Sandfort and Iowa host Northwestern

Iowa Hawkeyes (17-12, 9-9 Big Ten) at Northwestern Wildcats (20-8, 11-6 Big Ten)

Evanston, Illinois; Saturday, 5:30 p.m. EST

LINE: Wildcats -3.5; over/under is 152

BOTTOM LINE: Iowa takes on the Northwestern Wildcats after Payton Sandfort scored 26 points in Iowa's 90-81 victory against the Penn State Nittany Lions.

The Wildcats are 14-1 in home games. Northwestern ranks fifth in the Big Ten with 15.6 assists per game led by Boo Buie averaging 5.1.

The Hawkeyes are 9-9 in Big Ten play. Iowa has a 2-1 record in one-possession games.

Northwestern's average of 8.3 made 3-pointers per game this season is just 0.5 more made shots on average than the 7.8 per game Iowa allows. Iowa has shot at a 47.9% clip from the field this season, 2.9 percentage points higher than the 45.0% shooting opponents of Northwestern have averaged.

The Wildcats and Hawkeyes square off Saturday for the first time in Big Ten play this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Buie is scoring 18.6 points per game with 3.5 rebounds and 5.1 assists for the Wildcats. Brooks Barnhizer is averaging 13.9 points and eight rebounds over the past 10 games for Northwestern.

Sandfort is scoring 15.7 points per game and averaging 6.6 rebounds for the Hawkeyes. Tony Perkins is averaging 15.8 points and 5.2 rebounds over the last 10 games for Iowa.

LAST 10 GAMES: Wildcats: 7-3, averaging 76.9 points, 34.0 rebounds, 14.7 assists, 5.6 steals and 3.3 blocks per game while shooting 44.9% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 71.8 points per game.

Hawkeyes: 6-4, averaging 81.1 points, 32.1 rebounds, 14.6 assists, 5.8 steals and 4.3 blocks per game while shooting 48.3% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 81.4 points.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.