After a lengthy, tumultuous off-season, Northwestern finally returns to Welsh-Ryan Arena tonight for an exhibition matchup with the Robert Morris Eagles, an NAIA team. The game is at 7 PM central time, and can only be seen on the Big Ten Network's website ($). This is the only exhibition game for Northwestern; the real season starts next Friday at Northern Illinois.

This is the third straight year the 'Cats have played an exhibition vs. Robert Morris. NU cruised to a 78-49 win last November (in what proved to be Kevin Coble's final appearance in an NU uniform), but fell 69-62 in 2008. We probably won't learn a whole lot from this game, as two years ago Northwestern looked terrible against Robert Morris but still had a decent season, but it will be nice as fans to finally see this team play and get our first look at highly touted freshman JerShon Cobb.

This can also serve as your game thread if anyone is watching later tonight.

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