages in the country at .403.
On the other side, the Cornhuskers head into the game with records of 14-13 ATS and 14-16 SU.
Northwestern won the last meeting this season between these two teams, but Nebraska still leads the head-to-head record over their most recent games, 4-2 SU. At 3-3, they are even ATS. When it comes to field goals, rebounds, or three-pointers, neither team was able to hold the advantage in all three of these categories over their past five meetings against one another.
Predictions: SU Winner – NW, ATS Winner – NW
Notes
Northwestern scores an average of just 72.3 points per game (ranked 157th). Nebraska ranks 79th in points allowed, giving up 68.4 points per game.
Nebraska scores just 70.2 points per away game (ranked 135th). Northwestern ranks 29th in points allowed at home, giving up 62.3 points.
The Northwestern Wildcats rank 66th for their offensive rating of 111.1. The Nebraska Cornhuskers have a defensive rating of 102.6 (ranked 78th).
The Nebraska Cornhuskers average 67.0 possessions per game and 1.073 points per possession. The Northwestern Wildcats earn fewer possessions with 65.1, but they score more points with 1.111.
The Northwestern Wildcats average an effective field goal percentage of 52.9% this season. The Nebraska Cornhuskers have a subpar record of 1-10 when opponents have an eFG% of 52.9% or greater.
On average, Northwestern attempts 24.0 three pointers and Nebraska attempts 18.0. In games where they have 20 or more three point attempts, the Northwestern Wildcats have a solid 16-10 record while the Nebraska Cornhuskers have a poor 3-10 record.
The fifth-ranked team in the category, Northwestern has an assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.60 this season. Nebraska ranks outside the top 100 at 213th with an A/TO of .99.
On average, Nebraska forces a turnover rate of 19.8%. When Northwestern turns over the ball at a similar or higher rate, the team has a winning 4-2 record.
