Cats left it all on the floor in NCAA Tournament loss to UCLA

MARCH MADNESS TAKEAWAYS: UCLA 68, Northwestern 63

SACRAMENTO-As head coach Chris Collins answered questions in the post-game press conference, Chase Audige and Boo Buie sat on either side of him, staring into space.

They looked tired. Emotionally drained. Spent.

They looked like two players who had just left everything they had out on the floor. Because that's exactly what they did in Northwestern's 68-63 NCAA Tournament second-round loss to UCLA on Saturday night in Sacramento.

The end comes suddenly in college basketball. One moment, you're going toe-to-toe with a college basketball heavyweight. The next, the season is over.

While Collins articulated the nuances of the game and how proud he was of the team, Audige and Buie just sat in their chairs, looking shellshocked.

The end didn't work out like they'd hoped. But what a fight they put up.

Northwestern, the underdog No. 7 seed, trailed No. 2 UCLA by 13 early in the second half, and the faster, more athletic Bruins looked like they were on the verge of breaking the game open.

But just as they'd done all season, the Wildcats fought back. With the same ferocity they used to rally from an eight-point deficit to beat No. 1 Purdue in mid-February and deliver the biggest win in program history, Northwestern clawed back into the game against the Bruins.

"I wasn't surprised the way we played in the second half because, you know what, that's what these guys have been, that's what our team has been all year long," said Collins. "We have a fighter's spirit. We go to the next play. If we get knocked down, we keep fighting, we keep battling.

"I could not have been prouder of my guys. I think as a coach, all you ever really ask for is for your guys to leave it on the floor and give everything they have, emotionally, physically, their communication. We did all that."

A dunk by Matt Nicholson, who scored a career-high 17 points, sparked the rally. Then Audige, who went scoreless in the first half but scored 16 in the second, got hot and put the team on his back.

Suddenly, after Buie hit a layup, the score was knotted at 45-45 with 11:28 left and chants of "Go U! NU!" were ringing out in the arena that had just heard "U-C-L-A!" cheers just minutes before.

But after the ensuing media timeout, UCLA's Jaime Jaquez, who scored 24 points and whom Northwestern never figured out how to guard, hit a tough bucket in the lane over Brooks Barnhizer. The Wildcats would end up trailing the rest of the game.

But they had their chances. Northwestern pulled to within one point, two points and three points multiple times. Collins singled out one instance, in particular, after Buie hit a step-back three-pointer over Amari Bailey to make it 57-54 with 4:34 to go.

On the Wildcats' next possession Audige rose for a triple that looked true. But it bounced around the rim and rolled out.

"Chase has a three that goes in and out," said Collins. "We had a drive late, they go down and make a three. Sometimes a guy makes a shot and you miss a shot, and that's the difference in an NCAA tournament game."

UCLA coach Mick Cronin, calling Northwestern "a grizzled, tough team," wasn't surprised by the Wildcats’ resilience. Neither was Audige, who also had a team-high seven assists.

"Coming into the second half, we had to lay everything on the line. We knew it was going to be a war throughout," he said.

Audige, the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, and Buie, a first-team All-Big Ten pick, formed the nucleus of this team all season. Both were asked how this game, and this season, might impact their decisions to come back for the extra COVID year of eligibility they both have available.

They both declined to answer.

"I'm really not thinking about that right now," said Audige. "We put everything into this game. We put everything into trying to make a run at the national championship."

"Like Chase said, we had our whole hearts into winning this tournament," said Buie, who led Northwestern with 18 points. "We really believed, even though other people didn't believe. We're just going to go back, get rest, figure it out later."

"But our hearts were left out on the floor tonight."