Valparaiso (9-8, 2-2) vs. Northern Iowa (14-2, 3-1)
McLeod Center, Cedar Falls, Iowa; Wednesday, 8 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: Two sophomore guards will be on display as Javon Freeman-Liberty and Valparaiso will take on AJ Green and Northern Iowa. Freeman-Liberty has scored 28 percent of the team's points this season and is averaging 17.4 over his last five games. Green is averaging 25 points over the last five games.
SAVVY SENIORS: Northern Iowa's Green, Isaiah Brown and Spencer Haldeman have combined to account for 46 percent of the team's scoring this season, including 46 percent of all Panthers points over the last five games.
DEFENSIVE IMPROVEMENTS: The Crusaders have given up just 67.3 points per game to conference opponents thus far, an improvement from the 73.7 per game they gave up over 12 non-conference games.
CREATING OFFENSE: Freeman-Liberty has had his hand in 42 percent of all Valparaiso field goals over the last five games. Freeman-Liberty has 29 field goals and 21 assists in those games.
STREAK SCORING: Northern Iowa has won its last nine home games, scoring an average of 79.1 points while giving up 63.1.
ASSIST DISTRIBUTION: The Crusaders have recently converted buckets via assists more often than the Panthers. Northern Iowa has 34 assists on 77 field goals (44.2 percent) over its past three matchups while Valparaiso has assists on 38 of 67 field goals (56.7 percent) during its past three games.
DID YOU KNOW: Both Valparaiso and Northern Iowa are ranked at the top of the MVC when it comes to scoring. The Crusaders are ranked second in the conference with 73.6 points per game while the Panthers are first with 76.3 per game.
