It was a historic season for Northwestern. Now, several Wildcats have the hardware to prove it.
Two players and two coaches won major conference awards on Tuesday, after the Wildcats finished second in the Big Ten standings, the highest finish for the program since 1958-59.
Head coach Chris Collins
Head coach Chris Collins was named Big Ten Coach of the Year by both media and coaches after leading the Wildcats to 12 conference wins for the first time in school history.
The Wildcats (21-10 overall, 12-8 Big Ten) were picked by most observers to finish 13th in the Big Ten this season but wound up second. Collins' squad beat four ranked teams in a season for the first time in school history, including the first-ever win over the No. 1 team in the nation (Purdue, on Feb. 12).
Northwestern's 21 wins are the second-most in school history, and the Cats are a lock to appear in the NCAA Tournament for just the second time ever.
Guard Chase Audige
Senior guard Chase Audige won the co-Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year award after finishing the regular season with 74 steals, the most in the Big Ten and eighth-most nationally. He is the second Wildcat to win the award, following in the footsteps of Pat Baldwin in 1994.
Audige, who shared the conference honor with Rutgers' Caleb McConnel, is also a semifinalist for the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year award.
Audige was also named Second Team All-Big Ten by the media, and Third Team All-Big Ten by the coaches. He posted 14.1 points and 2.8 assists per game for the Wildcats, second-most on the team in both categories. He scored a career-high 28 points in an 83-45 rout of DePaul on Dec. 17.
Guard Boo Buie
Senior guard Boo Buie was named First Team All-Big Ten by the media, and Second Team All-Big Ten by the coaches. Buie led Northwestern with 17.5 points and 4.6 assists per game, averages that ranked fourth and sixth in the league, respectively.
The heart-and-soul of the Wildcats, Buie scored in double figures in 12 out of 20 conference games, topped by a career-high 35 points against Illinois on Feb. 23. He was named Big Ten Player of the Week twice this season while scoring 532 points, the 10th-most by a Wildcat in school history.
Buie's scoring average of 17.5 per game is the most by a Wildcat since John Shurna, who scored 20 per contest in 2011-12. Buie also leads all Big Ten players by making 87.6% of his free throws this season.
The Wildcats' floor general is also a finalist for the Bob Cousy Award, given annually to the nation's best point guard.
Assistant coach Chris Lowery
First-year assistant coach Chris Lowery was honored as the inaugural winner of the Howard Moore Assistant Coach of the Year award.
Lowery was credited by Collins for the outstanding play of Northwestern's defense, the unit that carried the team all season. The Wildcats rank second in the Big Ten and 18th nationally after allowing just 62.3 points per game, a 7.6-point drop from last season. The Wildcats limited opponents to just 41.2% shooting, the second-best mark in the Big Ten.
Lowery's award is named after Wisconsin assistant coach Howard Moore.
In addition to those four Wildcats, senior captain Robbie Beran was selected as a Big Ten Sportsmanship Award honoree.
The No. 2-seeded Wildcats earned a double-bye in the Big Ten Tournament and will face either No. 7 Illinois or No. 10 Penn State in a quarterfinal matchup on Friday night at the United Center in Chicago (5:30 p.m. CT, BTN).
