College basketball scouting reports

Illinois (12-7, 4-2) at Northwestern (13-5, 2-4)When: 7 p.m. Saturday at Welsh-Ryan ArenaTV: BTN Radio: WIND 560-AM, WYLL 1160-AMSkinny: A sellout crowd ought to see two teams playing with urgency as neither can afford this loss on their NCAA Tournament resumes. Illinois won the first meeting 89-83 in overtime on Dec. 30, but both teams came away with a laundry list of issues that need fixing. NU's zone defenses were ill-equipped to deal with 7-foot-1 Mike Tisdale (31 points, 11 rebounds) and 6-9 Mike Davis (20 points, 17 rebounds), but NU center Luka Mirkovic says they've made improvements there. Meanwhile, Illinois surrendered an Assembly Hall-record 16 3-pointers to NU - though in the end that became the Wildcats' bane because their hot start encouraged too many rushed 3-pointers during the Illini's second-half rally.DePaul (8-10, 1-5) at Notre Dame (14-5, 3-3)When: 1 p.m. Saturday at Joyce Center, South Bend, Ind.TV: ThisTV, including Comcast Ch. 246PayTV: ESPN FullCourt; Radio: WSCR 670-AM, WLS 890-AMSkinny: Now that the Blue Demons have snapped their 24-game Big East regular-season losing streak, it's time to shoot for their first 2-game Big East winning streak since the start of the 2007-08 conference season. DePaul did a terrific job of slowing the tempo and controlling the middle against undersized Marquette on Wednesday. Notre Dame also likes to play with four men on the perimeter, but Marquette has nobody like the Irish's Luke Harangody. The preseason All-American averages 24.7 points and 9.8 rebounds and remains on pace to break Austin Carr's career scoring record. Six-foot-8 junior Tim Abromaitis takes advantage of Harangody's presence by hitting 52 of 106 3-pointers.Valparaiso (9-11, 4-4) at Loyola (12-6, 3-5)When: 3 p.m. Saturday at Gentile CenterTV: Channel 56; Net: ESPN360.com, horizonleaguenetwork.tvRadio: WAUR 930-AM, WNTD 950-AM, WLUW 88.7-FMSkinny: The Ramblers didn't have much time to stew over Thursday's 1-point loss to nationally ranked Butler. As disappointed as they were, though, the game also seemed to serve as an affirmation that the Ramblers are doing the right things. Valpo is comfortable playing fast or slow, but the Crusaders also are physical and figure to challenge Loyola's reign as the Horizon League's top rebounding team. In Thursday's win at UIC, Valpo grabbed 19 offensive rebounds and wound up shooting 34 free throws to just 17 for the Flames. Loyola needs to regain the 3-point touch that still has the team 45th nationally in 3-point percentage (38.2).N. Illinois (8-8, 4-0) at C. Michigan (8-8, 3-1)When: 5:30 p.m. Saturday at Rose ArenaRadio: WSCR 670-AMSkinny: The Huskies, already off to their best MAC start in history, can sweep the first West Division round-robin with a win over the preseason favorites. It's dangerous to compare scores, but it's interesting to see that Eastern Michigan lost by 8 at NIU last Saturday and then lost by 8 at CMU on Wednesday. The Chippewas are similar to the Huskies in that they go 10-deep and their reserves can be as dangerous as their starters. Senior guards Robbie Harman (14.4 ppg, 53 3s) and Jordan Bitzer (13.0 ppg, 36 3s) are CMU's staples. NIU junior Xavier Silas (19.3 ppg) would rank No. 2 among MAC scorers, but his broken hand hasn't allowed him to play in 75 percent of the Huskies' games.Butler (15-4, 8-0) at UIC (5-13, 1-7)When: 1 p.m. at UIC PavilionNet: horizonleaguenetwork.tvRadio: WMVP 1000-AMSkinny: The Flames are mired in a five-game losing streak, but it's not like they're not competing in the Horizon League. UIC's last four losses all have been by single digits, which suggests there are a few crucial possessions each game that it's not doing what's necessary. Jimmy Collins shook up his starting lineup in Thursday's 6-point loss to Valpo (giving C K.C. Robbins and G Chris Buchanan starts while bringing G Zavion Neely and F Jeremy Buttell off the bench), but Collins really needs starting guards Robo Kreps and Spencer Stewart to be nearly perfect in order to knock off the nation's No. 20 team (per the coaches poll). Kreps went 1 for 6 from the field on Thursday while Stewart counteracted his 7 assists by committing 6 turnovers.