Wolverines to Head to Windy City for Showdown at Northwestern

Wednesday, February 12

Evanston, Ill.

8:00 PM CT

Michigan

Northwestern

Wolverines to Head to Windy City for Showdown at Northwestern

2/11/2020 4:34:00 PM | Men's Basketball

By: Tom Wywrot

» Michigan heads to Evanston, Illinois, to take on Northwestern in the lone regular-season game between the Wolverines and Wildcats.
» U-M Coach Juwan Howard returns to his hometown of Chicago for the first time as a head coach.
» If the Wolverines win in Evanston, the victory would give Zavier Simpson and Jon Teske their 104th career wins helping them tie the all-time record.
» Simpson is second in the nation in both assists (180) and assist per game (8.2).
» Isaiah Livers returned against Michigan State (Feb. 8) after missing a total of nine games due to a groin/hip area injury. He finished with 14 points, four rebounds, two blocks, an assist and a steal in 31 minutes.

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The University of Michigan men's basketball team will head to the Windy City for a midweek Big Ten matchup at Northwestern on Wednesday (Feb. 12) at Welsh-Ryan Arena. The game is scheduled for an 8 p.m. CST tipoff with Cory Provus (p-by-p) and Stephen Bardo (analyst) as the broadcast crew.

What You Need to Know for Wednesday's Game

• Wednesday night's game will be the first and only regular-season meeting between Michigan and Northwestern.
• U-M head coach Juwan Howard will return to his hometown of Chicago for the first time as a head coach. Growing up on the South Side, Howard attended Chicago Vocational High School, where he was a high school All-American.
• After a three-game losing streak, the Wolverines have won three of their last four games with the lone loss a narrow three-point (61-58) setback to Ohio State.
• Michigan is listed 32nd in the NCAA Net rating system. With the Big Ten's overall strength this season and U-M's challenging non-conference slate, the Wolverines schedule continues to be listed as one of the best in the nation -- 3rd (Sagarin), 3rd (ESPN's BPI) and 3rd (KenPom).
• If the Wolverines win in Evanston, the victory would give Zavier Simpson and Jon Teske their 104th career wins helping them tie the all-time record held by Glen Rice (1986-89), J.P. Oosterbann (1986-89), Mark Hughes (1986-89) and Jordan Morgan (2011-14).
• Simpson is second in the nation for assists (180) and assists per game (8.2).
• With five assists against Ohio State (Feb. 4), Simpson became just the second Wolverine to surpass 600 assists in a career. Simpson (611) only trails U-M's record holder Gary Grant (731).
• Simpson is 31 points away from reaching 1,000 for his career. If he grabs 61 rebounds he would reach 500, and adding his 611 assists, he could become the first Wolverine to record 1,000 points, 500 rebounds, and 500 assists.
• Simpson is expected to play in his 139th career game at Northwestern. That puts him just five games away from tying the all-time U-M record of 144 held by former teammate Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman.
• Teske has played in 101 consecutive games for the Wolverines. He has 121 career games under his belt.
• Teske is second on U-M in scoring (12.9), but he leads in rebounding (7.6), blocks (43; 1.9 per game) and steals (25, 1.2). This season, Teske has at least one block in 22 of his 23 games.
• Isaiah Livers returned against Michigan State (Feb. 8) after missing a total of nine games due to a groin/hip area injury and helped the Wolverines snap a four-game slide to the Spartans as well as a three-game home slide. Livers finished with 14 points, four rebounds, two blocks, an assist and a steal in 31 minutes. He continues to lead U-M with 13.1 points per game.
• Before Livers' return from injury, Brandon Johns Jr. started nine games, averaging 10.1 points and 4.2 rebounds. He drained 12 of his 15 three-pointers and recorded a career-best 20 points vs. Rutgers in the B1G Super Saturday game at MSG.
• With 11 points against Michigan State (Feb. 8), Eli Brooks posted his 11th double-figure scoring game of the season. He also added a career-best-tying nine rebounds against the Spartans. That board mark was the second time he grabbed nine boards in his last four games -- the other being at Nebraska (Jan. 28).
• Austin "Big Country" Davis continues to not only provide a presence down low for U-M, but he has also given efficient production. In his last four games, he has averaged 6.3 points, 2.5 rebounds and shot 91.6 percent (11-for-12) from the field. During this stretch, the senior posted his first career double-figure game with 11 points against Ohio State (Feb. 1).
• After making 16 three-pointers over a three-game stretch, the Wolverines seem to have to found a rhythm posting 30 in their last three games -- nine vs. Rutgers, 10 against Ohio State and 11 against Michigan State. U-M has 195 total on the season, just five away from hitting 200 for the 13th consecutive season.

