GAME NOTES: The 2015 Big Ten Conference Tournament soldiers on, as second- round action pits the 10th-seeded Northwestern Wildcats against the seventh- seeded Indiana Hoosiers.

The winner will advance to Friday's quarterfinal round to challenge No. 2 seed Maryland.

Northwestern began the season by posting wins in 10 of its first 14 games, but the start of conference play brought the team back to reality in a big way as it lost 10 in a row from Jan. 4 to Feb. 10. An overtime win against Iowa shortly thereafter helped the team turn a corner, as it closed the regular season with victories in five of its final seven games. NU is 7-17 all-time in the conference tournament, and has never reached the championship game.

Indiana finished the regular season seven games over .500, and it earned an even split of its 18 Big Ten bouts. The Hoosiers have however, stumbled a bit of late, losing three in a row, and having failed to log more than one victory at a time since running off four in a row from Jan. 10-22. IU is 10-17 in the conference tourney, and has never hoisted the championship trophy. The team's only title game appearance back in 2001 resulted in a 63-61 loss to Iowa.

These two teams met in Bloomington just a couple of weeks ago, the only regular-season clash between them, and the Wildcats prevailed in a 72-65 final. Still, Indiana owns a commanding 112-50 advantage in the all-time series.

Northwestern has had its issues at the offensive end of the court for sure, the team generating just 63.7 ppg to rank 12th in the conference, and the Wildcats are pretty much a middle-of-the-pack squad in most major statistical categories, including scoring defense (64.4 ppg). Tre Demps paces the club with his 12.8 ppg, while Alex Olah (11.7 ppg, 6.9 rpg) and Bryant McIntosh (11.4 ppg, 4.7 apg) are netting double figures as well, with Olah also serving as NU's leading rebounder, and McIntosh its primary playmaker.

Indiana is the most potent scoring (78.0 ppg) team in the Big Ten, while simultaneously being its worst defensive squad (71.8 ppg). The team features three double-digit scorers in Yogi Ferrell (16.0 ppg, 5.0 apg), James Blackmon, Jr. (15.8 ppg, 5.3 rpg) and Troy Williams (13.2 ppg, 7.1 rpg), each of whom contributes in others areas as well. The Hoosiers are the best 3-point shooting club in the conference (.410), but they are dead last in field goal percentage defense (.455).

The Wildcats are sure to put their best foot forward in an attempt to beat the Hoosiers for the second time this season. That said, expect Ferrell and his teammates to do just enough to earn a hard-fought victory and live to play at least one more day.