Is not good.

Aron Molnar was better. Dan Kreft was better. He’s maybe better than the Hebrew Mamba or Chier Ajou.

Boy we miss Nicholson.

Boo's last free throw broke the record for most career points by a Wildcat

Haven’t heard back from ticket rep yet. Does anyone have intel on what the NU section is tomorrow?

Kenny Smith is a pompous a**. His his rant on how FAU was looking ahead of NU and the defense of NU didn't affect FAU but that they were not used to be the hunted not the hunter and they didn't know how to handle it. He failed to mention we were without two of our 5 starters and still largely controlled the game. We are the Rodney Dangerfield of basketball

First off: YESSSSSSSSSS GO CATS!!!

Second: So awesome having the early CBS game with the A crew. Quality opponent from last year’s final four. Close game. Lots of good publicity for NU along the way, and then…a big OT win. Big deal for the program. CBS did a nice job. Boo IS this team, but it was nice seeing some other guys featured well on the broadcast. And what can you even say about Ryan? The yell I let out when he buried that three…

Third: For those who were there, please comment on the crowd (similar to SLC in 17?) because on TV it *sounded* like a home game. Our fans brought it. Awesome.

Fourth: The refs were dreadful and almost stole it from us twice. CBS definitely agreed, too.

If so, why? Seems kind of strange.

Ryan Langborg, thanks for coming to Evanston. I believe he temporarily shifted to another planet in the 2nd half and OT. Floaters, mid-range, and then the dagger 3's in OT. What a performance. They were doubling Boo, and Boo being Boo he got his anyways. But we desperately needed some secondary scoring. And after Boo started off the 2nd half with a 3, then the lid came off the basket and Brooks + Borg started balling. Felt like we should have won that more easily for a while. But flagrant 1 + a couple weird occurrences, basketball happens. Thankfully we got a miss from them and then Brooks just bullied his way to the rim off a quick screen to tie it up. Once we got to OT, felt like everyone in that arena knew we had them. Boo + Brooks + Borg took control and finished the job.

It was mostly a 3 man show as Martinelli had an off night, but Nick your time will come tomorrow. Keep shooting, we know that floater is gonna go down next time. And a couple 3's he took looked pretty good too. Two other underrated performances - Blake Smith may have just had the 1 FT at the end in the score sheet but he played excellent defense and pulled down 6 big rebounds. Luke Hunger also wasn't making shots but was very good positionally on defense and 6-8 from the FT line is quite useful I would say. Preston did not have a very good game, but tomorrow brings another opportunity to shine.

I dunno about the rest of you guys, but I feel pretty decent about our chances tomorrow. UConn is a great team, excellent defensively, good depth and a strong big man inside. They shoot well. It's going to be a challenge to score against them.

The bigger they are, the harder they fall. This is March, bring on the Madness. Great crowd yesterday, hopefully even more purple out there tomorrow night. My throat may be a bit raspy this morning, but I guarantee it'll be fully hoarse on Monday.

GO CATS

Check out @lou v's column from today's March Madness win in Brooklyn.

NORTHWESTERN
Alabama
San Diego State
Creighton
Baylor
Duke
Tennessee
Kansas
Michigan State
Marquette
Houston
Texas
UCONN
Gonzaga

Right among the basketball superpowers, as always. It's Northwestern and Sparty in the Big Ten. Of course.

Anyone have any idea what time we will tip Sunday against UCONN? Or when that announcement might happen?

at least another 2 years through the '29-30 season.

Since the NCAA added the three-pointer in 1986, shots that are inside the arc but not at the rim are called "mid-range" shots. According to Bart Torvik, Langborg was 8-for-9 on mid-range shots (3-10 on all other shots) today. Who would you say is the best mid-range shooter for NU in the three-point era?

Awesome games from Brooks (huge drive to put the game to OT and overall awesomeness on D, rebounding, etc…)

Boo, you know I thought it wasn’t his day, when he missed a few at the end - those floaters of his just weren’t going in as they usually do. But then I look and he’s got 22. It surprised me somehow. Just a killer rainbow 2 in OT too.

But, Langborg - that dude was on fire. He gets it up for the Dance. His third or fourth 20pt game in a row from last year.

Crazy that Boo and Langborg had what 5 points at the half? Ended with close to 50.

Cats had 19 in the first half and had 19 in OT. Just insane.

That would be the biggest win certainly in NU basketball history - bar none. Ahead of both Purdue games and the Michigan Tap-Pardon miracle.

Would it be the biggest win in NU sports history?

ND 95?
LAX National Champ wins?
Gator Bowl Champs?
Michigan 2000?

Destiny meets preparation. These opportunities don't come often.

If there's anyone that's built for the moment, we've got him in Boo Buie.

Lets GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

All times CENTRAL. All games available nationally unless otherwise indicated. I will add announcers and future opponents as they are determined.

