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!

Good for him!!!

Login to view embedded media

Favorites win the day. Hopefully not the case tomorrow. Need a little "madness" around dinner time.

Still my hope as the Ivy 5th year transfer hopeful. No knowledge of his interest, just thankful for the Ivy League rule, like how he plays, he's tough, he's a leader, and he seems to fit.

Can any of our basketball statistical historians can confirm how many other programs won their first three 1st round games?

I have to imagine the list is rather short.

It took a long time for us to get to the Dance, but we’re having a blast!

Weird fluke of the calendar to be sure, but As far as I can tell, yesterday was NU’s first ever victory n the spring for the men’s basketball team. I’d like to say NU is undefeated in the spring, but they lost a few NIT games over the years.

Is there a place people go to in Chicago to watch big games? Or Evanston?

Down 17 with about 5:00 left, ended the game on a 24-4 run to beat Nevada 63-60. That NU win looks better and better.

Hopefully we can bring the defensive intensity and frustrate them.

It pays, literally, to tie it up late.

Login to view embedded media

They got their 1st ever post-season tournament victory today over UC San Diego 77-75. So losing to them wasn't so bad after all. 😉

Hi all,

Larry (villox) here. We don’t post as much anymore, but I thought I’d let you long-timers know that one of our snarkiest posters, @Fitz51, is undergoing surgery today to have a very rare cancer called a Chordoma removed from his spine. It’s a major surgery done over two days, but he’s having it done at Northwestern by one of the three best surgeons in the world capable of treating it. (You may have seen that the actor Gary Sinise just lost his son to the very same extremely rare disease).

I was the best man in his wedding, and he was the best man at mine. We met freshman year at NU by coincidentally living across the hall from each other and have remained friends ever since, in no small part through our love of Northwestern sports.

Anyway you ex-Rant borders know that we don’t believe much in religion or other forms of cosmic wishes, but I wanted to let you know in case you’d like to wish him well nonetheless. It’s a long recovery ahead so I’m sure he’d appreciate the sentiment.

Go ‘Cats!

Larry

Donovan Starr (TN) and Jayden Sanders (TX).

Login to view embedded media
Login to view embedded media

Welcome Ashley Miller.

Login to view embedded media

Head coach Chris Collins, Boo Buie and Brooks Barnhizer addressed the media today before their matchup with UConn tomorrow night. Here are our takeaways from what they had to say.

Head coach Chris Collins, Boo Buie and Brooks Barnhizer addressed the media today before their matchup with UConn tomorrow night. Here are our takeaways from what they had to say.

Ryan Langborg gets a mention. And I love his high school player photo.

HS ranking: N/A

Langborg may not have had multiple high major offers in high school, but his legend as a scoring machine was cemented after posting a La Jolla Country Day School record 2,456 points for his career then committing to Princeton.

He committed to Northwestern as a grad transfer this season and on Friday posted 27 points to lead the No. 9 Wildcats past No. 8 FAU, 77-65, in overtime.

Random question - heading to Tokyo for a week. Never been before. Anyone know if there is a game watch there (or a good place to watch it tomorrow)?

Back-to-back 20 win seasons. And one helluva coaching performance tonight. His players believe. So great to see. Virtually assured of his 3rd trip to the Big Dance. #PoundTheRock

I cut the last 39 seconds, when we subbed a lot and shot a few free throws, leading 74-61. Barnhizer played the whole game.



Ryan Langborg earns the game ball, with major contributions from Boo Buie and Brooks Barnhizer.
Blake Smith only played 12 minutes, but we were +5 and he grabbed 6 rebounds, including 3 on the offensive end.
Not a great game for Nick Martinelli, who struggled to find his inside scoring against the big Russian (Goldin).
Goldin never left the paint because Hunger didn't hit anything from outside.
But the whole team played hard and Martinelli battled defensively.
NU was much better with Hunger at the 5 than with Preston.

Couple little things... Barnhizer clearly wanted to take the shot at the end of regulation. He's a winner.
I still can't believe Langborg went up to challenge (and block) a 30 foot attempt at the end of regulation in a tie game.
Refs call that a foul almost no matter what happens. Gutsy, maybe even crazy, but it worked!
Then he scored 12 points on 4 shots and 2 free throws in OT.
His perfectly arranged hair was on fire and he was grinning from ear to ear. Pretty awesome to see.