My story from Brooklyn.

Just kidding. They're obviously about to get a lot of rest. Glad they're keeping them in and letting them finish their careers on their own terms. It may not have been a great night, but I appreciate the fight.

I'm sure our NET rating dropped 3 spots. I hope we make it to The Dance.

OK, I will admit I am not a basketball expert, but has IL really beat anyone to glorify their advancement? You need to play who you are assigned but have they been challenged??

CBS wanted Duke in the top ratings slot so we get the truTV game.

Northwestern's season came to a close with a 75-58 loss to No. 1 UConn. Here are our takeaways from tonight's game.

What a fun season. What a fun, fun, fun season.

Thanks to Langborg and Preston for seeing their futures in purple.

Thanks to Brooks and Nicky for expanding their games.

Thanks to Hunger and Big Matt for bringing toughness every night.

Thanks to Berry for clearly shooting 500 threes a day over the summer.

Thanks to Blake and Justin for bringing the effort when given the opportunity.

Thanks to Clayton for fearlessly taking the court, even though he probably wasn’t ready.

And, of course, thanks to Boo for playing with an infectious joy, for coming up with creative ways to score, for truly earning a national spotlight, and for being my favorite Wildcat ever.

What a fun season.
It’s such a shame that the two injuries happened. While the team had enough guys to handle the loss of Berry, Nicholson is a truly irreplaceable presence. It was just too much.

It’ll be easy to think of what could have been — in mid-February, this team stared down the weaker part of the schedule with a chance to run the table and get ranked and take a four or five or six seed. But it was not to be, and they got dealt the toughest possible hand — assuming tonight goes as expected, three straight final four teams to start the tournament.

But, geez, I’ll just do my best to think of what actually was. A great home court advantage. McKinney’s jersey retirement. Overtime wins and losses. There’s a real joy to seeing pure domination at Indiana, no matter how strong or weak they are. Two all-timers against Purdue. Brooks with an all-time great finish in an all-time clutch moment.

This seemed impossible 16 months ago.

How about a top flight point guard transfer and another return trip next year?

Same as it ever was all year long. Team.played til the final buzzer and showed a lot of mettle in that 2nd half. Brooks went 6-6 in 2nd after 0-8 in the 1st. Langborg 5-7. Boo got going a bit but the double and triple teams were too much and a smart move by Hurley.

I'm so proud of this year's team and it was so great pulling for them. Overcame massive adversity to put themselves in this position. We need announcements from Matt and Ty they are returning and a stud PG from the portal and next year we'll have another chance to break through the ceiling. Go Cats!

No. 9 Northwestern (22-12) plays No. 1 overall UConn (32-3) in the second round of the NCAA Tournament at Barclays Center. The game is scheduled to tip off at 6:45 pm CT and will air on TruTV.

UNC -- not impressed
Purdue (been there done that)
Any of the #2 seeds
(not Houston)

And even CT with Berry and MN.

Tonight is a tall order however. But that's why they play the games and hoping for a miracle aka the Herb Brooks/Chris Collins it's just one game.

I know they’re just a little state school from the northeast somewhere and they only beat Stetson by six in the second half yesterday, but if you look close you’ll see this is a strong team we shouldn’t take too lightly.

Northwestern is on to the Round of 32 for the third time in program history, set to face No. 1 UConn.

@lou v and I log our predictions for tonight's game.

Yale …poulagidis kid from Chicago reminds me of langborg let’s get him has 14 pts against good auburn team already

They kept shooting themselves in the head. Too bad we could not have faced them when they were playing like that

Last night, NU was assessed a flagrant foul based on video review, even though no common foul was called on the floor.

The exact same situation just happened in the Michigan State North Carolina game. North Carolina guy clocked an MSU guy, but was not assessed a flagrant foul nor was he called for a common foul.

Why the difference?

Friday was a heck of a day to be a Wildcat. It was fantastic to see all the purple at the pre-game pep rally and at the Barclays Center, and then watch a thrilling OT win that really put Northwestern's toughness and grit on full display. It was one of those days that make all the suffering we do worth it.

The pep rally, put together in just a few days, was great. ZeroSpace, the venue, was just a giant warehouse event space and perfect for what I heard was more than 1,500 NU fans. The cheerleaders, Wilie and band were all there, and Mike Greenberg, Billy McKinney and Coach Braun were the speakers. They had food trucks, a cash bar and music. As you know, Northwestern has a sizable NYC/East Coast alumni base, and they showed out. Check out my X feed, @WildcatReport, for pictures and more. They're doing the same thing again tomorrow.

Interesting that Drs. Schill and Gragg were both there but neither took the mike. That was probably a wise move. I saw Gragg several times at the event, milling through the crowd, not really talking to anyone. I don't think anyone really wants to talk to him, either. He's a man without a country. Behind press row at the game, there was an NU fan who heckled him mercilessly. Gragg wound up not sitting in his seat in the first half, and I think that's probably why. I thought the heckler was way out of line ("you suck, Gragg") but indicative of where Gragg stands with the fan base. I almost feel sorry for him. Almost.

