For the second season in a row, Wabash and Wooster's basketball teams will meet in Crawfordsville in an early season battle between unbeatens. The two teams will play Saturday at 2 p.m. in Chadwick Court.

Wabash comes in the contest with a 7-0 record overall, 1-0 in North Coast Athletic Conference games. The Little Giants already won a road victory over Denison (71-65) last Saturday before coming home to face the Scots in their first NCAC contest at Chadwick Court.

“This is a statement game for us,” senior Derek Bailey said. “This is going to be, by far, the best team we play this season. We want to come out and show that we are a pretty good team, too.

“We have the pieces to the puzzle, and can make a championship run. Hopefully we can show that Saturday.”

The Scots (5-0, 1-0) come into this week not only having to prepare for their road tilt against the Little Giants; Wooster will first play host to another conference favorite in Wittenberg tonight. This week begins an important stretch of games for the Scots in the early going as they face the Tigers and Little Giants before heading to Puerto Rico for games Dec. 19 and 20.

“They are going to come in here wanting to win,” Wabash head coach Antoine Carpenter said. “We have to be prepared mentally and have that focus and play together as a team. Everyone has to understand their role and do their part.”

Through seven games, the Little Giants have played excellent defense en route to their unblemished record. Wabash's opponents are only averaging 53.1 points per game while shooting only 40.5 percent from the field. The Little Giants are forcing 14 turnovers per game with a rebounding advantage of 5 boards per contest.

Offensively, Wabash has relied on a balanced attack with seniors Bailey and Aaron Zinnerman leading the way. The duo is averaging 16.9 and 13.9 points per game, respectively, and have combined to hit 31 three pointers while shooting 50 percent from long range. Fellow senior Brian Shelbourne has averaged 8.4 points per game, an impressive increase from his 5.6 average a season ago as a junior.

“This is exactly what our team wants,” Zinnerman said. “We are ready, and we are going to be even more prepared on Saturday. We want this game and we feel like we can give them a run for their money.”

Freshman Kasey Oetting has had a strong start to his collegiate career, averaging 9.1 points per game. Senior Nick Curosh has been a strong presence in the post, both offensively and defensively, averaging 6.4 points and 8.1 rebounds per game.

The Scots certainly will have a different look this season than they featured a year ago. Gone are graduated seniors Ian Franks, Nathan Balch, and Bryan Wickliffe who combined to average 40.3 points, over half the team's average, and 16.2 rebounds per game. Franks was the NCAC player of the year the past two years, including first-team all-NCAC for three consecutive years. Balch was a first-team selection a year ago while Wickliffe was a second-team selection.

However, the Scots do return Justin Hallowell who has started strong in his senior season. Hallowell is averaging 13.0 points and 5.4 rebounds per game entering tonight's contest. Freshman guard Xavier Brown has been huge for the Scots to begin his college career, leading the team with a 17.8 scoring average to go with 3.4 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game.

As a team, Wooster is shooting 50.6 percent from the field, including 43.8 percent from beyond the three-point line. The Scots are averaging 80.6 points per game while allowing only 62.6. Opponents are only shooting 38.5 percent from the field, including a paltry 22.2 percent from deep.

A year ago, the Little Giants and Scots split the season series, with the road team winning both matchups. In last year's first game, the Little Giants entered 13-0 while the Scots were 14-0. Wooster won that first matchup 67-65 before Wabash exacted some revenge later in the season, knocking off the top-ranked Scots 69-68 in overtime.

“I feel like that experience gives us poise,” Zinnerman said. “All four seniors played big minutes in both of those games. That gives us a lot of experience, knowing how the environment is going to be. Those experiences are going to help us out a lot.”

Wooster won the NCAC regular season and tournament titles a year ago, and made their ninth consecutive NCAA tournament appearance. The Scots advanced to the Division III championship game against St. Thomas (Minn.). Under head coach Steve Moore for the 24 seasons, Wooster has become the gold standard in the North Coast Athletic Conference.

“Any coach would aspire to have the kind of success coach Moore has had,” Carpenter said. “I aspire to be where coach Moore is and if my tenure at Wabash lasts that long, I'd love that. Of course that's where you want to be, and you have to start from somewhere and this foundation has been going for a while.

“We have had some success, and we are going to continue to build on it. It is going to be a great matchup on Saturday, and we are just glad that it is going to be at our place.”

Saturday's game between the Little Giants (25th in the latest D3hoops.com poll) and the fifth-ranked Scots are set to tip at 2 p.m. Admission is free of charge. Wabash will honor its 2011 North Coast Athletic Conference championship teams — baseball, cross country, indoor and outdoor track and field, and football — at halftime of Saturday's contest.

The game will be broadcast on WNDY radio (91.3 FM) and over the Internet here: Live Radio.

A free, live video stream will also be available on the Wabash Sports Network here: Watch Live

Live in-game statistics are available online as well, and can be found by clicking here: Live Stats