The most conference wins in program history. Two All-Big Ten honorees. The Big Ten Coach of the Year and the inaugural Assistant Coach of the Year. A second-ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
These are the accolades of last season’s Northwestern squad, whose second-place finish in the Big Ten was the program’s highest since Dwight D. Eisenhower was in the Oval Office.
With the Wildcats’ season-opener against Binghamton less than a month away, a new campaign draws closer with each passing day. At Big Ten Media Day on Tuesday, coach Chris Collins and three players — graduate student guard Boo Buie, senior guard Ty Berry and junior guard Brooks Barnhizer — fielded questions from the media ahead of the 2023-24 season.
As NU searches for another program milestone — making the NCAA Tournament in back-to-back seasons — Collins is not mentioning last year’s success. Returning four of their top six scorers, the ‘Cats have continuity but also boast six new faces — three transfers and three freshmen.
“Our guys have done a very good job so far in the summer and into our preseason practices of understanding that last year is last year,” Collins said. “I purposefully don’t ever mention it with this group because it’s not relevant to this year’s team. We have to be hungry to pursue accomplishments with this team.”
Here are three takeaways from NU’s media appearance in Minneapolis:
Takeaways
1. Replacing Audige on defense
Chase Audige, the reigning Big Ten Co-Defensive Player of the Year, is hooping in the nation’s capital now. With their defensive cornerstone gone, the ‘Cats will still lean on their defensive principles to carry over into the new season, Barnhizer said.
“It’s kind of like a next man up mentality,” Barnhizer told Big Ten Network’s Dave Revsine. “Chase was a great player and we’re going to miss him. But now there’s a new opportunity for other people to come in and be physical. … Hopefully we can just be the same defensive team, if not better.”
Assistant coach Chris Lowery, who ushered in NU’s patented post doubles, enters his second year in Evanston. His defensive renaissance of sorts ultimately saw the ‘Cats finish 22nd in KenPom’s defensive efficiency metric.
NU will be looking to replicate that success again this season. The ‘Cats return one of the conference’s best rim protectors in senior center Matt Nicholson and add sophomore transfer guard Justin Mullins, who averaged 1.5 steals per game as a freshman at the University of Denver.
2. Buie talks potential offensive transformation
While NU’s defense was elite, its offense was not nearly as dominant. The ‘Cats shot just 32.1% from 3-point range, which ranked 282nd in the nation, according to KenPom.
Collins expects Berry to improve his career-worst 29.1% mark from distance last season. Buie pointed to all three transfers — Mullins, graduate student guard Ryan Langborg and graduate student forward Blake Preston — as sources of potential offensive sparks as well, in particular Langborg.
Langborg, one of Princeton’s NCAA Tournament heroes last spring, is a career 36.3% 3-point shooter. Buie said Langborg is “another older guy who just knows what he’s doing,” one who can bring both shooting and playmaking to the offense.
“So far, just in this preseason, we’ve been really shooting it and moving it well and playing really connected,” Buie said. “The offense has been flowing really well.”
3. Student support in Welsh-Ryan Arena
There was unprecedented turnout at men’s basketball games last winter, prompting the Athletics Department to issue a new points-based system for students to secure tickets this year.
The impact of the student section’s support is not lost on Collins and his squad.
“Hopefully we can really recreate those similar atmospheres,” Collins said. “I really thought it probably helped us to three or four more wins. And that’s a big deal when you’re fighting to be a postseason team, you’re fighting to be in the upper echelon of the league.”
While talking to Revsine, Barnhizer echoed a similar sentiment to Collins. The Lafayette, Indiana, native said the increased support is a testament to the trajectory of the program.
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