The 2022–23 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

2022–23 NCAA Division I men's basketball season The 2022–23 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began on November 7, 2022. The regular season ended on March 12, 2023, with the 2023 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament beginning with the First Four on March 14 and ending with th ...

. They were led by 10th-year head coach Chris Collins. The Wildcats played their home games at

Welsh–Ryan Arena Welsh–Ryan Arena is a 7,039-seat multi-purpose arena in Evanston, Illinois, United States, near the campus of Northwestern University. It is home to four Northwestern Wildcats athletic teams: Northwestern Wildcats men's basketball, men's basket ...

Evanston, Illinois Evanston is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States, situated on the North Shore (Chicago), North Shore along Lake Michigan. A suburb of Chicago, Evanston is north of Chicago Loop, downtown Chicago, bordered by Chicago to the south, Skok ...

as 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 ...

. They finished the season 21–10, 12–8 in Big Ten play, to finish in a tie for second place, their highest finish since the 1958–59 season. This season was also notable as the first time Northwestern defeated a number-one ranked opponent, during a home game against

Purdue Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donat ...

on February 12. As the No. 2 seed in the

Big Ten tournament Big Ten Tournament can refer to any Big Ten Conference sport that has a tournament or championship game: * Big Ten Football Championship Game * Big Ten men's basketball tournament * Big Ten women's basketball tournament * Big Ten baseball tournamen ...

, they were upset in the quarterfinals by No. 10 seed

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with ca ...

. The Wildcats received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament, their second-ever appearance, where they named as the No. 7 seed in the West Region. The Wildcats defeated

Boise State Boise State University (BSU) is a public research university in Boise, Idaho, United States. Founded in 1932 by the Episcopal Church, it became an independent junior college in 1934 and has been awarding baccalaureate and master's degrees It ...

in the first round before falling to

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

in the second round, closing their season with an overall record of 22–12.

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 2021–22 season 15–16, 7–13 in Big Ten play, to finish in a three-way tie for 10th place. As the No. 12 seed in the

, they defeated

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

in the first round before losing to

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

in the second round.

Offseason

Departures

Incoming transfers

Recruiting classes

2022 recruiting class

2023 recruiting class

Roster

Schedule and results

In the team's December 4, 2022

2022–23 Big Ten Conference men's basketball season The 2022–23 Big Ten men's basketball season was the season for Big Ten Conference basketball teams that began with practices in October 2022, followed by the start of the 2022–23 NCAA Division I men's basketball season in November 2022. The r ...

opener against 20th-ranked

Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the ...

, Northwestern won on the road as 5.5-point underdogs. They defeated 15th-ranked

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

on the road as 6-point underdogs on January 8, 2023. The Wildcats' originally scheduled game against

on January 18, 2023 was postponed due to

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

protocols within the Northwestern program. The game was rescheduled for January 31. The next game against

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 ...

on January 21 was also postponed due to COVID-19 protocols at Northwestern. On February 11 Northwestern defeated

, earning its first-ever victory over an AP poll number one-ranked team. In the subsequent game on February 15, Northwestern established a school record with its fourth victory of the season over a ranked opponent by defeating 14th-ranked Indiana in a rematch. The victory also marked the first time the Wildcats had defeated ranked opponents in back-to-back games since the 2008–09 Northwestern Wildcats did so in January 2009. , - !colspan=9 style=, Exhibition , - !colspan=9 style=, Regular season , - !colspan=9 style=, Big Ten tournament , - !colspan=12 style=, NCAA tournament Source:

Rankings

*AP does not release post-NCAA tournament rankings.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2022-23 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 ...

Northwestern Wildcats men's basketball seasons

Northwestern Wildcats men's basketball The Northwestern Wildcats men's basketball team is an NCAA Division I college basketball team representing Northwestern University in the Big Ten Conference. Men's basketball was introduced at Northwestern in 1901. Since 2013, the team has been co ...

Northwestern