Northwestern Wildcats men's basketball | |||
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University | Northwestern University | ||
All-time record | 1092–1521–1 (.418) | ||
Head coach | Chris Collins (12th season) | ||
Conference | Big Ten | ||
Location | Evanston, Illinois | ||
Arena | Welsh-Ryan Arena (capacity: 7,500) | ||
Nickname | Wildcats | ||
Student section | Wildside | ||
Colors | Purple and white [1] | ||
Uniforms | |||
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Pre-tournament Premo-Porretta champions | |||
1931 | |||
Pre-tournament Helms champions | |||
1931 | |||
NCAA tournament round of 32 | |||
2017, 2023, 2024 | |||
NCAA tournament appearances | |||
2017, 2023, 2024 | |||
Conference regular season champions | |||
1931, 1933 |
The Northwestern Wildcats men's basketball team is an NCAA Division I college basketball team representing Northwestern University in the Big Ten Conference. Men's basketball was introduced at Northwestern in 1901. [2] Since 2013, the team has been coached by Chris Collins. The Wildcats have advanced to the NCAA tournament three times, in 2017, 2023, and 2024 after being the only longstanding member of a Power Five conference to have never made the tournament. [3] The Wildcats have won two Big Ten conference championships (1931 and 1933).
Northwestern began their inaugural season of intercollegiate play in 1904–1905, losing their first game to University of Chicago 19–34. They went 2–2 their first season, losing to University of Chicago twice, and defeating Beloit and Iowa. [4] [5]
Although Northwestern had great success in the early part of the 20th century, it has spent most of the time since World War II in the bottom half of the Big Ten. The Wildcats were retroactively selected as the 1930–31 national champion by both the Helms Athletic Foundation and the Premo-Porretta Power Poll, [6] and have won only one other conference title, in 1933. It has only finished above fourth place twice since World War II, and did not have a winning record in conference play from 1968 until 2017. During that time, only the 2003–04 team even managed a .500 conference record. On March 1, 2017, the Wildcats won their 10th conference game (a 67–65 win over Michigan) to clinch their first winning Big Ten record in almost half a century. That season also saw the Wildcats make their first NCAA Tournament in school history, winning their first NCAA tournament game 68–66 against Vanderbilt. [7] The Wildcats have also appeared in the National Invitation Tournament seven times (1983, 1994, 1999, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012).
The first NCAA tournament championship was held at Northwestern in March 1939. [8] [9] Until making their first NCAA tournament in 2017, Northwestern had been one of five original NCAA Division I schools and the only school from a power conference to have never played an NCAA Tournament game. [10] [11] [12] Northwestern won their first Tournament game, defeating Vanderbilt 68–66. [13] The Wildcats lost in the Second Round to No. 1-seeded Gonzaga. [14]
In 1998, two former players were charged and convicted for sports bribery, having been paid to shave points in games against three other Big Ten schools during the 1995 season. [15] [16] [17]
The 2022–23 team finished in a tie for second place in the Big Ten regular season, which is their best finish in the conference since the 1958–59 season.
Coach | Years | Record | Conference Record | Conference Titles |
Tom Holland | 1904–1905 | 2–2 | 0–0 | |
Louis Gillesby | 1906–1910 | 4–28 | 1–13 | |
Stuart Templeton | 1910–1911 | 3–15 | 1–12 | |
Charles Hammett | 1911–1912 | 4–9 | 0–8 | |
Dennis Grady | 1912–1914 | 25–10 | 13–7 | |
Fred Murphy | 1914–1917 | 28–24 | 16–18 | |
Norman Elliott | 1917–1918, 1919–1920 | 10–11 | 7–9 | |
Tom Robinson | 1918–1919 | 6–6 | 6–4 | |
Ray Elder | 1920–1921 | 2–12 | 1–11 | |
Dana Evans | 1921–1922 | 7–11 | 3–9 | |
Maury Kent | 1922–1927 | 19–62 | 11–49 | |
Arthur Lonborg | 1927–1950 | 236–203–1 | 138–141 | 2 |
Harold Olsen | 1950–1952 | 19–25 | 11–17 | |
Waldo Fisher | 1952–1957 | 35–75 | 21–53 | |
William Rohr | 1957–1963 | 66–70 | 39–45 | |
Larry Glass | 1963–1969 | 61–71 | 33–45 | |
Brad Snyder | 1969–1973 | 30–71 | 16–46 | |
Tex Winter | 1973–1978 | 42–89 | 25–61 | |
Rich Falk | 1978–1986 | 77–144 | 32–112 | |
Bill Foster | 1986–1993 | 54–141 | 13–113 | |
Ricky Byrdsong | 1993–1997 | 34–78 | 10–62 | |
Kevin O’Neill | 1997–2000 | 30–56 | 19–39 | |
Bill Carmody | 2000–2013 | 192–210 | 70–150 | |
Chris Collins | 2013–present | 162–163 | 67–121 | |
Totals | 1148-1586-1 | 519-1083 | 2 |
Sources: [18]
The Wildcats have appeared in the NCAA tournament three times. Their record is 3–3.
