The Muskies and Eagles play for the first time in almost four years, since Northwestern handled Lakeland 105-72 Dec. 18, 2021 at the Moose & Dona Woltzen Gymnasium by shooting 62.1% for the game including 13 of 22 from three-point range. The Eagles defeated the Muskies twice in that calendar year, also posting a 90-62 win at home Jan. 20, 2021 during the COVID-19 affected and abbreviated 2020-21 season. That was the first meeting between the schools in nearly 60 years; prior to that their last time playing came Feb. 10, 1962, when Lakeland won by a lopsided score of 145-68 in the teams' final meeting as members of the old Badger-Gopher Conference. Northwestern, based in Saint Paul, Minn., shouldn't be confused with the former Northwestern College of Watertown, Wis., that the Muskies regularly competed against for many years until that college merged into Martin Luther College in New Ulm, Minn., in 1995.

Lakeland last time out: Defeated Martin Luther (Minn.) 88-83 last night
The Muskies earned their first win of the season, coming back from a 17-point first half deficit to defeat the Knights at home. Parker Braun scored a career-high 15 points, 13 of those coming in the second half including the go-ahead basket with 1:12 left plus an ensuring three-pointer and then dunk to put the game away. Asanjai Hunter also scored 25 points, including 17 in the first half to keep Lakeland in contact with MLC and in position to make a run late in the first half and then early in the second half with separate runs of 18-3 late in the first stanza and then 25-8 early in the second.

Northwestern last time out: Lost at Lawrence 72-67 last night
The Eagles came up just short on the road in Appleton Friday night, falling in a game that included 12 lead changes. Northwestern trimmed a seven-point deficit with less than three minutes down to one, but the Vikings edged ahead by three with a basket with 27 seconds left and added two free throws to put the game away. Japheth Nyamari supplied a heavy dose of UNW's offense with 35 points, making 15 of 26 from the field including four three-pointers. No other Northwestern player scored more than Will Foster's eight points.

The Eagles, like Martin Luther last night, are a member of the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference. Northwestern finished 15-12 overall last year including 9-5 in the UMAC, advancing to the conference tournament championship game before falling to Bethany Lutheran (Minn.). Nyamuri led the Eagles with 18.5 points per game last year and is averaging 32.5 points over the team's first two games this year, which also includes a 99-84 loss to Hamline (Minn.).