Lewis @ Northwestern preview

Northwestern looks to continue its strong start to the month of December when it hosts Lewis on Tuesday. The Wildcats have bounced back from a sluggish November by winning three straight games, including a 62-60 victory against city rival DePaul on Saturday, and hope to focus solely on the Flyers with a marquee matchup with Oklahoma on deck.

Northwestern has been winning with defense as the Wildcats have limited opponents to an average of 40.3 points during their current streak and hope to put the defensive clamps on a Lewis squad which has been held to 65 or fewer points five times this season. "I'm proud of the work we've done in positioning, on-ball defense, post defense and we're being rewarded for that," Northwestern coach Chris Collins told reporters. "Sometimes you have to get beat in order to rediscover what makes you good." The Wildcats have won 23 of their last 24 non-conference home games since the start of the 2015-16 season, including the last three contests by 31 or more points. The Division II Flyers had a two-game winning streak snapped with a 84-68 loss at Ferris State on Monday night.

TV: 8 p.m. ET, Big Ten Network Plus

ABOUT LEWIS (4-7): Junior guard Delaney Blaylock (team highs of 15.8 points and 31.4 minutes) recorded 11 points, 10 rebounds and five assists versus Ferris State, but shot 5-for-18 from the field. Senior forward Cristen Wilson (14.3 points, team-best 7.6 rebounds) recorded 15 points and eight rebounds Monday and was 5-for-9 from the field to increase his field goal percentage to 48.6. Sophomore guard Adam Pischke came off the bench to score 14 points in 33 minutes against Ferris State in his third game of the season after playing a total of 28 minutes in his first two contests.

ABOUT NORTHWESTERN (8-4): Scottie Lindsey set a new career high with seven three-pointers en route to 25 points and pulled down eight rebounds in the win against DePaul. "I just wanted to do everything I could to help my team win," Lindsey told reporters. "I felt like my team needed me to hit shots and close out the game so that's what I did." Vic Law tallied nine points before suffering an upper-body injury early in the second half and is questionable for Tuesday's clash while Bryant McIntosh dished out seven assists and finished with no turnovers to move within 12 assists of passing Yogi Ferrell for 11th place on the Big Ten's all-time list.

TIP-INS

1. Northwestern has made 35 three-pointers over its last three games.

2. Lindsey has registered five 20-point games this season.

3. McIntosh has handed out five or more assists in six of his last seven games.

PREDICTION: Northwestern 88, Lewis 50