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No. 0 Illinois visits Northwestern following Martinelli’s 34-point game

Illinois Fighting Illini (13-3, 4-1 Big Ten) at Northwestern Wildcats (8-8, 0-5 Big Ten)

Evanston, Illinois; Wednesday, 8:30 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Northwestern plays No. 0 Illinois after Nick Martinelli scored 34 points in Northwestern’s 77-75 overtime loss to the Rutgers Scarlet Knights.

The Wildcats are 6-2 in home games. Northwestern scores 79.1 points and has outscored opponents by 7.9 points per game.

The Fighting Illini have gone 4-1 against Big Ten opponents. Illinois ranks second in the Big Ten with 11.9 offensive rebounds per game led by David Mirkovic averaging 2.6.

Northwestern averages 79.1 points, 11.7 more per game than the 67.4 Illinois allows. Illinois scores 14.8 more points per game (86.0) than Northwestern gives up to opponents (71.2).

The Wildcats and Fighting Illini match up Wednesday for the first time in Big Ten play this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Martinelli is scoring 24.1 points per game with 6.8 rebounds and 1.5 assists for the Wildcats. Arrinten Page is averaging 11.7 points and 4.9 rebounds while shooting 55.3% over the past 10 games.

Keaton Wagler is shooting 41.3% from beyond the arc with 2.1 made 3-pointers per game for the Fighting Illini, while averaging 15.7 points, 5.2 rebounds and 3.8 assists. Andrej Stojakovic is shooting 48.5% and averaging 13.1 points over the past 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Wildcats: 3-7, averaging 77.2 points, 30.3 rebounds, 18.3 assists, 5.3 steals and 4.3 blocks per game while shooting 45.3% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 73.8 points per game.

Fighting Illini: 8-2, averaging 80.1 points, 36.9 rebounds, 15.0 assists, 3.0 steals and 5.2 blocks per game while shooting 45.8% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 66.4 points.

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

Hawkeyes are set to play Vanderbilt in a November women’s basketball game in Sioux City, Iowa

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