First, the NU games:

NCAA: 8-Florida Atlantic vs. 9-Northwestern
Friday, March 22
11:15 AM, CBS
PxP: Ian Eagle
Color: Bill Raftery
Color: Grant Hill

NCAA: 1-Connecticut vs. 9-Northwestern
Sunday, March 24
6:45 PM approx., truTV
PxP: Ian Eagle
Color: Bill Raftery
Color: Grant Hill

And the rest:

Tuesday, March 19

NIT: Cornell @ 2-Ohio State
6:00 PM, ESPN2
PxP: Tom Hart
Color: Randolph Childress

NIT: Kansas State @ 3-Iowa
8:00 PM, ESPN
PxP: Pete Sousa
Color: Jess Settles

NIT: Minnesota @ 4-Butler
8:00 PM, ESPNU
PxP: Myron Medcalf
Color: Tom Crean

Thursday, March 21

NCAA: 8-Mississippi State vs. 9-Michigan State
11:15 AM, CBS
PxP: Brian Anderson
Color: Jim Jackson

NCAA: 3-Illinois vs. 14-Morehead State
2:10 PM approx., truTV
PxP: Tom McCarthy
Color: Debbie Antonelli
Color: Avery Johnson

Friday, March 22

NCAA: 8-Nebraska vs. 9-Texas A&M
5:50 PM, TNT
PxP: Spero Dedes
Color: Jim Spanarkel

NCAA: 1-Purdue vs. 16-Grambling State
6:25 PM, TBS
PxP: Kevin Harlan
Color: Dan Bonner
Color: Stan Van Gundy

NCAA: 5-Wisconsin vs. 12-James Madison
8:40 PM approx., CBS
PxP: Ian Eagle
Color: Bill Raftery
Color: Grant Hill

Saturday, March 23

NCAA: 1-North Carolina vs. 9-Michigan State
4:30 PM, CBS
PxP: Brian Anderson
Color: Jim Jackson

NIT: 3-Virginia Tech @ 2-Ohio State
6:00 PM, ESPN+ (streaming only)
PxP: Doug Sherman
Color: Scott Williams

NCAA: 3-Illinois vs. 11-Duquesne
7:40 PM approx., TNT
PxP: Tom McCarthy
Color: Debbie Antonelli
Color: Avery Johnson

Sunday, March 24

NIT: Minnesota @ 1-Indiana State
1:00 PM, ESPN2
PxP: Wes Durham
Color: Cory Alexander

NCAA: 1-Purdue vs. 8-Utah State
1:40 PM approx., CBS
PxP: Kevin Harlan
Color: Dan Bonner
Color: Stan Van Gundy

NIT: 3-Iowa @ 2-Utah
8:00 PM, ESPN2
PxP: Dave Feldman
Color: Corey Williams

Seems right to put this out there in light of another thread. This is not about his injury - though it's a bummer and I feel for the guy.

Writing this to share a few things I really like about what a competitor Big Matt is - off the court

First, how he shushed CCC up in the Indiana postgame press conference after trying to sell a misleading answer. (he said plays aren't called for him - building some deliberate competitive subtrifuge into his answer). CC blew it by not playing along. Matt tried to shush him up - it was a really funny moment which said a lot about MN but also about the rapport CC has with his players.

Second, at Purdue this year when he fouled out. Apparently in Mackey the fans erupt when a fouled-out competitive player sits down on the bench. Big Matt stood there in front of his chair until the exact point when Edey was about to release the first free throw - at which point he sat down and the crowed roared. It was perfect - really looked like Edey was affected, and he missed the free throw. The announcers mentioned it and marvelled at the devious genius of that move. The subsequent shot shows Matt and the NU bench cracking up about how Matt had trolled all of Mackey - and Edey - at the same time. That should be a highlight of its own on Northwestern Athletics' channel.

He's a character, seems to have fun engaging in some very competitive mind games. Got to love that - the kind of thing that only a center from NU would pull off. I see he chats to other players during the game as well - it all looks very friendly with a smile - but I can't help but wonder if he's messing with people as he does.

That's one of the many things I appreciate about Big Matt.

Boo is NU’s all time leading scorer

Taylor Battle is Penn State’s all time leading scorer.

Are there any other pair of brothers that are two different school’s top scorers.
- In the B1G?
- In the NCAA?

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This dude goes Sam Kinison, but is very accurate in breakdown how Kentucky was so awful defensively against Oakland. I found it very compelling, and I'm grateful our guys are better defensively prepared (both coaches and players).

Big is 3-0 and all remaining teams have (on paper) favorable matchups. Would be huge to push all 6 to the next round. NU may have been the only dog in round one.

Villanova Freshman point guard Angelo Brizzi has just entered the transfer portal. Received an NU offer out of high school. Might be someone to keep an eye on.

That was fun. Couple very odd referee video review sequences, including that weird inflicted flagrant that seemed to rob us of all momentum for the last few minutes of regulation. Thank god for Boo Buie and Tournament Ryan Langborg, plus a gutty performance from Brooks (who seems to be growing in confidence even now). The Bigs + Martinelli did juuuussssssttttttttt enough of the dirty work to keep the offense moving, and the offense is really pretty when everyone is moving and shots are falling.

UCONN will clearly be a huge challenge, but this team has at least shown the heart to fight and claw with anyone in the country. Won’t be “scary” after going toe-to-toe with Purdue twice this year.

to tie the game in regulation. Just can’t say enough about it. It’s a tougher layup than it looks with that low-toss release. That’s the kind of play a winner makes, and Barnhizer is a winner.

Miss St, Auburn, UK, Florida, S Carolina all first round losses.