Bulldogs battle Northwestern Friday at 2:00 p.m. eastern

GAME NOTES

SMITHFIELD, R.I. -- The Bryant University men's basketball team concludes its four-game roadtrip and Legends Classic play at Northwestern on Friday at 2:00 p.m. eastern on BTN Plus and BTN2Go.com. 

THE SERIES
Friday's matchup marks the first between the Wildcats and the Bulldogs. 

SCOUTING THE WILDCATS
Northwestern has been playing extremely well this season, having lost its two games by a combined six points to the likes of Butler on the road and Notre Dame in the Legends Classic Regional Championship game at the Barclays Center. The thinnest margin of victory was 14 points, as the Wildcats beat Texas, 77-58, on Monday. The Wildcats are led by their class of 2018 in forward Vic Law and guards Scottie Lindsey and Bryant McIntosh. Law leads the team with 16.8 points per game, as he is shooting a scorching .700 from three (14-20), which is third in the nation and .596 from the field. Lindsey nets 14.6 points per game shooting over .450 from both the floor and long range, as he matches Law on the glass with 5.2 boards per contest. McIntosh is the team's point guard, leading the Wildcats with 5.0 assists per effort but he also sits third with 13.6 points. Sophomore center Derek Pardon scores 8.0 points per game on a .600 clip from the floor, grabs a team-high 6.6 rebounds per game and sits 21st in the country with 2.8 blocks per game. As a unit, the Wildcats sit ninth nationally with a .451 clip from downtown.   

YOU NEVER FORGET YOUR FIRST
The Bulldogs have played an opponent for the first time 71 times since becoming a Division I program in 2008-09. In those initial matchups, Bryant is 16-45 against first-time opponents.

BRYANT vs. THE BIG TEN
Bryant is 0-6 all-time against current members of the Big Ten, having matched up against four different opponents. The Bulldogs have twice traveled to Assembly Hall to take on Indiana and twice to the Crisler Center to battle Michigan as recently as last year. The Bulldogs have also played Iowa and Ohio State. This is the only Big Ten matchup on the Bulldogs' 2016-17 slate.

LAST TIME OUT
The Bulldogs were in a back-and-forth battle with La.-Monroe on Tuesday to determine third place in the Legends Classic Sub-Regional rounds. After 13 lead changes and four ties, the Bulldogs attained a lead just more than 10 minutes into the second half and did not relinquish it. They battled back from seven down to take a lead that was as high as nine points and did not let the margin dip below five over the final six minutes to win, 64-57. Sophomore Nisre Zouzoua exploded for a career high 30 points on 13-of-22 from the field to go along with a career-best five boards. Classmate Marcel Pettway netted 10 points and grabbed eight boards, senior Dan Garvin had eight points, five caroms and a contest-high four blocks, while freshman point guard Ikenna Ndugba had five assists and a game-high nine rebounds. 

QUICK HITS
» Wrong Side of Thirty: Eastern Washington's Bogdan Bliznyuk netted 32 points against the Bulldogs on Monday, marking the first time since Feb. 26, 2015 that an opponent scored 30 points or more against Bryant. 

» Just Let It Go: The 23 turnovers against No. 14/14 Gonzaga on Nov. 18 tied for the second most in a game in Bryant's Division I history. The most was 25 at Robert Morris on Feb. 6, 2012, and the Bulldogs have been forced in more than 20 turnovers in a game just 11 times at the DI level. 

 » Wide Margin: The 27-point victory over Salve Regina on Nov. 15 tied Bryant's Division I record for its largest victory, having done so four times (twice against the Seahawks). The Bulldogs also had 10 steals against Salve, marking the first time they have theft an opponent at least 10 times since Dec. 5, 2015. 

» You Can Tell Everybody, I'm the Dan, I'm the Dan, I'm the Dan: Senior forward Dan Garvin may have had just four points in Bryant's season opener at Notre Dame on Saturday, but he also pulled down a game-best 12 rebounds. The 12 caroms are not only the most by a Bulldog in a season opener in the program's Division I history, but they are the most by a Bulldog in a season opener since 2003. 

JUST ZOO IT
After lighting up the Northeast Conference for over 19.0 points per game to finish out the final month of last season, sophomore Nisre Zouzoua was expected to have a better second campaign. But he has exceeded expecations with an impressive 21.2 points per game over the first five contests to sit second in the league. He has scored 22 points or more in three of the last four outings, including a new career high of 30 points against Louisiana-Monroe on Tuesday to become the first Bulldog to tally 30 or more since Dyami Starks ('15) did so on Feb. 12, 2015. In doing so, Zouzoua eclipsed 500 career points to become the second fasted Bulldog to reach the milestone in the program's Division I history (36 games). Alex Francis ('14) did it in 34 games. 

