Tonight, the Elmhurst College men's basketball team makes its fourth appearance in the NCAA Tournament and its first trip since the 2008-09 season. Elmhurst takes on the regional host, St. Norbert College, in De Pere, Wis. with tipoff scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
 
On the Air: St. Norbert will provide live statistics and live video streaming of every game this weekend at the following links: 
Live video: http://client.stretchinternet.com/client/snc.portal# 
Live stats: http://www.snc.edu/athletics/teamfiles/livestats/xlive.htm

Scouting the Bluejays: Elmhurst (19-7, 9-5 CCIW) reached the NCAA Tournament via an at-large berth after taking third place in the CCIW. Nationally, the Bluejays rank 20th in rebounding margin (+7.7), 23rd in free throw attempts (645), and 35th in free throw percentage (.746). Elmhurst comes into tonight's contest with a 3-5 record against teams in the NCAA Tournament. They lost to Augustana twice, went 1-2 against Illinois Wesleyan, and defeated Dubuque. Elmhurst was nationally ranked this season, ranking as high as 16th in the D3hoops.com poll. Head Coach John Baines is in his second year at the helm and has led a 13-game turnaround in his brief tenure. He is 33-18 in two seasons and has more victories in his first two years than any other coach in Elmhurst history.
 
Key Elmhurst Players to Watch:
G Kyle Wuest (6-1, 185, Jr., Edinburgh, Ind.)
Wuest (15.0 points per game) is the leading scorer for the Bluejays. He ranked fourth in the CCIW in scoring, averaging 16.8 points in conference play. He checks in at second in assists (54), steals (21), and third in rebounding (4.9 per game) for the Bluejays, and earned first-team all-CCIW honors.
 
F/C Will Nixon (6-7, 210, Jr., Plainfield, Ill.)
Nixon was a second-team all-conference selection, while manning the post for Elmhurst this season. He averages 8.4 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 1.38 blocks per game. In conference play, he ranked third in the CCIW in rebounding (7.0), fifth in blocks (1.29), and led the conference in offensive rebounds (2.64).
 
G Bryant Ackerman (6-2, 195, Jr., Loogootee, Ind.)
Ackerman earned third-team all-CCIW honors this season and scored double-digit points in each of Elmhurst's last five regular season games. After averaging 9.4 points in non-conference action, the Elmhurst guard shined in conference play, ranking 13th in the CCIW with 11.8. He leads the Bluejays with 55 assists on the season and also has grabbed 4.0 rebounds per game. Twice this season Ackerman has hit game-tying shots in the final seconds of regulation to force overtime (January 29 vs. Augustana and February 14 vs. North Central).
 
Scouting the Green Knights: St. Norbert (24-1, 18-0 Midwest Conference) comes into the tournament ranked No. 5 in the nation according to D3hoops.com. For the second consecutive year, they capped an undefeated conference regular season with a MWC Tournament Championship. Despite losing all five 2013-14 starters and 59 percent of the team's scoring to graduation, the Green Knights boast the second best scoring margin in the nation (+18.2 points per game) and the country's top field goal percentage (.547), while also ranking 21st nationally in scoring defense (60.9). St. Norbert enters the tournament 0-1 against NCAA tournament teams, falling to John Carroll 80-70 in what was the Green Knights' only loss this season. Head Coach Gary Grzesk was named the MWC's Coach of the Year and three players earned all-conference nods. Grzesk owns a 169-57 overall record in nine years at the helm of St. Norbert.
 
Players to Watch:
F Andrew Schwoerer (6-4, 205, Sr., Valders, Wis.)
Schwoerer entered this season as the only player with starting experience on the Green Knights roster and started all 25 games this season en route to being named co-Midwest Conference Player of the Year. The senior averaged 16.8 points and 7.2 rebounds per game, while ranking 13th nationally in field goal percentage, shooting .609 from the field.
 
G Austin Elliot (6-3, 200, Sr., Danbury, Wis.)
Elliot, like Schwoerer, also earned first-team all-MWC honors this season. In 23 games for the Green Knights, Elliot led the team in assists (4.2 per game) and steals (24), while rankings second in points per game (13.8). His 4.6 assists per game and 2.1 assist-to-turnover ratio ranked second in the MWC during conference play. 
 
