# 2017–18 Northwestern Wildcats men's basketball team

The 2017–18 Northwestern Wildcats men's basketball team represented Northwestern University in the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. They were led by fifth-year head coach Chris Collins as members of the Big Ten Conference. They played their home games at Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois while the university's Welsh-Ryan Arena, underwent renovations. A winning record in the Big Ten as well, a Round-of-32 NCAA appearance in 2016–17, and the return of all key offensive contributors led to big expectations for the 2017–18 season. But the Wildcats stumbled to a poor start, finishing the season with a disappointing 15–17 record, 6–12 in Big Ten play to finish in 10th place. They lost in the second round of the Big Ten tournament to Penn State.

## Previous season

The Wildcats finished the 2016–17 season 24–12, 10–8 in Big Ten play to finish in a tie for fifth place. In the Big Ten tournament, they defeated Rutgers and Maryland before losing to Wisconsin in the semifinals. They received the school's first ever bid to the NCAA tournament as a No. 8 seed in the West region. In the First Round, they defeated No. 9-seeded Vanderbilt before losing to No. 1-seeded Gonzaga in the second round.

## Offseason
### Coaching changes

On June 20, 2017, assistant coach Patrick Baldwin left the school to become the head coach at Milwaukee. On June 26, the school hired Michigan assistant coach Billy Donlon to replace Baldwin.

### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Sanjay Lumpkin | 34 | G/F | 6'6" | 220 | Senior | Wayzata, MN | Graduated |
| Nathan Taphorn | 32 | F | 6'7" | 215 | Senior | Pekin, IL | Graduated |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| A. J. Turner | 21 | F | 6'7" | 188 | Junior | Mount Clemens, MI | Transferred from Boston College. Under NCAA transfer rules, Turner will have to sit out for the 2017–18 season. Will have two years of remaining eligibility. |

### Recruiting classes
#### 2017 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Anthony Gaines SG | New Hampton, New Hampshire | New Hampton School | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 190 lb (86 kg) | Sep 27, 2016 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 79 ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2017 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved June 4, 2015. ||||||

#### 2018 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for 2018 recruits :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Jordan Lathon PG | Grandview, MO | Grandview High School | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 190 lb (86 kg) | Jun 25, 2017 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: |||||||
| Pete Nance SF | Richfield, OH | Revere High School | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | 180 lb (82 kg) | Jun 29, 2017 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: |||||||
| Ryan Young PF | Stewartsville, NJ | Bethlehem Catholic High School | 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) | 210 lb (95 kg) | Aug 23, 2017 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: |||||||
| Miller Kopp SF | Houston, TX | Houston Christian High School | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) | 200 lb (91 kg) | Sep 21, 2017 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: |||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: |||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2018 Northwestern Commits". Rivals.com. "2018 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. |||||||

