Northwestern Wildcats
2023–24 Northwestern Wildcats men's basketball team
UniversityNorthwestern University
All-time record1092–1521–1 (.418)
Head coachChris Collins (11th season)
ConferenceBig Ten
LocationEvanston, Illinois
ArenaWelsh-Ryan Arena
(Capacity: 7,500)
NicknameWildcats
Student sectionWildside
ColorsPurple and white[1]
   
Uniforms
Home jersey
Team colours
Home
Away jersey
Team colours
Away


Pre-tournament Premo-Porretta champions
1931
Pre-tournament Helms champions
1931
NCAA tournament round of 32
2017, 2023
NCAA tournament appearances
2017, 2023
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 twice, in 2017 and 2023, 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).

History

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,[4] 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.[5] The Wildcats have also appeared in the National Invitation Tournament seven times (1983, 1994, 1999, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012).

The very first NCAA tournament championship was held at Northwestern in March 1939.[6][7] 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.[8][9][10] Northwestern won their first Tournament game, defeating Vanderbilt 68–66.[11] The Wildcats lost in the Second Round to No. 1-seeded Gonzaga.[12]

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.

Coaching history

CoachYearsRecordConference RecordConference Titles
Tom Holland1904–19052–20–0
Louis Gillesby1906–19104–281–13
Stuart Templeton1910–19113–151–12
Charles Hammett1911–19124–90–8
Dennis Grady1912–191425–1013–7
Fred Murphy1914–191728–2416–18
Norman Elliott1917–1918, 1919–192010–117–9
Tom Robinson1918–19196–66–4
Ray Elder1920–19212–121–11
Dana Evans1921–19227–113–9
Maury Kent1922–192719–6211–49
Arthur Lonborg1927–1950236–203–1138–1412
Harold Olsen1950–195219–2511–17
Waldo Fisher1952–195735–7521–53
William Rohr1957–196366–7039–45
Larry Glass1963–196961–7133–45
Brad Snyder1969–197330–7116–46
Tex Winter1973–197842–89 25–61
Rich Falk1978–198677–144 32–112
Bill Foster1986–199354–14113–113
Ricky Byrdsong1993–199734–7810–62
Kevin O’Neill1997–200030–5619–39
Bill Carmody2000–2013192–210 70–150
Chris Collins2013–present162–163 67–121
Totals 1148-1586-1 519-1083 2

Sources:[13]

Postseason

NCAA Division I tournament results

The Wildcats have appeared in the NCAA tournament twice. Their record is 2–2.

Year Seed Round Opponent Result
2017No. 8First Round
Second Round
No. 9 Vanderbilt
No. 1 Gonzaga
W 68–66
L 73–79
2023No. 7First Round
Second Round
No. 10 Boise State
No. 2 UCLA
W 75–67
L 63–68

NIT results

The Wildcats have appeared in the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) seven times. Their combined record is 5–7.

Year Round Opponent Result
1983First Round
Second Round
Notre Dame
DePaul
W 71–57
L 63–65
1994First Round
Second Round
DePaul
Xavier
W 69–68
L 79–83
1999First RoundDePaulL 64–69
2009First RoundTulsaL 59–68
2010First RoundRhode IslandL 64–76
2011First Round
Second Round
Quarterfinals
Milwaukee
Boston College
Washington State
W 70–61
W 85–67
L 66–69 OT
2012First Round
Second Round
Akron
Washington
W 76–74
L 55–76

Notable players

All-time statistical leaders

Career leaders

Single-season Leaders

  • Points Scored: John Shurna (661, 2012)
  • Assists: Bryant McIntosh (213, 2016)
  • Rebounds: Jim Pitts (321, 1966)
  • Steals: Pat Baldwin (90, 1991)
  • Blocks: Jim Pitts (123, 1966)

Single-game leaders

  • Points Scored: Rich Falk (49, 1964)
  • Assists: Bryant McIntosh (16, 2018)
  • Rebounds: Jim Pitts (29, 1965)
  • Steals: Nate Carter (9, 2011)
  • Blocks: Jim Pitts (10, 1966)

Source for all statistical leaders:[14]

All-Americans

Player Year(s) Team(s)
Joe Reiff1931Consensus First TeamHelms (1st), College Humor (1st)
1932College Humor (3rd)
1933Consensus First TeamHelms (1st), College Humor (1st)
Otto Graham1943Consensus Second TeamConverse (3rd), Sporting News (1st)
1944Consensus First TeamHelms (1st), Converse (2nd), Pic (1st), Sporting News (1st)
Max Morris1945Consensus Second TeamHelms (1st), Converse (3rd), Argosy (3rd), Sporting News (3rd)
1946Consensus First TeamHelms (1st), Converse (1st), True (2nd), Sporting News (1st)
Ray Ragelis1951Look (3rd)
Frank Ehmann1955Look (1st)
Joe Ruklick1959AP (3rd), NABC (3rd)
Jim Burns1967AP (3rd), NABC (3rd)
Evan Eschmeyer1999Consensus Second TeamAP (2nd), USBWA (2nd), NABC (2nd), Sporting News (2nd)

Source:[15]

References

  1. "Northwestern University's Guide to Using Marks, Colors, Trademarks, and Logos" (PDF). September 21, 2016. Retrieved November 11, 2016.
  2. "Northwestern University History 1900–1949". Archived from the original on 2008-04-24. Retrieved 2008-06-18.
  3. Martin, Jill. "At long last, Northwestern reaches NCAAs". CNN. Retrieved 2018-02-20.
  4. ESPN, ed. (2009). ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. New York, NY: ESPN Books. p. 541. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.
  5. "Vanderbilt vs. Northwestern - Game Summary - March 16, 2017 - ESPN". ESPN.com.
  6. "Eugene Register-Guard - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com.
  7. "Youngstown Vindicator - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com.
  8. "NCAA tournament's un-Fab Five are 0-for-75". espn.com.
  9. "Longest droughts: schools that have never made the NCAA tournament". thesportsarsenal.com. 20 February 2010.
  10. Feinstein, John (15 February 2016). "When it comes to NCAA tournament, Northwestern hasn't had a shot" via www.washingtonpost.com.
  11. "Scene from Northwestern's first-ever NCAA tourney win". SI.com. Retrieved 2018-02-20.
  12. "2017 March Madness: NCAA admits huge missed call in Gonzaga-Northwestern". CBSSports.com. Retrieved 2018-02-20.
  13. "Northwestern Wildcats Men's Basketball School History".
  14. "Individual Records" (PDF). Retrieved 2008-06-18.
  15. "Individual Records" (PDF). Retrieved 2008-06-18.
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