Year | Seed | Round | Opponent | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
2017 | No. 8 | First Round Second Round | No. 9 Vanderbilt No. 1 Gonzaga | W 68–66 L 73–79 |
2023 | No. 7 | First Round Second Round | No. 10 Boise State No. 2 UCLA | W 75–67 L 63–68 |
2024 | No. 9 | First Round Second Round | No. 8 Florida Atlantic No. 1 UConn | W 77–65 OT L 58–75 |
The Wildcats have appeared in the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) seven times. Their combined record is 5–7.
Year | Round | Opponent | Result |
---|---|---|---|
1983 | First Round Second Round | Notre Dame DePaul | W 71–57 L 63–65 |
1994 | First Round Second Round | DePaul Xavier | W 69–68 L 79–83 |
1999 | First Round | DePaul | L 64–69 |
2009 | First Round | Tulsa | L 59–68 |
2010 | First Round | Rhode Island | L 64–76 |
2011 | First Round Second Round Quarterfinals | Milwaukee Boston College Washington State | W 70–61 W 85–67 L 66–69 OT |
2012 | First Round Second Round | Akron Washington | W 76–74 L 55–76 |
Source for all statistical leaders: [19]
Player | Year(s) | Team(s) |
---|---|---|
Joe Reiff | 1931 | Consensus First Team – Helms (1st), College Humor (1st) |
1932 | College Humor (3rd) | |
1933 | Consensus First Team – Helms (1st), College Humor (1st) | |
Otto Graham | 1943 | Consensus Second Team – Converse (3rd), Sporting News (1st) |
1944 | Consensus First Team – Helms (1st), Converse (2nd), Pic (1st), Sporting News (1st) | |
Max Morris | 1945 | Consensus Second Team – Helms (1st), Converse (3rd), Argosy (3rd), Sporting News (3rd) |
1946 | Consensus First Team – Helms (1st), Converse (1st), True (2nd), Sporting News (1st) | |
Ray Ragelis | 1951 | Look (3rd) |
Frank Ehmann | 1955 | Look (1st) |
Joe Ruklick | 1959 | AP (3rd), NABC (3rd) |
Jim Burns | 1967 | AP (3rd), NABC (3rd) |
Evan Eschmeyer | 1999 | Consensus Second Team – AP (2nd), USBWA (2nd), NABC (2nd), Sporting News (2nd) |
Source: [20]
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Bryant McIntosh is an American former basketball player and current assistant coach for the Northwestern Wildcats of the Big Ten Conference. He played college basketball for the Northwestern Wildcats. He holds the Northwestern single-game, single-season, and career assist records. He was a 2017 All-Big Ten team second-team selection and led the 2016–17 Northwestern Wildcats to the first NCAA tournament in school history.
The 2017–18 Northwestern Wildcats men's basketball team represented Northwestern University in the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. They were led by fifth-year head coach Chris Collins as members of the Big Ten Conference. They played their home games at Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois while the university's Welsh-Ryan Arena, underwent renovations. A winning record in the Big Ten as well, a Round-of-32 NCAA appearance in 2016–17, and the return of all key offensive contributors led to big expectations for the 2017–18 season. But the Wildcats stumbled to a poor start, finishing the season with a disappointing 15–17 record, 6–12 in Big Ten play to finish in 10th place. They lost in the second round of the Big Ten tournament to Penn State.
The 2018–19 Northwestern Wildcats men's basketball team represented Northwestern University in the 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. They were led by sixth-year head coach Chris Collins as members of the Big Ten Conference. They played their home games at the newly renovated Welsh-Ryan Arena in Evanston, Illinois. The Wildcats finished the season 13–19, 4–16 in Big Ten play to finish in last place. They lost in the first round of the Big Ten tournament to Illinois.
Scott Christopher Lindsey is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Winnipeg Sea Bears of the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL). He played college basketball for the Northwestern Wildcats.
The 2022–23 Northwestern Wildcats men's basketball team represented Northwestern University in the 2022–23 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. They were led by 10th-year head coach Chris Collins. The Wildcats played their home games at Welsh–Ryan Arena in Evanston, Illinois as members of the Big Ten Conference. They finished the season 21–10, 12–8 in Big Ten play, to finish in a tie for second place, their highest finish since the 1958–59 season. This season was also notable as the first time Northwestern defeated a number-one ranked opponent, during a home game against Purdue on February 12. As the No. 2 seed in the Big Ten tournament, they were upset in the quarterfinals by No. 10 seed Penn State. The Wildcats received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament, their second-ever appearance, where they named as the No. 7 seed in the West Region. The Wildcats defeated Boise State in the first round before falling to UCLA in the second round, closing their season with an overall record of 22–12.