GAME NOTES: A pair of teams coming off season-opening victories do battle on Monday night, as the Northwestern Wildcats come calling on the Brown Bears.

Northwestern knocked off Houston Baptist at home on Friday night, 65-58, giving the Wildcats victories in each of their last seven season openers. NU, which begins Big Ten Conference play at Rutgers on Dec. 30, will play nine of its first 13 games at home, including five straight from Dec. 14-27. The 'Cats are 22-9 all-time against teams in the Ivy League, and this is only their second road game against an Ivy opponent, the first also being at Brown back in 2008.

Brown defeated visiting Saint Peter's on Friday, 70-58, marking its sixth straight win in a season opener. The Bears, who return four starters from last season's squad that finished 15-14 overall and 7-7 in the Ivy League, are hoping for even better returns this winter after reaching the 2014 CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament.

Northwestern owns a 6-2 lead in the all-time series with Brown, and the Wildcats have won the last three meetings, including a 58-52 decision in Evanston last season.

Alex Olah scored 18 of his game-high 21 points in the second half, and he grabbed 10 rebounds as well in leading Northwestern past Houston Baptist on Friday. In addition to Olah's effort, the Wildcats got solid contributions from Vic Law and Bryant McIntosh, who tallied 13 and 12 points, respectively, the former also logging seven boards and the latter six assists.

As a team, the 'Cats made good on only 34.5 percent of their field goal attempts, which included a 6-of-22 showing from 3-point range, but they committed only five turnovers and held the Huskies to just 13.3 percent accuracy from beyond the arc (2-of-15).

Tavon Blackmon scored a game-high 18 points, leading four Bears in double figures as they beat Saint Peter's by double digits on Friday night. Blackmon, who hit all eight of his shots from the charity stripe and 4-of-7 from the field, got support from teammates Cedric Kuakumensah (15 points, six rebounds, three blocked shots), Rafael Maia (13 points, seven rebounds) and Steven Spieth (game-high eight boards). Kuakumensah (162 career blocks) is just one rejection away from Brown's all-time record.

Brown shot 48.8 percent from the field, knocking down 6-of-13 3-point attempts along the way, while holding the Peacocks to 36.1 percent overall and only 23.1 percent from long range. The Bears outscored their guests, 24-8, at the charity stripe.

Neither of these teams is what anyone would consider an offensive juggernaut, so expect a pretty low-scoring affair. On paper, the Wildcats have more talent and are a little deeper, but winning on the road is never easy. Still, expect NU to remain undefeated.