River Forest, Ill. — On the heels of their quarterfinal win over Edgewood College on Wednesday, the Concordia University Chicago men's basketball team (15-9, 11-6) is set to host Marian University (17-8, 11-7) on Friday night in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) Tournament semifinals. 

The top-seeded Cougars and fifth-seeded Sabres will clash at 7 p.m. in front of the home crowd at Geiseman Gymnasium. If Wednesday's game against Edgewood is any indication, it promises to be a very lively environment. Friday marks the first time the Cougars have appeared in the tournament semifinals since 2010, when they fell by three points to rival Dominican University. 

How They Got Here

Following a round-one bye, the Cougars hosted fifth-seeded Edgewood at Geiseman on Wednesday night. With the energy of a packed gym behind them, CUC jumped out to a 10-0 lead and never looked back. They held a double-digit lead for nearly 35 of the 40 minutes, thanks in large part to an outstanding shooting performance. As a team, the Cougars shot 55.6 percent from the floor, including 54.2 percent from beyond the arc. The senior duo of Jordan Matthews (Chicago, Ill.) and Izak Ruddell (St. Joseph, Mich.) combined to shoot 8-11 from deep on their way to 21 and 18 points, respectively. Sophomore Justin Greenlee (Brown Deer, Wis.) was 7-9 from the field on his way to a career-high 18 points. 

Marian began the tournament by narrowly escaping the No. 12 seed Aurora University by a final score of 76-75 in overtime on Saturday. They followed that up with the lone road victory in the entire tournament this year, knocking off fourth-seeded Illinois Tech on Wednesday night, snapping the Scarlet Hawks' nine-game home winning streak that dated back to Dec. 4. 

What's at Stake

The winner of the game advances to the NACC Championship Game on Sunday where they will take on either the No. 2 seed Concordia University Wisconsin or the No. 3 seed St. Norbert College. Marian hasn't appeared in the conference title game since winning it in 2014, while the Cougars have never reached the final round of a conference tournament. If the Cougars win, they'll once again have the chance to host Sunday's game in front of the Geiseman faithful. 

Marian most recently made the semifinal round in 2016, two years following their lone tournament championship. With a win, the Sabres would become just the 11th team in NACC history to win at least two road games in a single tournament.

Previous Matchups

The teams met twice in the regular season with the home team winning both games. Their first meeting came on Dec. 11 in Fond Du Lac, Wis., where the Sabres pulled off a 72-70 victory thanks to a game-winning three with 25 seconds left. After falling behind by as many as 13 early on the road, the Cougars clawed their way back into the game to take a one-point lead into the break. They led by as much as seven in the second half, and retook a one-point lead after Ruddell knocked down a pair at the line with 1:25 to go. These were their final points however, as they failed to get a shot off following the go-ahead three from Marian. Matthews led the way with 22 points in the loss, while Ruddell and senior Landen Gladney (Chicago, Ill.) were the only other Cougars in double-figures with 10 points apiece. 

In the second meeting in River Forest on Jan. 11, Marian once again jumped out to a double-digit lead in the first half. It was a very low-scoring half of basketball, and Marian took a 22-21 lead into the half. Just like the Sabres did on their home floor, the Cougars overcame a small halftime deficit behind 50 second-half points to roll to a 71-63 victory. The Cougars attempted a season-high 40 free throws in that contest, and made a season-high 28 of them. Matthews was the biggest beneficiary at the charity stripe, knocking down 11-14. These trips to the line were crucial for the Cougars, who had to overcome a season-high 24 turnovers. They also worked the glass in the game, setting yet another season-high mark with 47 rebounds. Ruddell was the driving force on the boards, pulling in a career-high 14 of them while also leading the team with 16 points. He was responsible for two of the Cougars' three made shots from beyond the arc in the game. 

Numbers to Watch

• Fresh off winning NACC Player of the Week in the final week of the regular season, Matthews recorded his first double-double of the season in Wednesday's win over Edgewood. 

• Greenlee has now scored in double-figures in each of his last three games, shooting 17-25 over that stretch. 

• With his 13 points on Wednesday, the Cougars are now 7-1 when junior Brent Hatten (Olney, Ill.) scores in double-figures. 

• The Cougars are coming off a season-high 94 points. Their 35 made shots were also a season-high. 

• Three Sabres average double-figures on the year, led by senior guard David Britton at 18.7 PPG. 

• Britton has filled out the statsheet this postseason, averaging 22 points, nine rebounds, eight assists and two steals. Slowing him down will be a major factor for the Cougars. 

• Stopping the three-ball will also be critical for the Cougars, as Marian comes in with the 14th-most made three-pointers made in the country (255). 

• The Sabres are also tough at the rim, leading the conference with 101 blocked shots. 

All fans are encouraged to wear gold to Friday's game as the team has called for a "Gold Rush" inside of Geiseman. A t-shirt giveaway will take place at 11:30 a.m. sharp on Friday morning in the lobby of Geiseman courtesy of SAAC. The shirts will be handed out by the players themselves.

For fans unable to attend the game, a stream and live stats will be available on cucougars.com/coverage. 

You can keep up with all things CUC Men's Basketball on cucougars.com as well as on Twitter @cuc_menhoops.