Anyway, back to the pep rally...I got a chance to talk to several posters/fans. I got a chance to talk to Ifeadi Odenigbo for a few minutes. He was there as a fan. He just retired from the NFL after seven seasons and is trying to figure out what he's going to do next. He lives in New Jersey and just came up for the game. He remembered me. Really a great guy. I also finally got the chance to meet Mike Greenberg for the first time. I introduced myself as he was on the street and I was heading to the game. "I absolutely know who you are," he said. "Thank you for all your work." He said WildcatReport keeps him in touch with NU because he doesn't really have the time to follow the teams. That, as you might imagine, really made my day.

The crowd at the game was great. Purple definitely outnumbered red. They were pretty quiet in the first half -- there wasn't much reason to cheer for either team in a dreadful 20 minutes of basketball -- but they made their presence felt in the second half. There was a fantastic moment, in overtime, after FAU called a timeout. NU had the game in hand and everyone knew it. The purple throng rose as one to roar. Brooks and Luke waved their arms to get them to rise up and yell louder, and Buie beat his chest. It gives me chills as I write this.

NU plays at 7:45 ET tomorrow night, so I just extended my stay a day. No way I'm missing it. I rebooked my flight from Sunday to early Monday morning, and got a room at another hotel nearby (I had a free day coming, as it turns out). @mshelton33 is staying an extra day too.

One ugly thing to report: last night, on the walk back to the hotel after watching JMU-Wisconsin, a little after midnight, Matt and I heard what we're pretty sure was a gunshot. On the walk, we saw two guys walk out of a bar right in front of us on the sidewalk, yelling profanities at each other. They were arguing about something and were probably intoxicated. I heard one of them dare the other one to pull out his piece and shoot him at one point. We took a wide berth around them, kept our heads down and just kept walking. You could hear them continue to shout at each other behind us. It went on for a long time, and we looked back from time to time but couldn't really see what was going on. There were quite a few other people walking on the street, too, so it's not like we were alone. When we were 2-3 blocks ahead of them, we heard it: a big echoing pop. Now, we don't know for sure it was a gunshot, and we don't know for sure it was them. But given the circumstances, and the location of the sound, it's a logical assumption. We just quickly took the next right onto a side street to get off 4th Avenue and walked the rest of the way to the hotel. I wouldn't say it was scary, exactly, but it was unnerving. We've got our Brooklyn story now, I guess.

C'mon NU, join this group.

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Northwestern is on to the Round of 32 for the third time in program history, set to face No. 1 UConn.

@lou v and I log our predictions for tonight's game.

Since the thought of playing a 1 or 2 seed in the second round again depresses me, I would love to see the tournament structured as 8 geographic 8 team unseeded regionals with an 8 team seeded final round.
I understand the idea of protecting the top seeds (Purdue and UConn get a first round gimme and practical second round home game), but at some point stacking the deck for the top teams is a little much. I also like the idea of a regional with easy access to all the teams playing in it. I noticed that Memphis tickets today were going for $5 and up while Brooklyn was $205 and up.

It will never happen, but I needed some handhold against the despair I feel about the deleted Cats playing UConn today!

I have one ticket, section 204, row 2, for sale, for the Cats game. If you wish to purchase it, please feel free to message me. Go Cats!

Most of the Senior Night storylines will deservedly be about Boo, who has been at NU forever, but I want to shout out Ryan Langborg, who has spent less than a year with the program but will also be honored tonight.

We clearly saw how badly we needed a healthy Langborg in the last few games (and the last 30 minutes of Rutgers). His playmaking, defense, and (most obviously) outside shooting have helped contribute to one of the best seasons in NU hoops history. Just because he's only been with the program 11 months doesn't mean we won't love him forever.

Also: last night I watched Office Space for the first time in years, and I kept wanting to call Lumbergh (um....yeah...) as Langborg.

After our breakthrough NCAA season, I remember talking with a friend after the Gonzaga loss wore off. I was giddy. The whole core of the team was coming back. A new building was being constructed. We had finally turned the page & there was a lot of success to come.

And we all know what happened next. So much disappointment that following season. The guys looked like they’d read their glowing press & decided they’d be good again by default. That season was a massive letdown, and there was more pain where that came from in the years that followed. It was a real reversion to the historical mean for NU fans. Many of us are always waiting for the next shoe to drop. For us, it typically does.

This past season was even more successful, and the emergence of our home court advantage (student section culture) felt potentially game-changing for the program. Turning around and laying an egg next year, falling well short of expectations, would be painful…but there’s a beaten down part of me that kinda expects it. If our guys and staff develop an unearned sense of entitlement heading into next year, failure could well ensue. Nothing comes easily for NU hoops. Ever.

That said…. CCC surely remembers what happened after our previous tourney berth and will be HIGHLY motivated to avoid a repeat underperformance. This feels like another possible/major inflection point for the program. Back-to-back strong seasons could solidify things and really boost recruiting. He’s earned his extension. He’s got Mac on the bench with him, who probably still feels like his final season left a bitter taste. This team has a lot to prove. Boo is an absolute baller & the pieces around him are strong. If Chase comes back, we could well be better than last year, on paper. But on paper doesn’t matter. There will be haters and doubters & the guys need to be extremely hungry to prove that what they've just achieved wasn’t a fluke & to build on it.

Thrilled about Boo. Grateful for everyone who made his return possible, including our NIL braintrust. I’m really stoked for next year. But I’m suspicious of my own enthusiasm and hope because I’m one of us. I think this team can go a long way toward eradicating that mentality from our fanbase. But they need to fight tooth and nail to do it.

GO ‘CATS!