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GAME NOTES: The Northwestern Wildcats invade Carver-Hawkeye Arena for a Big Ten Conference clash with the fading Iowa Hawkeyes.

With a win tonight, Northwestern would tie a school record for regular-season wins, matching the 1982-83 and 2008-09 Wildcat squads with 17 wins. NU enters this game having won two straight by double digits, including Sunday's 78-61 dismantling of Indiana. Following tonight's action, the Wildcats will play three of their next four at home.

Iowa is happy to be back at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, considering the squad is 1-8 elsewhere on the year. Overall, the Hawkeyes have lost four in a row entering tonight's tilt. The most recent of those setbacks was a 68-58 loss at Ohio State on Sunday.

Iowa holds a commanding 107-52 series edge, although NU won the most recent meeting, 55-49, last February. These teams will meet again in Evanston on February 25th.

The Wildcats jumped out to an 18-4 lead Sunday against Indiana, and that proved to be all the cushion they would need. All five starters reached double figures for the Wildcats, and defensively they held the Hoosiers to 38.5 shooting for the game. John Shurna grabbed team-high scoring honors for NU with 16 points to go along with six assists, five rebounds and three blocks. Jeremy Nash recorded a double-double with 13 points and 10 boards in the victory. Shurna has been a mainstay in the starting lineup throughout the season, and he leads the team with 17.7 points and 6.7 rebounds per contest. He also ranks second on the team with 51 three-pointers behind Michael Thompson (13.0 ppg), who has knocked down 53-of-130 (.408) from beyond the arc. Drew Crawford rounds out the double-digit scorers with 11.3 ppg. As a team, the Wildcats are averaging 9.3 three-pointers per game, while opponents are shooting 29 percent out on the perimeter in knocking down 6.0 treys per tilt.

Headlining Iowa's starting lineup is sophomore guard Matt Gatens, who is averaging 12.0 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game. The problem for the Hawkeyes is Gatens, who shoots 36.5 percent from the floor, is more of a complementary offensive piece and doesn't have much help in the way of established scorers. Second-leading scorer Anthony Tucker (11.9) started the first 11 games of the season, but in late-December he was suspended indefinitely for legal/disciplinary reasons and has not suited up since. As a team, the Hawkeyes are shooting just 41.4 percent from the floor and are averaging only 61.1 ppg. In fact, they haven't cracked the 60-point barrier in five straight games. Still, they had other problems against Ohio State on Sunday, most notably 14 turnovers and only eight assists. Eric May led four players in double figures with 16 points in the losing effort.

Northwestern has shot better than 50 percent from the field in two straight games. If the Wildcats can put up similar numbers playing on the road tonight, they should be able to match that regular-season win total rather easily against the struggling Hawkeyes.