Scouting: Northwestern, Loyola, UIC basketball

Iowa (9-18, 3-11) at Northwestern (17-10, 6-9)When: 6 p.m. at Welsh-Ryan ArenaTV: ESPN; Radio: WGN 720-AMSkinny: Look, everybody, it's the Wildcats' first and only regular-season game on ESPN or ESPN2! To help those folks nationwide who need to get caught up on the Cats, they made their first AP Top 25 appearance since 1969 and earned their first back-to-back Big Ten wins by at least a 15-point margin for the first time since 1958. Sophomore forward John Shurna has blossomed ahead of schedule and ranks second to Ohio State's Evan Turner in conference scoring (19.5 ppg). On the flip side, the Wildcats' slender NCAA Tournament at-large hopes went away in large part because of their 78-65 loss at Iowa on Feb. 10. NU never quite defended or competed like it should have against the Hawks, which you suspect has been mentioned a time or 10 since the Wildcats' narrow loss Sunday at Wisconsin.Milwaukee (16-13, 8-8) at Loyola (14-13, 5-11)When: 7 p.m. at Gentile CenterTV: Channel 56Net: horizonleaguenetwork.tvRadio: WAUR 930-AM, WNTD 950-AM, WLUW 88.7-FMSkinny: When the Ramblers knocked off the Panthers 69-64 in Milwaukee way back on Dec. 5, it ignited a seven-game winning streak that found Loyola at 11-2 when the calendar flipped to 2010. The Ramblers are just 3-11 since as they just haven't been quite explosive enough or skilled enough to keep rolling. On the other hand, Loyola bids adieu to just two seniors this week (guards Marcus Thomas and Aric Van Weelden) and neither ranks among the team's top six scorers. Andy Polka, who can return for a fifth year if he chooses, continues to post a solid stat line (6.9 ppg, 8.9 rpg, 3.0 apg). The Panthers are paced by senior guard Ricky Franklin (14.9 ppg, 4.0 apg).Green Bay (19-10, 10-6) at UIC (7-20, 2-14)When: 7 p.m. at UIC PavilionNet: horizonleaguenetwork.tvRadio: WMVP 1000-AMSkinny: Time to find out whether Saturday's win at Evansville (made possible by Robo Kreps' jumper with 4.4 seconds to go) fans the Flames down the stretch. The Phoenix whomped UIC 85-59 when they met Dec. 5 in the great white north. Green Bay still has a shot at the No. 2 seed and a bye into the Horizon League tournament semifinals, so expect the Phoenix to play with a sense of urgency. UIC senior point guard Shannon Stewart (4.8 apg) is trying to hold on to a narrow lead over Loyola PG Courtney Stanley for the Horizon's assists title.