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. 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. The Wildcats have won two Big Ten conference championships (1931 and 1933).

History

Northwestern began its inaugural season of intercollegiate play in 1904–05, losing its first game to the University of Chicago 19–34. They went 2–2 in their first season, losing to the University of Chicago twice, and defeating Beloit and Iowa.

Although Northwestern had great success in the early 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; while the NCAA lists the historical Helms selections for reference, neither the Helms nor the Premo-Porretta titles are officially recognized as NCAA national championships. Northwestern has won only one other conference title, in 1933. It has only finished better than fourth place twice since World War II, and did not have a winning record in conference play from 1968 until 2017. Only the 2003–04 team managed a .500 conference record during that time. 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. The Wildcats have also appeared in the National Invitation Tournament seven times (1983, 1994, 1999, 2009–2012).

The first NCAA tournament championship was held at Northwestern in March 1939. 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. Northwestern won its first tournament game, defeating Vanderbilt 68–66. The Wildcats lost in the second round to No. 1-seeded Gonzaga.

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.

The 2022–23 team finished in a tie for second place in the Big Ten regular season, its best finish in the conference since the 1958–59 season.

Coaching history

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 162–16367–121 Totals 1,148–1,586–1 519–1,083 2 Sources:

Postseason

NCAA Division I tournament results The Wildcats have appeared in the NCAA tournament three times. Their record is 3–3. 2017 No. 8 First roundSecond round No. 9 VanderbiltNo. 1 Gonzaga W 68–66L 73–79 2023 No. 7 First roundSecond round No. 10 Boise State No. 2 UCLA W 75–67 L 63–68 2024 No. 9 First roundSecond round No. 8 Florida AtlanticNo. 1 UConn W 77–65 OTL 58–75

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

1983 First roundSecond round Notre DameDePaul W 71–57L 63–65 1994 First roundSecond round DePaulXavier W 69–68L 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 roundSecond roundQuarterfinals MilwaukeeBoston CollegeWashington State W 70–61W 85–67L 66–69 OT 2012 First roundSecond round AkronWashington W 76–74L 55–76

Notable players

All-time statistical leaders

Career leaders Points scored: Nick Martinelli (2,187, 2020–2024) Assists: Bryant McIntosh (700, 2014–2018) Rebounds: Evan Eschmeyer (995, 1995–1999) Steals: Pat Baldwin (272, 1990–1994) Blocks: Alexandru Olah (181, 2013–2016)

Single-season leaders Points scored: Nick Martinelli (759, 2026) 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:

All-Americans 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:

References

External links

College Basketball Reference page