Feb. 26, 2007

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EVANSTON, Ill. -- Wednesday night will be the final home game for four Wildcat seniors as Northwestern takes on the Indiana Hoosiers at Welsh-Ryan Arena. Game time is 6 p.m. CT and will be televised live on ESPN2. The four seniors being honored prior to the start of the game will be Tim Doyle, Vince Scott, Ivan Tolic and Joe Kennedy.

Northwestern went 1-1 last week, posting a win over Texas-Pan American before falling to Purdue by seven points at home. Tim Doyle and Kevin Coble had outstanding games and combined for 50 points against Purdue with a career-high 26 points from Doyle and 24 from Coble.

Indiana, meanwhile, is another Big Ten team on the NCAA bubble. They enter the game 18-9 overall with an 8-6 mark in league play and are coming off a 66-58 road loss to Michigan State on Saturday where freshman guard Armon Bassett scored 25 points.

The Series
Wednesday is the 148th meeting all-time between the two schools. Indiana leads 105-42, but Northwestern has won the last three meetings at Welsh-Ryan Arena. The average margin of victory in those three games is 12.3 points.

Last Time Out
Tim Doyle scored a career-high 26 points on 9-of-12 shooting and Kevin Coble added 24, but the Wildcats didn't get much help offensively as Northwestern fell to the Purdue Boilermakers 75-68 on Saturday. Purdue's David Teague scored 26 points, hit four first-half three's and the Boilers survived a late charge from Northwestern to pull out the win. Doyle led a 19-7 run that had the Wildcats within 73-68 with 36.7 seconds to play, scoring 18 of his 26 points in the second half. But Purdue, which had missed the front end of two one-and-bonus situations earlier, made 2-of-4 from the line in the final moments to end a five-game losing streak to Northwestern.

Doyle Enjoys Career Day
Senior Tim Doyle enjoyed the best offensive game of his career in the game against Purdue last Saturday. He recorded a career-high 26 points on 9-of-12 shooting while hitting 8-of-11 from the line and dishing out five assists. He is the only Wildcat to start every game this year and has made 37-straight starts dating back to last season.

Coble Among Top NU Freshmen
With his 13.3 ppg average, Kevin Coble is on pace to become just the fifth true-freshman to lead the Wildcats in scoring since the 1972-73 season when freshmen became eligible for varsity competition. Ben Johnson was the last Wildcat to do it in 2000 when he averaged 11.6 ppg. Cedric Neloms also did it in 1992 with 14.4 ppg, Jim Stack in 1980 with 12.9 and Billy McKinney--Northwestern's all-time leading scorer--with 15.8 ppg in 1974.

Coble is one of the leading candidates for Big Ten All-Freshman honors. He is averaging 16.1 points over the last eight games. He has scored in double-figures 18 times and has five games with 20 or more points. Among conference newcomers, he ranks third in scoring (13.3) and rebounding (5.2), fourth in FG percentage (.498) and third in 3FG percentage (.392). Is 10th in the Big Ten overall in FG percentage and 14th in scoring. His perfect 5-of-5 shooting performance from behind the arc against Utah in December is tied for the best 3FG shooting performance in the Big Ten this season among all players. He averaged 20.3 ppg in three games at the San Juan Shootout and was named to the all-tournament team for his efforts. Before an ankle injury, Coble averaged just 5.7 points and shot 27 percent in his first three league games against Penn State, Michigan and Michigan State.

About The Hoosiers
Since defeating No. 2 Wisconsin at home back on Jan. 31, the Hoosiers have hit a skid, losing four of their last six games. They are led offensively by center D.J. White (13.8 ppg, 7.0 rpg) and guard Roderick Wilmont (11.9 ppg). Freshman guard Armon Bassett is a candidate for Big Ten All-Freshman honors, averaging 9.5 ppg and is coming off a 25-point performance in the loss to Michigan State on Saturday.

The Hoosiers are one of the top 3-point shooting teams in the Big Ten, ranking second in both 3FG's per game (7.4) and 3FG percentage (.378). Wilmont leads the team with 57 makes.

White ranks second in the league in blocked shots per game (2.2), fourth with 7.0 rebounds and 11th with 13.8 ppg.

Kelvin Sampson, a two-time National Coach of the Year who led Oklahoma to 11 NCAA Tournament appearances (three Sweet 16, two Elite Eight and one Final Four finish), 10 20-plus win seasons, three Big 12 Tournament titles and a share of the 2004-05 regular-season league crown in his 12-year Sooner tenure, was named the 26th head basketball coach in Indiana University history on March 29, 2006. Sampson averaged 23 wins per season during his 12-year Oklahoma career. Prior to Oklahoma, Sampson was the head man at Washington State for seven years.

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