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GAME NOTES: Big Ten Conference foes will clash for the second time this season, as the Northwestern Wildcats welcome the Iowa Hawkeyes to Welsh-Ryan Arena in Evanston, Illinois.

Iowa has lost its last two games and six of the last seven to plummet to 9-18 overall and a woeful 3-11 in Big Ten action. The Hawkeyes let an outstanding chance to score a victory slip away against Michigan on February 16th, as that overtime affair resulted in an 80-78 defeat. Considering the fact that the club hasn't played since that loss, a rested group should be expected tonight.

Losses in three of the last four games have dropped Northwestern to 6-9 in conference, clearly overshadowing a much more impressive 17-10 overall mark. On Sunday, the club fell to Wisconsin on the road by a 70-63 final, but the Wildcats do carry a 13-4 home record into this evening's affair.

Iowa owns a 108-52 series lead over Northwestern, which includes a 13-point win over the Wildcats in the first meeting this season.

The most obvious problem for Iowa this season has been its inability to produce at the offensive end. The Hawkeyes are only averaging 61.6 ppg on 41.5 percent shooting from the floor, and the team is allowing 65.4 ppg to opponents. Matt Gatens leads Iowa in scoring, but his 12.1 ppg on 37 percent shooting from the floor won't scare anyone. The Hawkeyes permitted Michigan to shoot 14-of-27 from three-point range last time out, the most obvious contributing factor in the setback. Aaron Fuller scored 30 points and ripped down 13 rebounds in defeat, as he shot 11-of-13 from the field and played 42 minutes for Iowa. Gatens added 21 points on 5-of-7 shooting from three-point range, but the tremendous efforts of those two players were wasted.

John Shurna is clearly the top offensive performer on the Northwestern roster, as he is scoring 18.1 ppg to go along with 6.1 rpg. Michael Thompson provides 13.3 ppg on the strength of his 40.3 percent shooting from three-point range, and he has dished out 108 assists. Drew Crawford is scoring 11.0 ppg to round out the unit's double-digit scorers. The Wildcats are generating 69.1 ppg this season while allowing 65.3 ppg to opponents. Shurna was tremendous against Wisconsin last Sunday, as he poured in 26 points. Unfortunately, none of his teammates had more than eight points in the affair. The Wildcats can be proud of the fact that they only committed six turnovers, but they were outrebounded by a 25-16 margin.

Northwestern will get the job done at home tonight, knocking off Iowa to even the season series. Shurna will lead the way as usual.