# 2008–09 Northwestern Wildcats men's basketball team

The 2008–09 Northwestern Wildcats men's basketball team represented Northwestern University in the 2008–09 college basketball season. This was head coach Bill Carmody's ninth season at Northwestern. The Wildcats are members of the Big Ten Conference and played their home games at Welsh-Ryan Arena. They finished the season 17–14, 8–10 in Big Ten play, lost in the first round of the 2009 Big Ten Conference men's basketball tournament and were invited to the 2009 National Invitation Tournament where they lost in the first round to the University of Tulsa. Northwestern matched their school record for most wins in a season and recorded their first post-season appearance since 1999.

## Schedule and results

Source:
| Date time, TV | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site city, state |
| Regular season ||||||
| Nov 16, 2008* BTN.com | Central Arkansas | W 81–39 | 1–0 | Welsh-Ryan Arena Evanston, IL |
| Nov 19, 2008* BTN.com | Texas A&M-CC | W 66–48 | 2–0 | Welsh-Ryan Arena Evanston, IL |
| Nov 22, 2008* | at Brown | W 73–64 | 3–0 | Pizzitola Sports Center Providence, RI |
| Nov 26, 2008* | at Butler | L 53–57 | 3–1 | Hinkle Fieldhouse Indianapolis, IN |
| Dec 1, 2008* BTN.com | UC Riverside | W 59–43 | 4–1 | Welsh-Ryan Arena Evanston, IL |
| Dec 3, 2008* ESPN2 | Florida State | W 73–59 | 5–1 | Welsh-Ryan Arena Evanston, IL |
| Dec 6, 2008* BTN | DePaul | W 63–36 | 6–1 | Welsh-Ryan Arena Evanston, IL |
| Dec 15, 2008* BTN | UMKC | W 77–62 | 7–1 | Welsh-Ryan Arena Evanston, IL |
| Dec 20, 2008* | at Stanford | L 59–65 | 7–2 | Maples Pavilion Stanford, CA |
| Dec 23, 2008* BTN | SMU | W 66–55 | 8–2 | Welsh-Ryan Arena Evanston, IL |
| Dec 31, 2008 ESPN2 | at Penn State | L 57–61 | 8–3 (0-1) | Bryce Jordan Center University Park, PA |
| Jan 3, 2009 BTN | No. 10 Michigan State | L 66–77 | 8–4 (0-2) | Welsh-Ryan Arena Evanston, IL |
| Jan 7, 2009 BTN | at Wisconsin | L 45–74 | 8–5 (0-3) | Kohl Center Madison, WI |
| Jan 15, 2009 ESPN2 | No. 19 Purdue | L 61–63 | 8–6 (0-4) | Welsh-Ryan Arena Evanston, IL |
| Jan 18, 2009 BTN | No. 18 Minnesota | W 74–65 | 9–6 (1-4) | Welsh-Ryan Arena Evanston, IL |
| Jan 21, 2009 BTN | at No. 7 Michigan State | W 70–63 | 10–6 (2-4) | Breslin Center East Lansing, MI |
| Jan 24, 2009 BTN | at Michigan | L 59–68 | 10–7 (2-5) | Crisler Arena Ann Arbor, MI |
| Jan 28, 2009 BTN | Indiana | W 77–75 | 11–7 (3-5) | Welsh-Ryan Arena Evanston, IL |
| Jan 31, 2009 BTN | Wisconsin | W 66–63 | 12–7 (4-5) | Welsh-Ryan Arena Evanston, IL |
| Feb 4, 2009* BTN.com | Chicago State | W 75–63 | 13–7 | Welsh-Ryan Arena Evanston, IL |
| Feb 7, 2009 BTN | at Iowa | L 51–56 | 13–8 (4-6) | Carver-Hawkeye Arena Iowa City, IA |
| Feb 12, 2009 ESPN2 | No. 22 Illinois | L 59–60 | 13–9 (4-7) | Welsh-Ryan Arena Evanston, IL |
| Feb 15, 2009 BTN | Michigan | L 67–70 $^{OT}$ | 13–10 (4-8) | Welsh-Ryan Arena Evanston, IL |
| Feb 18, 2009 BTN | Ohio State | W 72–69 | 14–10 (5-8) | Welsh-Ryan Arena Evanston, IL |
| Feb 22, 2009 BTN | at Minnesota | L 45–72 | 14–11 (5-9) | Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN |
| Feb 25, 2009 BTN | at Indiana | W 75–53 | 15–11 (6-9) | Assembly Hall Bloomington, IN |
| Feb 28, 2009 BTN | Iowa | W 55–49 | 16–11 (7-9) | Welsh-Ryan Arena Evanston, IL |
| Mar 4, 2009 BTN | at No. 19 Purdue | W 64–61 | 17–11 (8-9) | Mackey Arena West Lafayette, IN |
| Mar 8, 2009 BTN | at Ohio State | L 47–52 | 17–12 (8-10) | Schottenstein Center Columbus, OH |
| Big Ten tournament ||||||
| Mar 12, 2009 BTN | vs. Minnesota | L 53–66 | 17–13 (8-10) | Conseco Fieldhouse Indianapolis, IN |
| NIT ||||||
| Mar 18, 2009 ESPNU | at Tulsa | L 59–68 | 17–14 (8-10) | Reynolds Center Tulsa, OK |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. ||||||