NCAA preview: Northwestern faces FAU with common goals
Northwestern and Florida Atlantic are separated by more than 1,300 miles as well as a vast gap in resources between a school that’s been in the Big Ten for a century and one that just joined the American Athletic Conference.
But when it comes to men’s basketball, the schools are similar.
A pair of programs looking to build on their recent unprecedented success will meet in an NCAA Tournament East Regional firstround game Friday afternoon, when No. 8 Florida Atlantic opposes No. 9 Northwestern in the first of four games at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
Florida Atlantic (25-8) received an at-large bid after falling to Temple 74-73 in the AAC semifinals Saturday night. Northwestern (21-11) also earned an at-large bid after losing 70-61 to Wisconsin in the Big Ten quarterfinals Friday afternoon.
This will be the second straight NCAA Tournament appearance and third overall berth for both schools.
But the road to perennial contention has been a shorter one for Florida Atlantic, which moved to Division I in 1993 and mounted a Cinderella run to the Final Four last April, when the Owls fell to fellow mid-major San Diego State 72-71 on Lamont Butler’s buzzer-beater.
Every player with eligibility returned for Florida Atlantic, which began the season in the AP Top 10 and climbed as high as No. 7 before slipping out of the poll in mid-February. The Owls finished second in the AAC at 14-4, two games behind South Florida, though their regular-season league losses were by 13 points combined.
“We knew that we were going to have a number of challenges this season after last year, and a lot of times, teams aren’t able to knock the wall down and keep going,” Florida Atlantic head coach Dusty May said.
“It just shows the character, the substance, the work ethic of our guys to stay together, despite every loss feeling like we were letting people down and we were falling short of expectations. It’s more of just a credit to their resolve and the determination and who they are as people.”
A second straight trip to March Madness is also uniquely satisfying for Northwestern, which snapped a 77-year drought by finally making its first NCAA Tournament in
2017. The Wildcats endured five straight losing seasons before returning last spring, when they beat Boise State 75-67 in the first round before falling 68-63 to UCLA.
Northwestern coach Chris Collins was also able to retain most of his core, including graduate senior Boo Buie, who became the school’s all-time leading scorer this season.
“We went the first time and then we didn’t do as well the next year, that was a fluke, and then we did it last year and everything was going to be like it was the time before,” Collins said. “And these guys just refused to believe that narrative. We’re writing our own story. So happy for these players. All they’ve done all year is just show up every day and work their butts off.”
Junior guard Johnell Davis leads Florida Atlantic with 18.2 points and 3.0 assists per game while ranking second with 6.3 rebounds per game. Junior center Vladislav Goldin is averaging 15.6 points and a team-high 6.8 rebounds per game. Junior guard Alijah Martin is averaging 13.3 points per game.
Buie leads Northwestern with 19.2 points and 5.1 assists per game. Junior guard Brooks Barnhizer is averaging 14.6 points and a team-high 7.5 rebounds per game while senior guard Ryan Langborg (12.2 ppg) also scores in double figures. Everyone but Langborg played for the Wildcats last season.
For summaries, complete standings, scores go to the eEdition at MiamiHerald.com.
Atlantic
Boston Florida Toronto Tampa Bay Detroit Buffalo Montreal Ottawa Metropolitan
NY Rangers Carolina Philadelphia Washington NY Islanders Pittsburgh New Jersey Columbus
Central
Winnipeg Colorado Dallas Nashville St. Louis Minnesota Arizona Chicago Pacific
Vancouver Edmonton Los Angeles Vegas Calgary Seattle Anaheim San Jose
GP W LOT Pts GF GA
69 40 14 15 95 231 190 68 45 19 4 94 224 165 66 38 19 9 85 241 208 67 36 25 6 78 235 225 68 34 28 6 74 232 229 69 33 31 5 71 207 204 67 25 31 11 61 186 236 66 28 34 4 60 211 233 GP W L OT Pts GF GA
68 45 19 4 68 42 20 6 68 34 26 8 67 33 25 9 67 29 23 15 67 30 28 9 68 32 32 4 68 23 34 11
94 229 185 90 232 184 76 202 208 75 181 208 73 202 222 69 197 199 68 220 236 57 199 246
67 43 19 5 91 210 158 68 43 20 5 91 254 204 69 41 19 9 91 251 210 68 39 25 4 82 219 204 68 36 29 3 75 194 205 68 33 27 8 74 212 219 68 28 35 5 61 201 224 68 19 44 5 43 150 242 GP W LOT Pts GF GA
68 42 18 8 65 40 21 4 67 34 22 11 67 36 24 7 68 33 30 5 67 28 27 12 68 23 42 3 67 16 44 7
92 238 184 84 231 185 79 204 178 79 216 200 71 213 220 68 182 196 49 171 248 39 148 268
NOTE: Two points for a win, one point for overtime loss.
Top three teams in each division and two wild cards per conference advance to playoffs.
WEDNESDAY
Toronto at Washington, 7:30
Arizona at Dallas, 8
Minnesota at Los Angeles, 10
TUESDAY
Columbus at Detroit
Ottawa at Boston
Pittsburgh at New Jersey
Toronto at Philadelphia
Winnipeg at N.Y. Rangers
Carolina at N.Y. Islanders
Colorado at St. Louis
San Jose at Nashville
Montreal at Edmonton
Buffalo at Vancouver
Chicago at Los Angeles
Minnesota at Anaheim
Tampa Bay at Vegas
MONDAY
Washington 5, Calgary 2
Buffalo 6, Seattle 2