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

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

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 early-season tournaments were the 2K Sports Classic, Charleston Classic, and Puerto Rico Tip-Off. The season ended with the 2017 NCAA Division I men' ...

. 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, among others) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Fa ...

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

and

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

before losing to

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

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 th ...

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 peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

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 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 The United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) was founded in 1956 with the urging of National Collegiate Athletic Association director Walter Byers to serve the interests of journalists who cover college basketball. Scholarships The U ...

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 one of two private universities in the conference, the other ...

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