Northwestern beat Iowa at Carver-Hawkeye Arena Saturday 70-66. After the game, coach Bill Carmody stressed how important that game was for the Wildcats and their chances of making the NCAA tournament.

The players agreed.

"It puts us in great position to be considered for the NCAAs," guard JerShon Cobb said. "I think we're going into the Big Ten tournament wanting to win it. It's not just winning a game or just making the NCAA tournament. We think we are a good enough team to win the Big Ten."

But not long after the Wildcats were enjoying the fruits of their labor on the way home to Evanston, word came out that DePaul pummeled Seton Hall 86-58 at Allstate Arena. It's not the greatest news for NU, because the Wildcats' November victory over Seton Hall was considered a "signature win." Now, not so much, considering that DePaul is 12-18 overall and 3-15 in the Big East. The Wildcats now have only one victory over a top-50 team: Michigan State on Jan. 14.

* John Shurna officially won the Big Ten scoring title, edging out Penn State's Tim Frazier. Shurna ended the regular season with a 19.8 scoring average to Frazier's 18.8. Crawford finished fifth in scoring, averaging 16.4 points per game.