I’ve never personally understood the whole “#BackThePac” thing. After spending all season long rooting against other Pac-12 schools, we’re supposed to suddenly cheer them on in the postseason? To me, asking a Bruin fan to root for Southern Cal is akin to asking a Yankee fan to root for the Red Sox. It’s never going to happen.

But, since it’s a thing some people like to do, I’d like to welcome all the other Pac-12 fans to the UCLA bandwagon because they now only have one team to root for in this year’s NCAA Men’s Tournament. That’s because both Southern Cal and Arizona State lost yesterday, leaving the Bruins as the only Pac-12 team left in the tourney.

Of course, yesterday’s big upset was Fairleigh Dickinson knocking out Purdue, who was the top seed in the East. That leaves the West as the only region where there has not been an upset yet. Here’s hoping Arkansas knocks off the Jayhawks this afternoon.

Northwestern is led by head coach Chris Collins, who played and served as an assistant coach at Duke. He’s the son of former NBA coach Doug Collins. This season has been his 10th at Northwestern and it’s been his most successful one. Before this season, the Wildcats’ best season under Collins was 2016-17 when they finish fifth in the conference and made it to the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament. So, the Wildcats matched their best tournament performance under Collins by defeating Boise State on Thursday, 75-67.

Arguably, the Wildcats’ best stretch of the season came during early February when they won four games in a row including road games against Wisconsin and Ohio State. They followed those two wins with home wins against Purdue, which was ranked #1 at the time, and Indiana, which was ranked 14th.

In fact, the swept Indiana by beating them on the road earlier in the season, and they also had a road win against Michigan State.

Based on that, I expect the Wildcats to play a tough game this evening.

Let’s look at the Northwestern starting five.

Starting Five

Collins will start a 3-1-1 lineup with three guards, a forward and a center.

Senior guard Boo Buie looks to be the best guy on the Wildcats. He leads the team in both scoring with an average of 17.3 ppg and assists with 150 for the season. He also leads the team in turnovers. So, expect the Bruins to play tough defense against him, but UCLA needs to avoid fouling him since he’s the best free throw shooter on the team. He has shot 87.0% from the line this season.

Chase Audige is the second best scorer on Northwestern and he’s the only other man on the team averaging in double figures with 14.0 ppg. Look for Audige from long-range as he’s one of the best three-point shooter on the team among guys with at least 20 attempts. He’s taken more threes than anyone and he’s made more than anyone. Only Robbie Behran has a higher three-point percentage among the starters, but Behran doesn’t take, or make, them as often as Audige.

In fact, Behran, a senior forward from Virginia, doesn’t score nearly as often as you might think. He’s averaging just 7.6 ppg, which is low given that he has the highest three-point percentage among the starters.

In addition to the three seniors, Collins will also start two juniors. One of those juniors will be guard Ty Berry. He is the team’s third best scorer with an average of 8.6 ppg. Berry also ranks third on the Wildcats in rebounds with an average of 4.8 rpg.

Seven-footer Matthew Nicholson will start at center for NU. Nicholson leads the team in blocks with 40, rebounds with 5.3 per game and his 59.4 shooting percentage is the highest among the starters, but his 6.0 ppg average is indicative of the fact that he doesn’t shoot nearly as much as the other guys on the team.

Off the bench, there are two guys who have played in every game so far. Brooks Barnhizer looks to be the first off the bench. He actually is fourth on the team in scoring even though he isn’t a starter. He is also the team’s second-best rebounder behind Nicholson with an average of 4.9 per game.

Graduate transfer Tydus Verhoeven is a forward who joined the Wildcats this year from UTEP. If Northwestern needs someone to commit a foul, it will probably be him. He leads the team with 86 fouls even though he only averages 16 minutes per game.

Listen to the Game With TMB

This evening’s game will be on TNT with Brad Nessler, Brendan Haywood and Dana Jacobson. If you prefer, you can listen to Josh Lewin and Tracy Murray. Just be sure to right-click on it so that you can open up another tab and have it going while you chat in the comments below. Listen to this evening’s game online.

This is your UCLA men’s basketball vs. Northwestern Wildcats NCAA March Madness Second Round game thread. Here’s how to watch this evening’s game:

2023 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament Second Round

• Teams: #2 seed UCLA Bruins (30-5) vs. #7 seed Northwestern Wildcats (22-11)

• Series Record: UCLA leads, 4-1

• When: 5:40 pm PT, Saturday, March 17, 2023

• Where: Golden 1 Center, Sacramento, CA

• TV: TNT with Brad Nessler, Brendan Haywood, and Dana Jacobson

• Live Stream: NCAA March Madness Live and the NCAA March Madness Live App

• Radio/Audio:

  Local Radio: AM 570 with Josh Lewin and Tracy Murray

  Satellite Radio: Sirius Ch. 135 & XM Ch. 203

  National Radio: Westwood One with Ryan Radtke and Dan Dickau

  Online: The Varsity Network

• Live Stats: March Madness Live

• Tournament Notes:
  UCLA

  Northwestern

Go Bruins!!!

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