BROOKLYN-With 1:24 left in the game, Boo Buie was subbed out for the last time of his Northwestern career.
The Wildcats had long before lost this lopsided NCAA Tournament second-round game to UConn at the Barclays Center. The No. 1 Huskies’ lead had ballooned to 30 points in the second half, but the Wildcats mounted a late run to make the final score a more respectable 75-58.
Head coach Chris Collins embraced his star point guard and whispered into his ear. The two of them held each other for an impossibly long time as the Northwestern fan base rose from their seats and chanted, “Thank you, Boo!”
It was a dramatic finish to a game that had very little drama.
Buie looked more shellshocked than anything as he made his way down the bench, hugging every player and coach. He moved on to assistant Brian James. His brother, assistant coach Talor Battle, was openly crying, as the two hugged each other, as they have countless times since they were both children, and thumped each other’s backs with their fists. Then it was Bryant McIntosh, another star point guard for Collins. Then all the players.
Collins said he was dreading taking his star out of the game for the last time.
“I was hoping it would last a few more games,” he said. “I knew the time would come. It's been a special journey. He mentioned it, just he and I, the bond you have with your point guard, the ups, the downs, the frustrations, the joys.
“We have become very close through all that, and you know, I'm just thankful for him. I mean, he's now set the standard. He's the GOAT, in my opinion, for our program. He is. I mean, for what he's done, not only with the records, the legacy as a winner, but just the credibility that he's helped give our program.”
Buie said that he and Collins also reflected on his career and what the two of them together were able to accomplish.
“We were just talking about our relationship and how we got the program [to the tournament in] back-to-back [years], and everything that we talked about building, we were able to do,” he said.
Buie, Northwestern’s all-time scoring leader and quite possibly the best player in school history, deserved a better sendoff than this game. He didn’t go out with a bang, as he had hoped, but with a whimper, as the Wildcats were outclassed and outplayed by the Huskies from the jump.
The Wildcats needed to play an almost perfect game to have a chance against the defending national champs. Instead, they may have had their worst performance of the year as they fell behind 11-2 in less than five minutes. By halftime were dead and buried at 40-18.
And Buie suffered through a personal nightmare of a game, shooting 2-for-15 from the floor and scoring just nine points, tied for his second-lowest output of the season. He was unable to get on track as the Husky defense hounded him on the three-point line, and he failed to sink any of his three attempts from long distance.
The tone was set early in the game, when Buie drove into an empty lane for one of his patented floaters, and it rolled off the back of the rim and out. Buie went 0-for-6 in the first half and had just two points on a pair of free throws. He didn’t make a basket until just 10:02 remained in the game.
Another play in the second half was indicative of the kind of night it was for the Wildcats. Buie and Langborg -- two of NU's best and most experienced players -- botched a simple handoff at the top of the circle that they've done a thousand times before, and Tristen Newton stole it away and took it in for a dunk.
Again and again, Buie courageously drove to the basket but was unable to finish, as shot after shot bounced off the rim.
UConn’s lead reached 30 points with 13:27 to go. Shortly afterward, in a timeout, the Wildcats decided they were going to go down swinging.
Collins said that he was proud of how Northwestern cut into the lead, score be damned.
“We were down 28, and we just said, like, this year has been too special, this year has been too good. We have fought so hard. We are going to fight to the finish,” said Collins. “And it's not about the score right now. It's about the standards of this program and the culture that was created this year, and last year. I mean, these last couple years, the standard that's been created for how we fight, how hard we play, and if we are going to go down, that's how we are going to go down.”
“I'm not surprised that the guys finished the last 12 minutes the way they did because that's who they have been all year long.”
Ryan Langborg, who finished with 13 points, got hot and hit three straight three-pointers. Brooks Barnhizer, who was shut out in the first half but scored all of his team-high 18 points in the second, hit a tough bank shot in the lane to cut the lead to 66-47.
Finally, Northwestern was playing the way they had all year, with fearlessness, grit and confidence. The NU crowd started chanting, “Let’s go Cats!” in an effort to spur their team. There was some electricity in the air for the first time all night.
Buie finally got another shot to fall, and converted a three-point play to make it 66-50 with 5:26 to go, forcing UConn to call a timeout. It was the highlight of the game for the Wildcats’ leader.
But that was it. The Wildcats would get no closer, and Collins was left to sub for Buie, Barnhizer and Langborg so the crowd could show their appreciation.
Undaunted by the loss, Buie summed up what it meant for him to be a Wildcat these last five years.
"It means the world. It's bigger than today's game. You know, it's just more so that I won't be able to ever put the uniform on again.
“I can say that I'm proud of what we have been able to do this season and last season,” said Buie. “Coach and I have really been building this since I was a freshman. I mean, just looking back on this year and all the adversity we got through, and to still persevere and make it to the NCAA Tournament and get past the first round and play No. 1 UConn. I mean, I just got to have a lot of gratitude, you know, despite the loss.
“But the university itself has just shown me so much love and support, and I know I'm going to always come back to Evanston and people are going to welcome me, and it's because that's my family.”
