Scouting report: Northwestern, NIU

Wisconsin (13-3, 3-1) at Northwestern (12-3, 1-2)When: 7:30 p.m. at Welsh-Ryan ArenaTV: BTN; Radio: WGN 720-AMSkinny: The 13th-ranked Badgers took a big hit as junior forward Jon Leuer broke his left wrist. Throughout nonconference play, opposing coaches touted Leuer (15.4 ppg, 6.2 rpg) as a future pro. The Badgers either can go small and put point guard Jordan Taylor (9.3 ppg, 3.2 apg) in the lineup or promote redshirt freshman Ryan Evans (5.0 ppg). Northwestern feels good after Sunday's huge rally at Michigan. Freshman Drew Crawford led the comeback with 25 points in the final 25 minutes - and yet he was the first guy in the gym Tuesday to work on his shot.Western Michigan (9-5, 1-0) at Northern Illinois (5-8, 1-0)When: 7 p.m. at the Convocation CenterSkinny: The Huskies are enjoying their second three-game winning streak of the Ricardo Patton era. Junior forward Xavier Silas, meanwhile, is riding a two-week streak as the MAC West's player of the week. He has led NIU in scoring each of the last five games. Western Michigan, which has won five in a row and looks like the class of the MAC West, has its own Silas in senior guard David Kool. He averages 19.8 points and makes more than 2 3-pointers per game while hitting 90 percent at the line.