# 2014–15 Northwestern Wildcats men's basketball team

The 2014–15 Northwestern Wildcats men's basketball team represented Northwestern University in the 2014–15 college basketball season. Led by second year head coach Chris Collins. The Wildcats were members of the Big Ten Conference and played their home games at Welsh-Ryan Arena. They finished the season 15–17, 6–12 in Big Ten play to finish in a tie for tenth place. They lost in the second round of the Big Ten tournament to Indiana.

## Previous season

The Wildcats finished the season 14–19, 6–12 in Big Ten play to finish in a tie for tenth place. They advanced to the quarterfinals of the Big Ten tournament where they lost to Michigan State.

## Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Drew Crawford | 1 | G/F | 6'5" | 215 | RS Senior | Naperville, IL | Graduated |
| Mike Turner | 10 | F | 6'8" | 222 | RS Sophomore | Chicago, IL | Transferred |
| Kale Abrahamson | 13 | G | 6'7" | 210 | Junior | West Des Moines, IA | Transferred to Drake |
| James Montgomery III | 15 | G | 6'4" | 202 | Senior | Los Angeles, CA | Graduated |
| Aaron Liberman | 31 | C/F | 6'10" | 215 | RS Freshman | Los Angeles, CA | Transferred to Tulane |
| Chier Ajou | 42 | C | 7'2" | 245 | Sophomore | Aweil, South Sudan | Transferred to Seton Hall |
| Nikola Cerina | 45 | F | 6'9" | 235 | Senior | Topola, Serbia | Graduated |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Jeremiah Kreisberg | 50 | C/F | 6'10" | 240 | Senior | Berkeley, CA | Elected to transfer from Yale. Will be eligible to play immediately since Kreisberg graduated from Yale. |

## Incoming recruits
### Class of 2014 recruits

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Vic Law SF | South Holland, IL | St. Rita of Cascia High School | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) | 185 lb (84 kg) | Jul 4, 2013 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ||||||
| Bryant McIntosh PG | Greensburg, IN | Greensburg | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | 180 lb (82 kg) | Sep 9, 2013 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ||||||
| Gavin Skelly PF | Westlake, OH | Westlake | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | 225 lb (102 kg) | Jul 29, 2013 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ||||||
| Johnnie Vassar PG | San Juan Capistrano, CA | JSerra | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | 160 lb (73 kg) | Dec 20, 2013 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ||||||
| Scott Lindsey SG | Oak Park, IL | Fenwick | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 180 lb (82 kg) | Sep 22, 2013 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A 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: "2014 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved June 9, 2014. ||||||

### Class of 2015 recruits

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Aaron Falzon PF | Newton, MA | Northfield Mount Hermon | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | 210 lb (95 kg) | Oct 13, 2014 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 83 ||||||
| Dererk Pardon PF | Cleveland, OH | Villa Angela-St. Joseph High School | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | 215 lb (98 kg) | Jun 7, 2014 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 79 ||||||
| Jordan Ash SG | Westchester, IL | Saint Joseph High School | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | 185 lb (84 kg) | Mar 19, 2014 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 77 ||||||
| 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: "2015 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved June 9, 2014. ||||||