Who are the Northwestern Wildcats?

• Northwestern has a 6-16 overall record, including a 1-11 mark in Big Ten play.
• The Wildcats are coming off a 77-73 overtime loss at Rutgers on Sunday night (Feb. 9) and a 61-58 loss to Purdue at Welsh-Ryan Arena on Feb. 1.
• Three players are scoring in double figures for Northwestern, led by 13.5 points per game from sophomore forward Miller Kopp, who has a made a team-best 48 three-pointers. Forty-eight percent of Kopp's offense comes via long distance.
• Graduate transfer Pat Spencer adds 10.8 points per contest and leads the team with 85 assists (3.8 per game). The former lacrosse standout at Loyola-Maryland won the prestigious Tewaaraton Award -- given annually since 2001 to the most outstanding American college men's lacrosse player -- and is the NCAA Division I all-time leader in assists (231) and second in career points (380).
• Freshman guard Boo Buie gives Northwestern three double-figure players with his 10.5 points per game.
• As a team, Northwestern shoots 74.8 percent from the free-throw line, third-best in the Big Ten and 54th in the nation. The Wildcats rank second in the Big Ten, and 19th nationally, in turnovers per game, committing just 10.9 per contest. NU also is 31st in the country in assist-turnover ratio at 1.27.
• Chris Collins is in his seventh season as head coach at Northwestern, he guided the Wildcats to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history in 2017.

The All-Time Series with Northwestern

• Wednesday's game will be the 174th all-time meeting between Michigan and Northwestern.
• U-M leads, 114-59, the all-time series against Northwestern. U-M is 46-36 in Evanston, winning three times over the last five games. Michigan holds a 66-20 record in Ann Arbor, with the Wolverines winning the last eight straight. U-M has a 2-3 record in neutral-site games with three games coming at the Big Ten Tournament.
• Michigan had seven games (6-1) against Northwestern vacated by the Wolverines due to NCAA sanctions -- giving U-M a recognized 107-58 all-time record against NU.
• There has never been a game played when both Michigan and Northwestern were ranked among the nation's top 25.
• There have been 39 games decided by three points or fewer. U-M leads, 24-15, in those games with the last game a narrow two-point, 62-60, by the Wolverines at the newly renovated Welsh-Ryan Arena last season on Dec. 4, 2018.
• There have been nine overtime games in the all-time series, with U-M leading, 5-4. The last OT contest was a 72-70 U-M victory at the 2016 Big Ten Tournament in Indianapolis on March 10. Overall, there have been seven OT games, one double-overtime game (March 3, 2015) and one triple-overtime game (Jan. 26, 1980).
• Longest U-M win streak: 17 games (Jan. 31, 1985 to March 13, 1993)
• Longest U-M losing streak: eight games (Jan. 11, 1958 to Feb. 10, 1962)
• Largest U-M Victory: 38 points (105-67) at Michigan on March 2, 1988
• Largest U-M Loss: 27 points (84-57) at Northwestern on Jan. 10, 1953
• U-M Victories by 10+ Points: 62 | U-M Losses by 10+ Points: 25
• U-M's average margin in wins: 12.5 points | U-M's average margin in losses: 9.0 points
• All-Time U-M Points: 10,897 (62.6) | All-Time Michigan State Points: 10,006 (57.5)