## Preseason

In its annual preseason preview, the Blue Ribbon Yearbook ranked Northwestern as No. 23 in the country.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Regular season |||||||||
| Nov 10, 2017* 7:30 pm, BTN+ | No. 19 | Loyola (MD) | W 79–75 | 1–0 | 26 – Lindsey | 9 – Lindsey | 7 – McIntosh | Allstate Arena (6,013) Rosemont, IL |
| Nov 13, 2017* 7:00 pm, BTN+ | No. 20 | Saint Peter's Hall of Fame Tip Off Campus Round | W 75–66 | 2–0 | 17 – McIntosh | 7 – Tied | 6 – Lindsey | Allstate Arena (5,101) Rosemont, IL |
| Nov 15, 2017* 8:00 pm, BTN | No. 20 | Creighton Gavitt Tipoff Games | L 88–92 | 2–1 | 30 – Law | 6 – Skelly | 9 – McIntosh | Allstate Arena (6,384) Rosemont, IL |
| Nov 18, 2017* 1:30 pm, ESPN3 | No. 20 | vs. La Salle Hall of Fame Tip Off Naismith Bracket semifinals | W 82–74 | 3–1 | 21 – McIntosh | 8 – Law | 7 – McIntosh | Mohegan Sun Arena Uncasville, CT |
| Nov 19, 2017* 4:30 pm, ESPN2 | No. 20 | vs. Texas Tech Hall of Fame Tip Off Naismith Bracket championship | L 49–85 | 3–2 | 20 – Lindsey | 4 – Law | 3 – McIntosh | Mohegan Sun Arena Uncasville, CT |
| Nov 24, 2017* 7:30 pm, BTN+ | | Sacred Heart Hall of Fame Tip Off Campus Round | W 81–50 | 4–2 | 19 – Lindsey | 6 – 2 tie | 6 – McIntsoh | Allstate Arena (5,216) Rosemont, IL |
| Nov 28, 2017* 6:15 pm, ESPN2 | | at Georgia Tech ACC–Big Ten Challenge | L 51–52 | 4–3 | 18 – McIntosh | 12 – Pardon | 5 – McIntosh | Hank McCamish Pavilion (5,562) Atlanta, GA |
| Dec 1, 2017 8:00 pm, BTN | | Illinois | W 72–68 $^{OT}$ | 5–3 (1–0) | 22 – Lindsey | 7 – Law | 6 – McIntosh | Allstate Arena (10,017) Rosemont, IL |
| Dec 3, 2017 3:00 pm, BTN | | at Purdue | L 69-74 | 5–4 (1–1) | 20 – Pardon | 10 – Law | 4 – 3 tied | Mackey Arena (14,360) West Lafayette, IN |
| Dec 11, 2017* 6:00 pm, FS1 | | Chicago State | W 96–31 | 6–4 | 18 – Law | 8 – Pardon | 7 – McIntosh | Allstate Arena (5,007) Rosemont, IL |
| Dec 14, 2017* 7:00 pm, BTN | | Valparaiso | W 84–50 | 7–4 | 18 – Law | 10 – Skelly | 5 – McIntosh | Allstate Arena (5,299) Rosemont, IL |
| Dec 16, 2017* 1:00 pm, FS1 | | at DePaul | W 62–60 | 8–4 | 25 – Lindsey | 8 – Lindsey | 7 – McIntosh | Wintrust Arena (7,001) Chicago, IL |
| Dec 19, 2017* 7:00 pm, BTN+ | | Lewis | W 85–48 | 9–4 | 24 – McIntosh | 6 – Gaines | 7 – McIntosh | Allstate Arena (5,126) Rosemont, IL |
| Dec 22, 2017* 6:00 pm, ESPN2 | | at No. 17 Oklahoma | L 78–104 | 9–5 | 17 – Pardon | 9 – Pardon | 3 – Tied | Lloyd Noble Center (11,259) Norman, OK |
| Dec 30, 2017* 11:00 am, FS1 | | Brown | W 95–73 | 10–5 | 18 – Pardon | 8 – Pardon | 3 – 4 tied | Allstate Arena (6,006) Rosemont, IL |
| Jan 2, 2018 8:00 pm, BTN | | Nebraska | L 55–70 | 10–6 (1–2) | 17 – Pardon | 15 – Pardon | 4 – Lindsey | Allstate Arena (5,443) Rosemont, IL |
| Jan 5, 2018 7:00 pm, FS1 | | at Penn State | L 63–78 | 10–7 (1–3) | 18 – McIntosh | 6 – Law | 5 – Law | Bryce Jordan Center (4,682) University Park, PA |
| Jan 10, 2018 8:00 pm, BTN | | Minnesota | W 83–60 | 11–7 (2–3) | 22 – Lindsey | 12 – Pardon | 16 – McIntosh | Allstate Arena (5,514) Rosemont, IL |
| Jan 14, 2018 3:30 pm, CBS | | at Indiana | L 46–66 | 11–8 (2–4) | 9 – Tied | 7 – Law | 3 – Law | Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall (17,222) Bloomington, IN |
| Jan 17, 2018 8:00 pm, BTN | | No. 22 Ohio State | L 65–71 | 11–9 (2–5) | 13 – Lindsey | 10 – Pardon | 4 – Pardon | Allstate Arena (6,018) Rosemont, IL |
| Jan 20, 2018 1:00 pm, BTN | | Penn State | W 70–61 | 12–9 (3–5) | 18 – Law | 5 – Tied | 4 – McIntosh | Allstate Arena (6,544) Rosemont, IL |
| Jan 23, 2018 8:00 pm, BTN | | at Minnesota | W 77–69 | 13–9 (4–5) | 18 – Tied | 13 – Law | 5 – Law | Williams Arena (14,625) Minneapolis, MN |
| Jan 29, 2018 6:00 pm, FS1 | | at No. 24 Michigan | L 47–58 | 13–10 (4–6) | 15 – Lindsey | 7 – Tied | 5 – McIntosh | Crisler Center (10,879) Ann Arbor, MI |
| Feb 1, 2018 7:30 pm, FS1 | | at Wisconsin | W 60–52 | 14–10 (5–6) | 17 – Pardon | 8 – Law | 4 – McIntosh | Kohl Center (17,287) Madison, WI |
| Feb 6, 2018 6:00 pm, BTN | | No. 20 Michigan | W 61–52 | 15–10 (6–6) | 24 – McIntosh | 9 – Skelly | 5 – McIntosh | Allstate Arena (7,457) Rosemont, IL |
| Feb 10, 2018 11:00 am, ESPN2 | | at Maryland | L 57–73 | 15–11 (6–7) | 20 – Lindsey | 8 – Pardon | 3 – 2 tied | Xfinity Center (16,164) College Park, MD |
| Feb 13, 2018 8:00 pm, BTN | | at Rutgers | L 58–67 $^{OT}$ | 15–12 (6–8) | 19 – Lindsey | 13 – Pardon | 5 – McIntosh | Louis Brown Athletic Center (3,827) Piscataway, NJ |
| Feb 17, 2018 1:00 pm, FOX | | No. 2 Michigan State | L 60–65 | 15–13 (6–9) | 21 – Law | 6 – Pardon | 5 – Law | Allstate Arena (12,114) Rosemont, IL |
| Feb 19, 2018 6:00 pm, FS1 | | Maryland | L 64–71 | 15–14 (6–10) | 15 – Lindsey | 6 – Pardon | 5 – Gaines | Allstate Arena (6,014) Rosemont, IL |
| Feb 22, 2018 6:00 pm, ESPN2 | | Wisconsin | L 64–70 | 15–15 (6–11) | 26 – Lindsey | 9 – Pardon | 6 – McIntosh | Allstate Arena (7,033) Rosemont, IL |
| Feb 25, 2018 6:30 pm, BTN | | at Iowa | L 70–77 | 15–16 (6–12) | 32 – Lindsey | 10 – Benson | 6 – Gaines | Carver–Hawkeye Arena Iowa City, IA |
| Big Ten tournament |||||||||
| Mar 1, 2018 5:30 pm, BTN | (10) | vs. (7) Penn State Second round | L 57–65 | 15–17 | 14 – Pardon | 8 – tied | 5 – McIntosh | Madison Square Garden (13,996) New York City, NY |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time. |||||||||

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked RV = Received votes :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | Final |
| AP | 19 | 20 | RV | RV | RV | — | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Not released |
| Coaches | 20 | RV | — | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
*AP does not release post-NCAA tournament rankings