Northwestern vs. Illinois scouting report

Posted February 04, 2012 11:00 pm

Northwestern (13-8, 3-6)

at Illinois (16-6, 5-4)

When: Sunday, 2 p.m. at

Assembly Hall

TV: Big Ten Network

Radio: WGN 720 AM, WIND 560-AM

Skinny: It's nitty-gritty time for both teams, but particularly the Wildcats, who kick off the second half of their Big Ten schedule in dire need of a winning streak. It won't be an easy task considering Illinois has won nine straight home games over Northwestern, and dating back to 1980, has won 28 of the last 29 against NU at Assembly Hall. Northwestern is coming off a 10-point victory over Nebraska, paced by John Shurna's 28 points. The Illini's last outing was a hard-fought 42-41 win over No. 9 Michigan State. Shurna paces the league in all games played with an average of 19.4 points per game and is third in conference play at 19.3 ppg. Illinois' Brandon Paul ranks first in Big Ten play at 19.8 ppg.

Last meeting; Illinois 57, NU 56, Jan. 4 in Evanston.

Next: Northwestern hosts Iowa on Thursday at 8 p.m.; Illinois visits Indiana on Thursday at 7 p.m.

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