PROTECT THE PERIMETER 
The Bulldogs have done a very good job of closing in on shooters and defending against the three, as they currently rank 59th in the country with a .286 three-point field-goal defense. The ability to limit the success of teams beyond the arc is no anomaly, as Bryant has finished in the top-100 nationally in each of the last two years and ended the year ranked 47th in 2014-15 (.315 3-PT FG defense). They have held all five opponents this season to under 40.0 percent from distance, and limited Notre Dame and Salve Regina to clips of .180 (3-16) and .210 (4-19), respectively.  

SHOTS FOR CHARITY
The Bulldogs were not blessed by the whistle gods in the Nov. 18 loss at No. 14/14 Gonzaga. The Zags went to the line 45 times, marking the first time in Bryant's Division I history that it allowed an opponent to shoot more than 40 free throws. Bryant was then whistled for 28 fouls against Eastern Washington on Monday and surrendered 34 attempts from the line. In the last two games, the Bulldogs have allowed 64 points from the free-throw line. 

Because of this, the Bulldogs played more zone on Tuesday against Louisiana-Monroe and only allowed three free throws. The three attempts from the line are tied for the fewest that Bryant has surrendered at the Division I level, and the two makes from the Warhawks are the second fewest (Army went 1-3 on Dec. 8, 2015). 

DOUBLE THE DIGITS DOUBLE THE FUN
After not having five double-digit scorers in a game since Dec. 9, 2014 against Army, the Bulldogs produced five double-figure scorers three times last season, including three of four games with the last coming at Mount St. Mary's on Jan. 9. Five Bulldogs scored in double-figures against Salve Regina on Nov. 15, marking the 20th time that has happened in the program's Division I history, as Bryant is 18-2 in such games. 

HULK BASH
Sabastian Townes was stellar off the bench in his collegiate debut on Nov. 12 against the Fighting Irish. The rookie had 16 points on 5-of-9 shooting and a 6-for-11 effort at the line. He scored 10 points in the second half and tied sophomore Nisre Zouzoua and Alex Francis ('14) for the most points scored by a Bryant freshman in his debut in the program's Division I history. 

BULLDOGS TO PLAY IN THE 10th ANNUAL LEGENDS CLASSIC
For a second-consecutive season, the Bulldogs are competing in a major tournament to kick off the new campaign, as it participates in the 10th annual Legends Classic. With a combined 83 NCAA Tournament appearances and six Final Fours among the four regional hosts, the eight-team tournament is headlined by Notre Dame, Colorado, Texas and Northwestern. The Bulldogs will take on the Wildcats at Welsh-Ryan Arena in Evanston, Ill. on Nov. 25 to close out the Legends Classic in their second regional matchup, having opened with Notre Dame on Nov. 12. Prior to that collision, Bryant completed the Subregional Rounds, hosted by Eastern Washington. The Bulldogs played the host Eagles on Monday, Nov. 21 and fell, 81-77. The Subregional Consolation Game pitted the Bulldogs against Louisiana-Monroe on Tuesday, as Bryant won, 64-57. 

WARE DID HE GO
Junior wing Hunter Ware was feeling it when the lights shined at their brightest in 2015-16. Of his four 20-point outings last season, two came in TV games. Ware began the season scoring 24 points against then No. 5/4 Duke on an ESPN3 broadcast, then netted a career-high 26 points at Michigan on Dec. 23 as part of a BIG 10 Network telecast. Ware played at Harvard on ESPN3, at then No. 15/18 Providence on Fox Sports 1, at Wagner on CBS Sports Network, against Robert Morris on ESPN3 and against Fairleigh Dickinson on MSG+, scoring 10, 14, 11, 15 and 14 points, respectively. Strangely enough, his zero points at RV/RV Notre Dame on Nov. 12 in an ACC Network/ESPN3 telecast marked the first time in his career that he was held scoreless in a game in which he either played more than 14 minutes or attempted more than four shots (was 0-for-6 in 23 minutes). He was also held scoreless at No. 14/14 Gonzaga on Nov. 18 (0-for-4 in 21 minutes) in a ROOT Sports and ESPN3 game, marking his first three-game stretch playing double-digit minutes in which he has failed to total at least 10 points.    

TICKET TO RIDE
Single-game and season ticket packages are available for the 2016-17 Bryant University men's and women's basketball seasons. Fans can purchase tickets online at bryantbulldogs.com/tickets or by calling the Bryant Athletics Ticket Office at 401-319-TIXX.

ON TAP
The Bulldogs return to the ocean state but remain on the road, though in close proximity to Smithfield when they take on rival Brown on Monday at 7:00 p.m.