Although Northwestern is 0-3 in road games this season, coach Bill Carmody should be looking forward to playing tonight in Ann Arbor, Mich. The Wolverines are the only Big Ten team Carmody has a winning road record against in his four years at NU — he is 2-1.

NU (8-6, 1-1 Big Ten) comes into tonight’s game 4-1 in its last five games, with all the wins coming in Welsh-Ryan Arena.

Rebounding has been a problem for the Wildcats all season. They’ve been outrebounded by their opponents by an average of three per game — though that average deficit marks an improvement on NU’s minus 8.9 margin last season.

Michigan (10-5, 1-0) boasts better than a plus two rebounding margin.

Although the junior class is 0-3 against Michigan, junior T.J. Parker averages more points against the Wolverines than against any other Big Ten team — 13.7 points per game.

Michigan enters the contest on a four-game winning streak, including a Big Ten-opening upset at No. 23 Iowa. The Wolverines are undefeated at home this season with nine wins.

During the winning streak, Michigan has outscored its opponents by 15.8 points per game.

While Michigan is the best in the Big Ten in defensive field goal percentage — NU is first in the Big Ten in scoring defense, holding opponents to 58.7 points per game.

Michigan is led in scoring by sophomore guard Dion Harris, who averages 13.6 points.

Since entering the NU lineup seven games ago, junior Mike Thompson has averaged 12.5 points per game and a team-high 5.5 rebounds.

Junior Vedran Vukusic leads the Cats in scoring, averaging 16.3 points per game. The Cats are looking for a 2-1 start in the Big Ten for the second straight year.

The last time NU started two consecutive Big Ten seasons 2-1 was 1981-82 and 1982-83.

Reach Abe Rakov at [email protected].