The Wildcats are playing excellent defense and have held their last two opponents to 22 percent from beyond the arc. They face an Iowa team that's covered once on the road in Big Ten play. I'm expecting a big game from Ty Berry (who had 20 in the first meeting) and a Northwestern cover.

It's no secret that Iowa is soft. That shortcoming has really hampered the Hawkeyes on the conference trail. Their shoddy defense has resulted in numerous heavy defeats, including earlier this week at Illinois, the latest foe to hit better than 50% from the floor vs. Iowa's non-defense. Is Fran McCaffery's seat getting warmer in Iowa City? Meanwhile, NU has just played two of its best games of the season back-to-back at Ohio State and Minnesota, double-digit wins in each marked by exceptional defense, allowing just 56 ppg across those two. Chris Collins has also been able to adjust the offense to the absence of second leading scorer G Brooks Barnhizer, who has missed the past month. Play Northwestern.

Iowa can't shoot the ball on the road at all. They are now down one of their best players and they seem to be a fairly deflated bunch. Both teams should be motivated to make sure they reach the conference tourney, but Hawkeyes not really playing like it. They need to win high-scoring games, but pace and scoring slows drastically on road. They are 1-6 ATS last 7 away from home, failing to cover by: 8.5, 15, 10, 18, 7, 24.5. They allow 80 ppg, worst in Big 10. Northwestern should control the glass here. Iowa gives away easy three looks on the road at an alarming rate.

Neither team will be Dancing, but Northwestern has won back-to-back games impressively at Ohio State and Minnesota. The Cats have limited opponents to fewer than 70 points and forced 13+ turnovers in three consecutive contests. They also have scored 70+ points in 13 conference games this season, their most since 1989-90 (13). Chris Collins is one win away from moving into second place in Northwestern's all-time coaching wins leaderboard. Iowa's season went down the tubes when star Owen Freeman was lost for the year in late January.