Northwestern Basketball: 2019-20 season preview for Wildcats
By Jacob Shames
Northwestern basketball won just 13 games last season and finished last in the Big Ten. Can Chris Collins guide his ultra-young Wildcats back to respectability?
Oh, Northwestern basketball. We hardly knew ye. Or have we merely met again?
The hardest-luck of all losers, the Wildcats did the unthinkable in 2017 — they made the NCAA Tournament. After 78 March Madness-less years, Northwestern was dancing. Not only that, the ‘Cats won their opener over Vanderbilt before taking eventual national runner-up Gonzaga to the wire in the second round.
That gave rise to something even more unthinkable — Northwestern ranked No. 19 to start the 2017-18 season. The backcourt duo of Bryant McIntosh and Scottie Lindsey fostered hopes that the Wildcats might be able to outdo their most magical year.
It…didn’t work out that way.
Northwestern struggled out of the gates, winning just five of its first nine games. It pulled itself together by midseason, though, pulling to 15-10 and 6-6 in the Big Ten by February. After that, the Wildcats didn’t win again.
With the graduation of McIntosh and Lindsey, Northwestern’s downward slide continued last season. The ‘Cats, led by seniors Vic Law and Dererk Pardon, played their heart out, but the roster wasn’t deep nor talented enough to get off the ground in the Big Ten. They slipped to 13-19 and won just four conference games.
Entering 2019-20, no one’s expecting Northwestern to make the NCAA Tournament. All the promise of 2017 has evaporated. But hey, they had their moment. The Wildcats actually made it to the Big Dance.
Now, with a young roster centered around four-star sophomores Miller Kopp and Pete Nance, Chris Collins’ team will attempt to start back from the beginning. The outlook is grim currently, but if enough goes right now, Northwestern might just taste those unforgettable March highs again in the near future.