Northwestern basketball (3-0) heads into its toughest test of the year, facing the preseason No. 1 North Carolina Tar Heels (3-1) in the CBE Hall of Fame Classic semifinals at the Sprint Center in Kansas City Monday night.
Northwestern has started the season with three wins, the latest an 83-80 victory over Columbia at Welsh-Ryan Arena that required a late comeback from the hosts just to get to the extra period.
North Carolina, without star point guard Marcus Paige, lost its most recent game, a 71-67 defeat at the hands of Northern Iowa.