Basketball Game Preview: Neuqua Valley Wildcats vs. DeKalb Barbs

The Neuqua Valley Wildcats will take on the DeKalb Barbs at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. The two teams are sauntering into the matchup backed by comfortable wins in their prior games.

Last Tuesday, Neuqua Valley was fully in charge, breezing past Joliet Central 61-29. Given the Wildcats' advantage in MaxPreps' Illinois basketball rankings (they are ranked 112th, while the Steelmen are ranked 512th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Meanwhile, DeKalb waltzed into their game on Saturday with three straight wins... but they left with four. Everything went their way against the Lions as they made off with a 60-39 win. The Barbs have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won nine contests by 21 points or more this season.

Neuqua Valley has been performing well recently as they've won nine of their last 11 matches, which provided a nice bump to their 17-11 record this season. Those victories came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 64.9 points over those games. As for DeKalb, they pushed their record up to 20-6 with the victory, which was their eighth straight at home.

Neuqua Valley came up short against DeKalb in their previous matchup back in January, falling 61-50. Will Neuqua Valley have more luck at home instead of on the road? Check MaxPreps after the action for a full breakdown of the game and more basketball content.