Wildcats come up short in Big Ten quarterfinal...again

MINNEAPOLIS-It was deja vu, times two, for Northwestern in its 70-61 loss to Wisconsin in the Big Ten quarterfinals.

The Wildcats couldn't break through in the second half against Wisconsin, again, after their 71-63 loss at the Kohl Center in early January. And, to add insult to injury, Northwestern was sent home in its first game after earning a double-bye to the conference tournament, just like in 2023, when they lost in overtime to 10th-seeded Penn State.

Boo Buie led the Wildcats, as he has all season, with 29 points. He was the only Northwestern player to make more than three field goals in the game.

However, Buie wasn't the game's leading scorer. That honor went to Wisconsin's AJ Storr, who was equally sensational with 30 points to lead the red-hot Badgers to the semis.

"We came here with the idea of trying to make a run in this tournament," head coach Chris Collins said. "It's a disappointing loss today and we have to get home, get ourselves rested up and see what's next for us this weekend."

Northwestern is now 10-27 (.270) all-time in Big Ten Tournament play, the worst mark in the conference. The Wildcats made it as far as the semifinals just once in their history, in 2017.

Here are our takeaways from Northwestern's tough trip to Minneapolis:

No long-term concern for Buie: The hearts of Northwestern fans everywhere leapt to their throats as Buie grimaced in pain and clutched his knee after Tyler Wahl fell on him in the first half. Buie missed 2:20 of game action on the bench in conversations and evaluation with Jeff Tanaka, Northwestern's associate director of athletic training services.

"No, I'm alright," Buie said about any long-term concern. "I just hit in the knee, quick stinger, but I'm alright."

Buie was held scoreless the rest of the first half after his return, but went right back to work with 13 second-half points to assuage any concerns that he might a short-term issue, either.

Collins did not provide an update on injured center Matthew Nicholson, who did not appear to travel with the team to Minneapolis. Collins said the team has not ruled Nicholson out for the NCAA Tournament next week, though Nicholson was in crutches and a walking boot at Senior Night on March 9.

Badgers made Boo beat them: Wisconsin hounded Buie to the best of their abilities, but really tightened the screws on Northwestern's other key players. Brooks Barnhizer, Nick Martinelli and Ryan Langborg, the alternate offensive engines for the Wildcats, finished with just 24 combined points on 8-for-31 from the field.

"It's going to be really hard for us to beat an NCAA quality opponent if we go 8-for-31 with those three guys," Collins said.

Without Ty Berry and Nicholson to alleviate offensive pressure, the Badgers locked in on Northwestern's secondary scorers and there wasn't enough offensive production to keep the Wildcats in it.

angborg fouled out late in the game and Northwestern's struggles intensified. The Wildcats scored just seven points in the 5:30 once Langborg exited for good. Northwestern finished with two points and no field goals from their bench.

"I feel for Chris and Northwestern because I know how they were humming with Berry and Nicholson," Wisconsin head coach Greg Gard said. "You can pull other guys in but it disrupts what you've been building for months."

Barnhizer, who was voted to the Big Ten's Third Team this week by the media, also struggled, going 3-for-15 from the field. He also tallied 14 rebounds in his 40 minutes.

"I don't," Collins said, ever adamant, on if Barnhizer's responsibilities elsewhere hurt his offensive output. "I just think he missed some shots...It's basketball.

"You look at the best players in the world, there's nights that great players go 3-for-15, or in the NBA sometimes, it's 6-for-25. It happens.You don't make shots all the time."

Barnhizer is working to put the game behind him and focus on this team's likely trip to the NCAA Tournament.

"I definitely didn't play a great offensive game," he said. "But I think the beauty of this game, and the beauty of March, is whatever position we put ourselves in today, we have a chance to come back out and play again. We have to learn from this, come back, and go get the next one."

No panic from Collins through shades of 2022-23: Last season, a red-hot Nittany Lions team upset the Wildcats in overtime in the quarterfinals, on their way to the Big Ten Championship game against Purdue and an NCAA Tournament berth. It was Northwestern's fourth loss in their last five games.

The Wildcats, a No. 7 seed, bounced back to beat Boise State in their opening NCAA game, and gave No. 2-seeded UCLA all they could handle in the second round.

This year, after another quarterfinal loss leaves the Wildcats as losers of three of their last four heading into this year's postseason.

"There's zero panic," Collins said. "We lost to a team that's going to be a 5- or 6-seed in the NCAA Tournament... There's zero panic. We believe we can win. We believe we're good. We believe we can compete with anybody we play against."

It was still hard for Collins to send Buie out of Big Ten play with a loss.

"[It] was disappointing because Boo was amazing," Collins said. "It's kind of fitting that in the last Big Ten game he ever plays, he played like that on this stage. Twenty-nine points, seven threes. He did everything in his power to keep us in it, and we just weren't able to get the other guys going this afternoon."

Cats looking forward to extra days of rest: It was a hard loss to stomach, but Northwestern's season is not over. The Wildcats will tune in on Selection Sunday to find out their future, and they are a virtual lock to make back-to-back tournaments for the first time in school history.

Within an hour of the loss, Collins was already finding the silver lining.

"In hindsight, it's not the worst thing," Collins said. "The worst thing would be to play three games then lose in the championship...but as a competitor, you don't see it that way."

The silver lining is that Northwestern gets at least six days, should they play their first game on Thursday, and an entire week should it be Friday.

Langborg played the entire game with the clunky brace still enveloping his right ankle. Backup center Blake Preston appeared to hurt his shoulder going for a block and played the second half with it swathed in a wrap. And it means more rest for Buie and Barnhizer, who have taken on such an intense workload in Big Ten play.

Both of Northwestern's stars were disappointed in today's result, but they have kept their eyes on the prize.

"We're looking forward to our next game," Buie said. "We want to make a run in the next tournament."