C Steven Hofacker (6-8, 230, Sr., Eau Claire, Wis.)
Hofacker earned an MWC honorable mention honor this season as the Green Knights' starting center. The senior averaged 10.4 points and 5.6 rebounds per game, while leading the team in blocks (2.2) and ranking second in field goal percentage (.604). He led the MWC in field goal percentage (.645) and ranked second in blocks per game (1.7) in conference action.
 
Common Opponents: The Green Knights and the Bluejays only faced one common opponent this season, North Park University.
 
St. Norbert defeated the Vikings by 11 (76-65) at home on November 18, gaining double-digit contributions from Austin Elliot (18) and Terrance Garner (16). The Green Knights never trailed and led by 20 (39-19) at halftime, but North Park clawed back to within six with under seven minutes to play. St. Norbert bounced back with a 6-0 run and cruised to the finish despite North Park's 46 points in the second half. The Green Knights owned a 32-21 advantage on the glass and outscored the Vikings 27-13 at the free throw stripe. North Park was without leading scorer Juwan Henry in the contest.
 
Elmhurst dominated North Park in both CCIW meetings, outscoring the Vikings by a total of 65 points and taking a 111-46 edge on the glass. In the first meeting, Elmhurst outscored North Park 29-11 in the game's final 10:25 to pull away. Kyle Wuest (14 points, 12 rebounds) and Erik Crittenden (13 points, 12 rebounds) both recorded double-doubles, while Will Nixon (14 points, nine rebounds) joined them in double figures. In the second meeting, Elmhurst dominated from start to finish in an 89-49 victory. Twelve different Elmhurst players scored with Brandon Schwebke's season high 17 points leading the way.

The Series: Elmhurst and St. Norbert have met eight times with the series even at four wins apiece. The Bluejays posted back-to-back wins in 1999 and 2000 before St. Nortbert notched consecutive wins in 2001 and 2002. The two teams also met during the 2005 and 2006 seasons with Elmhurst winning both contests. St. Norbert has won the last two contests, scoring wins in 2009 and 2010. Five of the eight contests played between the two squads have been decided by six points or less, including four games decided by just two points. Three of the two-point decisions have been played in Wisconsin. 

Elmhurst in De Pere: Elmhurst owns a 2-2 record when playing at St. Norbert. The Bluejays scored a 78-76 win in 2000 before falling 55-53 in 2002. Elmhurst edged St. Norbert 56-54 in 2006 before St. Norbert blew out the Bluejays 74-46 in 2010. 

Numbers Breakdown: 

Elmhurst	Team Statistics	St. Norbert
76.3	Points Per Game	79.2
68.1	Points Allowed Per Game	60.9
.437	Field Goal Percentage	.547
.404	Opponent's Field Goal Percentage	.388
.351	3-Point Percentage	.430
.316	Opponent's 3-Point Percentage	.334
.746	Free Throw Percentage	.745
+7.3	Rebounding Differential	+11.0
12.9	Turnover Average	11.0
13.1	Opponent Turnover Average	10.7

 
St. Thomas/Northwestern-St. Paul
The 5:00 p.m. first round matchup features the University of St. Thomas and Northwestern University of St. Paul. The winners of the two first round games will face off Saturday at 7:00 p.m. with the regional champ advancing to the Sweet 16.

Scouting the Tommies: St. Thomas (24-3, 17-3 MIAC) enters the tournament as the MIAC regular season and tournament champion. The Tommies currently sit at No. 3 in the latest d3hoops.com poll. After dropping their conference opener, they rattled off a 16-game win streak including a victory over current No. 8 UW-Stevens Point. St. Thomas has a perfect 4-0 record against NCAA Tournament squads, defeating UW-Stevens Point, Whitworth, and St Olaf twice. The Tommies have four players who average double-digit points with senior guard Marcus Alipate leading the way at 14.8 points per game. Connor Nord scores 10.8 and tops the team in rebounding (7.3), while Grant Shaeffer adds 10.6 points and dishes out 4.3 assists per game.
 
Scouting the Eagles: Northwestern (18-9, 14-0 UMAC) reached the postseason by winning the UMAC's automatic berth. Michael Carney (15.5 points per game), the UMAC player of the year and first-team all-conference selection, leads the Eagles. Other all-UMAC honorees include Will Gisler (first team, 9.8 points, 6.8 rebounds) and Porter Morrell (second team, 10.4 points, 2.5 assists).