By Danny Daly

After a disappointing 76-69 loss at Chicago State to begin the season last Friday, Northwestern will try to pick up its first win of the season in tonight’s home opener against Kansas State.

That will be no easy task, as Kansas State won the Big 12 Championship last season and advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament. The team is coming off a 65-44 road victory over UTEP in its season opener and also stars three players that averaged double digits in points a year ago.

NU was fairly confident about its defense entering the season, but that unit did not perform up to expectations against Chicago State. Though the Cats forced 16 turnovers and held the Cougars to 40.6 percent shooting for the game, Chicago State pulled down 22 offensive rebounds and hit on 53.6 percent of its baskets in the second half to help open up a double-digit lead.

The Cats only came up with five steals against the Cougars, whereas they intercepted 16 passes in the exhibition victory over UW-Parkside. For NU to put up a good fight against Kansas State, the defense will have play more like it did in the exhibition game than it did in the season opener.

Offensively NU played decently against Chicago State, shooting 46.7 percent. But the Cats will need to take care of the ball better tonight. The team turned it over 18 times against the Cougars and had 11 passes stolen.

NU also has to be more consistent on 3-pointers. After making 6 out of 10 shots from beyond the arc in the first half, the Cats missed all three attempts after the break. Amy Jaeschke led the team with 23 points and 14 rebounds, and a similar performance tonight will keep NU in the game.

Interestingly, NU can draw inspiration from tonight’s opponent. Last year Kansas State became the first team in Big 12 history (men’s and women’s) to win the league the year after finishing at the bottom. NU would like nothing better than to duplicate that feat in the Big Ten this season.

Tip off is at 8 p.m. at Welsh-Ryan Arena. If you can’t make it over to the court, the game will also be televised live on the Big Ten Network.