SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Composure is a vital attribute to have if you want to survive and advance in March.
With eight minutes left and a five-point lead, Northwestern coach Chris Collins signaled to his team to calm down. It had just fumbled another scoring opportunity in transition, and the image of NU throwing away a lead it had held all game was getting too close to reality.
That is, until the players regained their composure.
“We had great poise,” Collins said. “Every time they tried to speed us up and get us going a little bit too fast, we settled down, executed and scored.”
Collins credited senior guards Boo Buie and Chase Audige, who led the Wildcats to a strong finish Thursday in a 75-67 victory against Boise State and a trip to the second round for the second time in program history after its first in 2017.
“The advice that [the 2017 team] has given is unexplainable,” Audige said. “Seeing what all of this means to the Northwestern community, the people who have been waiting for another [NCAA Tournament win] is amazing. We just want to keep it going.”
Defense was expected to define No. 7 NU’s matchup against No. 10 Boise State. The Wildcats had seven steals and converted nine Broncos turnovers into 10 points.
But they were outdone on the boards. NU gave up 12 offensive rebounds down the stretch and 20 in all for 20 second-chance points. They were outrebounded 41-33.
“We had a hard time,” Collins said. “We have to do a better job blocking out against whoever we face Saturday. This time of year, you can’t give up those second-chance opportunities.”
Collins spoke Wednesday about needing big performances from Buie and Audige, his two leading scorers.
After Audige was held to six points in the Wildcats’ loss to Penn State in the Big Ten tournament, Collins had no concerns about how he would come out against the Broncos because of his unwavering confidence.
Audige responded with 20 points and went 7-for-8 from the free-throw line. Buie was the game’s leading scorer with 22 points and had five rebounds and five assists. Ty Berry had 13 points, and Brooks Barnhizer added 10. NU shot 49.1% from the field and 38.1% from three-point range.
It held the Broncos to 26.1% shooting from three-point range.
“For me, it wasn’t about having a big game,” Audige said. “If I had five points and we won, I would feel the same exact way. It’s so hard to get here and advance against a really good team in Boise State that gave us trouble down the stretch.”
All season long, Collins’ team has proved its many doubters wrong. The Wildcats used the negativity as fuel. Before they embarked on the cross-country trek, Buie was asked what surprised him most about this season.
“Nothing,” he responded.
NU has been saying it had enough to return to this stage all season. On Saturday, we’ll find out if the Wildcats have enough to take it a step further.
“Ever since we met on Day 1 as a team in the summer, there was a lot of negativity about what the future of the program was,” Collins said. “[People said] we didn’t have enough talent, the coach doesn’t know what he’s doing and all those things. We got together and said we had enough.”
