Northwestern continued their feasting on cupcakes with a 92-61 shellacking of St. Francis (NY) at Madison Square Garden. The Wildcats posted a sizzling 1.22 points per possession, which is becoming old hat for this crew. More encouraging was the defensive effort; the Terriers scored just 0.81 points per possession, a stingy performance no matter who the opponent.

We've said that Northwestern's tourney hopes rest on their defensive improvement, but their offense has been so good that even a slightly better D would make them viable. So far, Northwestern's defense actually has been a little better, most notably on the defensive glass. The Wildcats got shorter with the departure of 7-footer Kyle Rowley, but Luka Mirkovic and Davide Curletti are deftly manning the center position without him. Last night, the pair combined for 12 points, 10 rebounds, 6 assists, and 3 turnovers. The scoring punch came--as usual--in the form of Drew Crawford and John Shurna, who put up 51 points on 31 shots. Crawford also stat-stuffed with 9 rebounds, 8 assists, 3 blocks, and 2 steals.

Tonight, the Wildcats get their stiffest test of the nonconference slate, facing Steve Lavin's St. John's squad on their home court (8:30pm CT, MSG if you can find it). St. John's likely isn't a tournament team, but they're no pushover either. Their strength lies in the turnover column, where they are extremely careful on the offensive end and extremely disruptive on defense. Fortunately for Northwestern, the Red Storm are awfully permissive when it comes to three-point shots, as St. John's opponents have taken a whopping 42 percent of their shots from deep and made them at a 39 percent clip. Northwestern currently leads the nation in three-point accuracy at 44 percent, so we could see the Wildcats bombarding the Garden tonight if they can avoid turning it over. The biggest question is whether Northwestern can slow the solid Red Storm offense enough to get the road win.

There's other Big Ten action tonight, including a doubleheader on the much more accessible Big Ten Network:

• At 5:30pm CT, Purdue hosts the IPFW Mastodons and their head coach, former Indiana Hoosier Dane Fife. IPFW sophomore Frank Gaines has been something of a poor man's Robbie Hummel thus far, owning the defensive glass and rarely turning it over. He should not be confused with the ill-advised Garth Brooks persona.

• At 7:30pm CT, Ohio State takes on UNC-Asheville, a dark horse contender for the Big South title. The Bulldogs have a legitimate shotblocker (6-10 sophomore D.J. Cunningham) to battle Jared Sullinger, but foul trouble is always an issue when defending the Buckeyes frosh.

There's also a pair of games on BigTenNetwork.com to enjoy. At 4pm CT, Penn State hosts Maine, and at 7:05pm CT, Iowa hosts Louisiana Tech.

- Posted by Mike Portscheller