To the hardwood for week five.
Team 2 extended their winning streak to three in a row with a victory in last week’s coaches draft. Team 1 has spent the last week studying the final 20 minutes of Happy Gilmore 2 to remember what it feels like to win something.
Team 2 leads 3-1 with four more Mount Rushmore’s remaining before real sports begin in late August.
As a refresher, there are two teams made up of four writers each, and the goal is to select the best four-pick squad for each category. You can vote on which team you think is best on @InsideNU on X and in a poll at the bottom of this article until the next Mount Rushmore piece gets introduced next Tuesday.
Team 1: Harris Horowitz, Brendan Preisman, Matt Campbell and Calvin Kaplan
Team 2: Miguel Muñoz, Yanyan Li, Sai Trivedi and Charlie Jacobs
This week’s category is: Northwestern men’s basketball wins
1.01: Team 1 selects February 2023 win over No. 1 Purdue (Purdue No. 1)
It’s only fitting that the 1.01 in this draft is the Wildcats’ first win over an AP No. 1 team in school history. An upset like this was simply unfathomable a year prior, but afterward, it became clear that this already-special Northwestern team had reached heights never before seen in the history of the program.
The court-storming at this game was a core memory for many in the stands, and it can’t be forgotten how electric the game itself was, either. The ‘Cats let star Purdue Center Zach Edey get his 24 points but otherwise played unbelievable defense, holding every other Boilermaker to 10 points or fewer. On the other side, it was Boo Buie wading through treacherous waters of white jerseys and knocking down nine field goals in 38 minutes of action. On a night where few outside of Buie were particularly efficient, the defense stepped up in a major way, further cementing NU’s first NCAA Tournament berth since 2017.
— Calvin Kaplan
1.02: Team 2 selects December 2023 win over No. 1 Purdue (Purdue No. 2)
After the obvious choice came and went at the 1.01, it only made sense to pick the other unforgettable, court-storming upset win over a No. 1 Purdue team that has, up to this point, helped establish somewhat of a rivalry between the ‘Cats and the Boilermakers. Although nothing quite tops that astonishing victory back in February 2023, this one comes pretty close.
Going up against the top-ranked Boilers, led by reigning NPOY Zach Edey, Northwestern was by no means expected to recreate the maddening success it had nine months earlier. The first half seemed as though the luck had dried out: the Wildcats’ offense struggled to get going, and Edey and Braden Smith were causing all sorts of problems defensively. But, what do you know? Agent Zero came to the rescue. Boo Buie’s second-half performance remains one of the clutchest in NU basketball history, as he clawed his team back from down double digits to overtime. From there, all the momentum was with the purple and white, and big buckets from Ty Berry and Buie cemented another win over a No. 1. This pair of victories remain a big reason why the Chris Collins era has been viewed as so successful.
— Miguel Muñoz
2.01: Team 2 selects 1979 win over No. 4 Michigan State
The 1978-79 NCAA men’s basketball season, particularly Michigan State’s NCAA championship win over Indiana State that sparked the Magic Johnson-Larry Bird rivalry, was one of the most influential seasons in the history of the sport. The Spartans finished the year with a 26-6 record, with one of those six blemishes on their resume happening inside Welsh-Ryan Arena.
On Jan. 27, 1979, Northwestern upset the then-no. 4 ranked Michigan State and it wasn’t even close, with the Wildcats winning 83-65. Although Johnson finished the game with a 26-point, 10-rebound and 10-assist triple-double performance, NU held the rest of MSU to 33% shooting from the field. The Cats’ led by ten by the end of the first half and kept building on their lead throughout the game. Rod Roberson was the star for the team, leading Northwestern with 20 points. In the end was an improbable result that fans simply remember as “the Magic Johnson Game.”
However, the rest of Northwestern’s season was a forgettable footnote. The Wildcats were 0-7 in Big Ten play in the leadup to playing MSU and finished the season with a measly 6-21 record. However, the team will always have a win over the eventual national champs to remember.
— Yanyan Li
2.02: Team 1 selects 2017 NCAA tournament win over No. 8-seeded Vanderbilt
It would be criminal for NU’s first ever NCAA Tournament victory to be left on the board any longer.
It’s safe to say Vandy was the overwhelming favorite in this first round encounter. Up to that point, the Commodores boasted a 19-15 record, navigating the 16th toughest schedule in the country.
That didn’t matter to then junior Bryant McIntosh, who led the team to a two point win with 25 points. He’d sink two pivotal free throws after a controversial intentional foul to secure the Northwestern win. Following him in scoring were Dererk Pardon and Scottie Lindsey, each contributing 14 to the effort.
SEC Scholar Athlete of the Year Luke Kornet was held to 14 points on a dismal 33% shooting percentage. As a team, the ‘Dores shot 38.2% from the field while the ‘Cats shot 49.1% on the night.
