Chris Collins' expression said it all.
With his hands on his head and an exasperated look on his face, the Northwestern head coach watched as his Wildcats and Georgetown played one of the most stunningly awful sequences of college basketball this season.
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The sequence took place during a game at Georgetown on Nov. 15.
With 9:25 left in the first half and Northwestern up by three, Julian Roper II missed a free throw attempt. The ball fell to a Georgetown player, who tried to pass it to his teammate near the sideline. His teammate threw the ball off Roper to try to save it from going out of bounds, but it bounced right back into the court. A mad scramble ensued, leading to a blocked shot on one end before Roper mishandled a long pass going the other way.
— roundrobin (@roundrobin4me) November 16, 2022
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You can see Collins' expression in the bottom right corner of the photo at the top of this article.
The chaos perfectly encapsulated Northwestern's recent on-court struggles. The team was on a run of five straight losing seasons since a surprise NCAA Tournament appearance in 2017.
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It had also lost two big pieces in the transfer portal over the offseason with the departures of Pete Nance to North Carolina and Ryan Young to Duke, respectively. Based on the sloppiness seen above, it didn't seem as if the Wildcats' fortunes were about to change this season.
But then, something did change.
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They went on to beat Georgetown 75-63 thanks to a second-half offensive flurry. A few weeks later, they upset Michigan State on the road. After a thrilling 84-83 win over No. 15 Indiana in January moved them to 12-3, people started to take notice.
The resurgence was led by senior guard Boo Buie. In his fourth year with the team, he has averaged 17.1 points, 4.5 assists and 3.3 rebounds per game.
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"I just wanted to finish what I started," Buie told ESPN. "My whole thing was I was coming during a rebuild and I told them I wanted to be a part of the next team that makes the NCAA Tournament here. It was my last year and I could have (run), I could have (gone) to another school, joined a winning program and (gone) that route, but I look at that as running."
A win over No. 1 Purdue last month — the first victory in school history over a top-ranked team — was part of a five-game win streak that all but clinched a spot in this year's March Madness.
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The Wildcats (21-11) finished the regular season 12-8 in Big Ten play. They lost in overtime to Penn State in the conference tournament.
Collins was named Big Ten Coach of the Year, while Buie earned first-team All-Big Ten honors. Senior guard Chase Audige was named Big Ten Co-Defensive Player of the Year.
All of that culminated in just the second NCAA Tournament bid in program history.
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"We've had a group of guys that have now played together for two, three years, and have seen things through and have gone through ups and downs," Collins said. "Now we're kind of reaping the rewards of that development."
The 7-seed Wildcats have turned their attention to a first-round matchup against 10-seed Boise State, in which they opened as a slight betting favorite. It's a rare departure from the team's usual status as an underdog.
"I've always been a guy that had a chip on my shoulder and always been doubted my whole entire life," Buie said. "I just used it as more fuel just to motivate me and my guys."
These Wildcats have come a long way since going viral for all the wrong reasons in November. Now, it's time to see if they can keep their magical season alive a little longer.
