Jan. 5, 2007

LaSalle Bank purple cheer noodles will be handed to the first 3,000 fans. Groups of 20 or more can purchase half-price tickets in advance.

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Jan. 6, 2007 -- 1:30 p.m. CT
Northwestern (10-4, 0-1) vs. Michigan (13-3, 1-0)

Welsh-Ryan Arena (8,117)
Evanston, Ill.

Radio -- WGN 720 AM (Dave Eanet and Dave Kaplan)

Television -- ESPN Plus Regional (Tom Hamilton and Greg Kelser)

EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern shoots for its first win of the Big Ten season Saturday when it welcomes the Michigan Wolverines. Michigan won the only meeting last season in Ann Arbor, though the Wildcats have won two of the last three overall.

The Wildcats (10-4, 0-1) are coming off an 83-57 road loss at Penn State where sophomore Craig Moore hit six 3-pointers for 18 points. The 'Cats had no counter for PSU's hot shooting as the Lions shot 61 percent from the field in the first half and 80 percent through the first 15 minutes of the second half.

The Wolverines, meanwhile, are coming off a 71-61 win at home over Illinois in their Big Ten opener on Wednesday. Lester Abram (25) and Dion Harris (22) combined for 47 points on 60 percent shooting from the floor in the victory.

'Cats Enjoy Best Nonconference Season in 13 Years
The 10-3 (.769) mark through the nonconference portion of the season is the best record since the Wildcats went 9-0 to open the season in 1993-94. That year the Wildcats advanced to the NIT where they defeated DePaul in the opening round before falling to Xavier in the second round--giving them a 10-1 (.909) nonconference mark. This year Northwestern has one more nonconference regular-season game remaining with Texas-Pan American on Feb. 21.

Seven Straight
The win over Northwestern State on New Year's Eve marked the seventh-straight year the Wildcats have reached double-digits in the win column. Northwestern has won at least 11 games in all of Carmody's seasons, a program first, and marks the first time the 'Cats have reached double-digit victories in seven straight seasons since 1938.

About The Wolverines
The Wolverines have won 22 or more games in two of the past three years, winning the postseason NIT championship in 2004 and finishing second last season.

Michigan is among the Big Ten leaders in several statistical categories, including scoring defense (third, 57.6), FT percentage (second, .717), blocked shots (first, 6.94) and rebounding margin (third, +8.2).

Seniors Courtney Sims and Dion Harris lead Michigan offensively with 13.4 and 12.9 ppg, respectively. Sims leads all Big Ten players with a .643 shooting clip (83-129) from the field.

Tommy Amaker is in his sixth season as the head coach at Michigan. In 2004, he led Michigan to a postseason NIT Championship, winning 23 games after finishing 8-8 in the Big Ten that year. Last season he once again led Michigan to the finals of the postseason NIT, winning 22 games. Prior to his arrival in Ann Arbor, he served as the head man at Seton Hall for four seasons and served as an assistant coach at Duke for nine. In his playing days at Duke, Amaker was a 1987 All-America selection and the 1987 National Defensive Player of the Year.

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