Scrappy basketball has always been at the core of Northwestern basketball, and the first round of the 2017 tournament is a prime example of that identity coming to life.
— Matt Campbell
3.01: Team 1 selects 2017 win over Michigan
Dererk Pardon’s game-winning layup off a full-court pass from Nathan Taphorn sealed a program-record 21st victory and all-but assured Northwestern’s first-ever NCAA tournament appearance. There are not enough superlatives to describe how much the 2017 Michigan win means to the Northwestern basketball program. I will be forever jealous of the 8,000+ who got to witness it in person.
The ‘Cats had looked like a tournament lock a month prior after a road win over No. 5 Wisconsin in February, but Northwestern had gone on to lose three of its last four and was teetering towards the wrong side of the bubble ahead of the March 1 contest with the Wolverines. The Michigan game was the second-to-last on Northwestern’s regular season schedule, and No. 16 Purdue loomed with an grim-reaper’s axe in the season finale.
Northwestern needed a win to go dancing.
After a missed game-winning attempt from the Wolverines ricocheted out of bounds, Taphorn, inbounding the ball under the Northwestern basket, had just 1.7 seconds to get the ball up court and break a 65-65 tie. His Hail-Mary heave is the greatest play in Northwestern men’s basketball history — bar none — and it is up there among the greatest moments in the history of Northwestern sports.
— Harris Horowitz
3.02: Team 2 selects 2024 NCAA tournament win over No. 8-seeded FAU
Northwestern’s last NCAA tournament win was one of its most dramatic victories in recent memory. In a back-and-forth game until the end, there was no shortage of drama inside Barclays Center.
Going up against 2023 Final Four qualifiers in Florida Atlantic as the lower seed, the Wildcats were underdogs yet again. And yet, the two teams went blow-for-blow in a low-scoring, defensive-focused first half where the Owls came out leading 20-19. In the second half, Northwestern pulled away after a scoring flurry from Boo Buie and Ryan Langborg, leading by as much as nine points with 7:19 left. However, FAU came back late in the game to make a 15-4 run.
But right when it seemed like Northwestern was going to get sent home, Brooks Barnhizer grabbed a rebound off of FAU center Vlad Goldin’s missed free throw and later drove in for the game-tying layup with 8.1 seconds left to sent the game to overtime. In overtime, the Wildcats left no doubt, dominating from start to finish 77-65. Langborg, who made three consecutive field goals during this period, was undoubtedly the hero of the game, finishing with a season-high 27 points.
Until Northwestern makes it back into the tournament again, this will be the game fans look back to constantly to remember when the ‘‘Cats were last at their peak.
— Yanyan Li
4.01: Team 2 selects 2023 win over No. 15 Indiana
Boo Buie’s iconic game-winning buzzer beater etched this game in the history books. This victory shattered NU’s record of single-season wins against ranked teams, and clinched it a spot in the NCAA tournament while catapulting it to second in the conference.
The Wildcats were in control most of the game, holding a 39-20 advantage at halftime after multiple threes from Chase Audige. But Indiana stormed back in the second half, knotting the game at 62-62 with 30 seconds remaining. Suddenly, The ‘Cats went from being on the doorstep of a major upset to on the doorstep of a devastating defeat.
Enter: Boo Buie.
With the clock ticking down, Buie muscled his way to the rim, blowing past double coverage with full authority. His last-second layup punctuated his 21-point outing and the Wildcat’s 64-62 win.
When people wonder what games cemented NU’s status as a contending ball club, this one must stand at the top of their list.
— Sai Trivedi
4.02: Team 1 selects 1958 win over No. 5 West Virginia
The No. 12 ranked Wildcats were favorites to win the program’s first ever Big Ten title heading into this December clash against hall-of-famer Jerry West and No. 5 West Virginia. It took two overtimes and 28 points from All-American center Joe Ruklick to topple the Mountaineers in front of a sell-out crowd of more than 16,000 at Chicago Stadium.
West Virginia would go on to play in the 1959 national championship game, which it lost 71-70 to California. Ruklick and the ‘58-59 ‘Cats were every bit as good as both finalists, and Northwestern may very well have made a run at banner number one if not for a slew of injuries that hit its roster in conference play.
— Harris Horowitz
Final rosters
Team 1:
- Feb. 2023 win over No. 1 Purdue
- 2017 NCAA tournament win over Vanderbilt
- 2017 win over Michigan
- 1958 win over No. 5 West Virginia
Team 2:
- Dec. 2023 win over No. 1 Purdue
- 1979 win over No. 4 Michigan State
- 2024 NCAA tournament win over FAU
- 2023 win over No. 15 Indiana
Vote on X at @InsideNU, and let us know anything you think we missed in the comments. Also, please add suggestions for future categories. For next week’s Mount Rushmore, we’re going to be drafting the best Northwestern women’s basketball wins of all-time.