Rapid Reaction: Northwestern downs Boise State 75-67 for first NCAA Tournament

SACRAMENTO — At Northwestern’s Selection Sunday party at Welsh-Ryan Arena, Chris Collins said that a one-song dance wasn’t fun. Much to his enjoyment, these ‘Cats will keep on dancing.

No. 7-seed Northwestern (22-11, 12-8 B1G) defeated the No. 10-seed Boise State Broncos (24-10, 13-5 Mountain West) 75-67 to advance to the Round of 32 and secure its first NCAA Men’s Tournament victory in almost six years. It was a contest marked by its constant scoring, almost the total opposite of the defensive slugfest that many expected from both teams.

Leading Northwestern’s most balanced scoring attack in over a month, Boo Buie scored 22 points on 8-of-14 shooting, becoming the second Northwestern player after Bryant McIntosh to score over 20 points in an NCAA Tournament game. He also added five rebounds and five assists.

Three other Wildcats reached double figures. Chase Audige dropped 20 points with a 5-of-12 mark, including three three-pointers. Ty Berry also put up one of his best games of the season, shooting 3-of-4 from three-point land and 5-of-7 from the field to put up 13 points. Brooks Barnhizer also added 10 points with a 4-of-10 mark from the field.

The Broncos also shot well from the field, making 40% of attempts. Max Rice led Boise State with 17 points, while Naje Smith, Chibuzo Agbo and Marcus Shaver Jr. contributed 12 apiece.

After a few misses on both ends, Matthew Nicholson got the scoring action started with an and-one in a jam-packed paint. Audige soon blew past his defender for a layup of his own. While Boise State was able to get on the board on the following possession with anAgbo three, NU only added to its hot offensive start by answering with a Robbie Beran trey to go up 8-3 on the Broncos.

Despite its cold shooting start, Boise State hammered the offensive boards, picking up three in the first four minutes of play. It culminated in another Agbo three, during which he picked up a technical foul for flopping. Coming out of the under-16, Buie hit one from the charity stripe to give the ‘Cats an 11-8 lead.

A tipped pass by Beran led to another Buie score. NU extended its lead when Brooks Barnhizer somehow snagged a putback off an Audige miss, and seized even more momentum when the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Finalist clogged a passing lane and allowed Nick Martinelli to finish a fastbreak layup. With that bucket, the ‘Cats took a 17-8 lead with a little over 13 minutes to go.

Northwestern couldn’t have started much better offensively. The Wildcats forced five turnovers in the first eight minutes, jumpstarting the team’s transition scoring. Everyone seemed to be getting involved — both as playmakers or scorers — and most of NU generated most of its offensive attack without much early scoring from Buie. Chris Collins was even able to give the star guard a breather early in the game.

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