Northwestern Faces UCLA with Sweet Sixteen Berth at Stake

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Northwestern will make its second appearance in the NCAA Tournament Second Round when it squares off with  No. 7 UCLA on Saturday, March 18 at 7:40 p.m. CT inside Golden 1 Center in Sacramento. Brad Nessler (play-by-play), Brendon Haywood (analyst) and Dana Jacobson (sideline) will have the call on TNT, while Dave Eanet (play-by-play) and Billy McKinney (analyst) have the radio call on ESPN 1000 WMVP.

The seventh-seeded Wildcats (22-11) secured their second-ever NCAA Tournament win with a 75-67 victory over Boise State on Thursday night. NU led by as many as 12 points and never trailed in the wire-to-wire win. The ‘Cats had four players score in double figures, led by Boo Buie who had a game-high 22 points to go along with a game-high five assists. Chase Audige added 20 points, six rebounds and four steals and Ty Berry helped out with 13 points and six rebounds. Brooks Barnhizer notched 10 points, marking his seventh consecutive game in double figures.

The Wildcats claimed their 22nd win of the season, their second-most in a single-season in program history, trailing only the 24 wins during the 2016-17 season. The 2022-23 ‘Cats set the program record for Big Ten wins (12) and tied the program record for regular season wins (21). Northwestern’s No. 7-seed also represents the highest seed in school history.

No. 7 UCLA will be Northwestern’s fifth opponent this season that is ranked in the AP Poll. Northwestern is 4-1 with four straight wins against the AP Top 25, the longest streak in school history. Earlier this season, Northwestern claimed its first win in program history over the nation’s No. 1 team this season when it beat Purdue 64-58 on Feb. 12 inside Welsh-Ryan Arena.

With his 22 points, Buie moved into fifth place in program history with 570 total points, passing Evan Eschmeyer’s total of 568 points from the 1998-99 season. Buie is 12 points from a tie for fourth place with Dale Kelley (1969-70) and 15 points from tying Eschmeyer’s 1997-98 total for third place.

Chase Audige tallied 20 points, six rebounds and four steals in his 100th career start. The Coram, N.Y. native led the ‘Cats with 13 points in the second half. Audige passed 200 career steals in the first half.

Two of the four finalists for the 2023 Naismith Men’s Defensive Player of the Year award will be in action at Golden 1 Center on Saturday night, with Audige and UCLA’s Jaylen Clark. Audige ranks sixth nationally with 80 steals, while Clark ranks…