Northwestern basketball looks to rebound from last season's collapse

Northwestern looked to be a surprise team early last season, one capable of making it to the NCAA Tournament for the second time in school history.

Taking a 3-1 record into Big Ten play, the Wildcats won their first three conference games, taking down fourth-ranked Michigan State, Indiana and No. 23 Ohio State.

Everything fell apart after that - NU lost its next 13 in a row and finished the season with a 9-15 record.

Coach Chris Collins guided the Wildcats to their first NCAA appearance in 2016-17, but the program has been unable to build on the historic success. Even worse, Northwestern is 17-38 over the last two seasons and Collins' seat is only getting warmer.

Nonetheless, the Wildcats return six veteran players and are optimistic heading into the season.

"Pete Nance, Ryan Young, Ryan Greer, Chase Audige, four guys that are in their fourth year of college basketball, all guys that have become tremendous leaders for us, guys that have been key players," Collins said at last month's Big Ten media gathering in Indianapolis. "I think all of them are primed to be even better this year. The way they've led our program throughout this spring and summer, really proud of that.

"You add guys like Boo Buie, Robbie Beran to that group, they've been guys who have played a lot of basketball, they've been guys that have shown they can be really good players in this league."

First game:

Tuesday vs. Eastern Illinois at Welsh-Ryan Arena.

Top returnees:

Nance, forward; Audige, guard; Buie, guard; Young, center.

Audige was NU's leading scorer last season, averaging 12.3 points per game. Nance and Buie both averaged over 10 ppg.

New faces:

Elyjah Williams, forward (graduate student, Fairleigh Dickinson); Casey Simmons, guard (Milton Academy).

An Evanston native, Williams brings some needed toughness to the Wildcats and the 6-foot-7, 220-pounder has also developed a 3-point shot.

Key losses:

Miller Kopp (transfer, Indiana); Anthony Gaines, guard.

Worth noting:

Northwestern is excited about freshman Brooks Barnhizer, a scoring machine at Jefferson High School in Lafayette, Ind.

The 6-foot-6 guard averaged 32.7 points per game last year. Barnhizer broke his foot over the summer but he's healthy and ready to contribute.

Top games:

Dec. 18 vs. DePaul; Jan. 2 vs. Michigan State; Jan. 29 vs. Illinois.