The 2016–17 Northwestern Wildcats men's basketball team represented

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

in the

2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season The 2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began on November 11, 2016. The first tournament was the 2K Sports Classic, and ended with the Final Four in Glendale, Arizona on April 3, 2017. Practices officially began on September 30, 20 ...

. They were led by fourth-year head coach Chris Collins. They were members of the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

and played their home games at Welsh-Ryan Arena. They finished the season 24–12, 10–8 in Big Ten play to finish in a tie for fifth place. In the Big Ten tournament, they defeated

Rutgers Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and w ...

and

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

before losing to

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

in the semifinals. They received the school's first ever bid to the NCAA tournament as a No. 8 seed in the West region. In the First Round, they defeated No. 9-seeded Vanderbilt before losing to No. 1-seeded Gonzaga in the Second Round.

Previous season

The

Wildcats The wildcat is a species complex comprising two small wild cat species: the European wildcat (''Felis silvestris'') and the African wildcat (''F. lybica''). The European wildcat inhabits forests in Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus, while the ...

finished the 2015–16 season with a record 20–12, 8–10 in Big Ten play to finish in ninth place. They lost to

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

in the second round of the Big Ten tournament.

Offseason

Departures

Recruiting classes

2016 recruiting class

2017 recruiting class

Roster

Sanjay Lumpkin and Bryant McIntosh were named captain.

Schedule and results

Season notes

The team had a winning record in conference play for the first time since the went 8–6. The 10 conference wins was the most since the . The team was ranked in the

AP Poll The Associated Press poll (AP poll) provides weekly rankings of the top 25 NCAA teams in one of three Division I college sports: football, men's basketball and women's basketball. The rankings are compiled by polling 62 sportswriters and broad ...

for the first time since the . The team's buzzer-beating 21st victory on March 1 against

established a new school record for wins in a season. The team earned the school's first NCAA tournament bid in school history, becoming the last team from a major conference to achieve the feat. , - !colspan=9 style=, Exhibition , - !colspan=9 style=, Non-conference regular season , - !colspan=9 style=, Big Ten regular season , - !colspan=9 style=, Big Ten tournament , - !colspan=9 style=, NCAA tournament

Rankings

*AP does not release post-NCAA tournament rankings

Honors

McIntosh was named to the All-Big Ten second team by the coaches and the media. Scottie Lindsey was named to the third team by the coaches and honorable mention by the media. Vic Law was selected to the All-Big Ten Defensive team. McIntosh was one of ten Big Ten players honored as All-District selections by the United States Basketball Writers Association.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2016-17 Northwestern Wildcats Men's Basketball Team

Northwestern Wildcats The Northwestern Wildcats are the athletic teams that represent Northwestern University, located in Evanston, Illinois. Northwestern is a founding member of the Big Ten Conference and the only private university in the conference. Northwestern ...

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