## Schedule and results

Source
| Date time, TV | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| Nov 7* 7:00 pm | McKendree | W 102–52 | – | Welsh-Ryan Arena (N/A) Evanston, IL |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| Nov 14* 7:00 pm | Houston Baptist | W 65–58 | 1–0 | Welsh-Ryan Arena (6,372) Evanston, IL |
| Nov 17* 6:00 pm | at Brown | W 69–56 | 2–0 | Pizzitola Sports Center (1,503) Providence, RI |
| Nov 20* 7:00 pm | North Florida Cancún Challenge | W 69–67 | 3–0 | Welsh-Ryan Arena (5,783) Evanston, IL |
| Nov 22* 3:00 pm | Elon Cancún Challenge | W 68–67 $^{OT}$ | 4-0 | Welsh-Ryan Arena (6,315) Evanston, IL |
| Nov 25* 8:30 pm, CBSSN | vs. Miami (OH) Cancún Challenge semifinals | W 55–46 | 5–0 | Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya (650) Cancún, MX |
| Nov 26* 8:30 pm, CBSSN | vs. Northern Iowa Cancún Challenge championship | L 42–61 | 5–1 | Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya (650) Cancún, MX |
| Dec 3* 8:15 pm, ESPNU | Georgia Tech ACC–Big Ten Challenge | L 58–66 | 5–2 | Welsh-Ryan Arena (6,133) Evanston, IL |
| Dec 6* 3:30 pm, FOX | at No. 23 Butler | L 56–65 | 5–3 | Hinkle Fieldhouse (7,920) Indianapolis, IN |
| Dec 14* 5:00 pm, BTN | Mississippi Valley State | W 101–49 | 6–3 | Welsh-Ryan Arena (6,277) Evanston, IL |
| Dec 17* 7:00 pm | Central Michigan | L 67–80 | 6–4 | Welsh-Ryan Arena (5,820) Evanston, IL |
| Dec 20* 2:00 pm, BTN | Western Michigan | W 67–61 | 7–4 | Welsh-Ryan Arena (6,612) Evanston, IL |
| Dec 22* 1:00 pm, ESPN3 | UIC | W 63–46 | 8–4 | Welsh-Ryan Arena (6,503) Evanston, IL |
| Dec 27* 2:00 pm, BTN | Northern Kentucky | W 76–55 | 9–4 | Welsh-Ryan Arena (6,650) Evanston, IL |
| Big Ten regular season ||||||
| Dec 30 11:00 am, ESPNU | at Rutgers | W 51–47 | 10–4 (1–0) | The RAC (5,651) Piscataway, NJ |
| Jan 4 7:30 pm, BTN | No. 4 Wisconsin | L 58–81 | 10–5 (1–1) | Welsh-Ryan Arena (8,117) Evanston, IL |
| Jan 11 11:00 am, BTN | at Michigan State | L 77–84 $^{OT}$ | 10–6 (1–2) | Breslin Center (14,797) East Lansing, MI |
| Jan 14 8:00 pm, BTN | Illinois | L 67–72 | 10–7 (1–3) | Welsh-Ryan Arena (7,652) Evanston, IL |
| Jan 17 7:15 pm, BTN | at Michigan | L 54–56 | 10–8 (1–4) | Crisler Center (12,707) Ann Arbor, MI |
| Jan 22 6:00 pm, ESPN | Ohio State | L 67–69 | 10–9 (1–5) | Welsh-Ryan Arena (7,117) Evanston, IL |
| Jan 25 6:30 pm, BTN | at No. 13 Maryland | L 67–68 | 10–10 (1–6) | Xfinity Center (14,113) College Park, MD |
| Jan 31 5:30 pm, ESPNU | Purdue | L 60–68 | 10–11 (1–7) | Welsh-Ryan Arena (8,117) Evanston, IL |
| Feb 3 6:30 pm, BTN | at Nebraska | L 60–76 | 10–12 (1–8) | Pinnacle Bank Arena (15,482) Lincoln, NE |
| Feb 7 4:30 pm, BTN | at No. 5 Wisconsin | L 50–65 | 10–13 (1–9) | Kohl Center (17,279) Madison, WI |
| Feb 10 6:00 pm, BTN | Michigan State | L 44–68 | 10–14 (1–10) | Welsh-Ryan Arena (7,265) Evanston, IL |
| Feb 15 2:00 pm, BTN | Iowa | W 66–61 $^{OT}$ | 11–14 (2–10) | Welsh-Ryan Arena (7,714) Evanston, IL |
| Feb 18 8:00 pm, BTN | at Minnesota | W 72–66 | 12–14 (3–10) | Williams Arena (12,361) Minneapolis, MN |
| Feb 21 2:00 pm, ESPNU | Penn State | W 60–39 | 13–14 (4–10) | Welsh-Ryan Arena (7,317) Evanston, IL |
| Feb 25 6:00 pm, BTN | Indiana | W 72–65 | 14–14 (5–10) | Welsh-Ryan Arena (7,014) Evanston, IL |
| Feb 28 6:00 pm, BTN | at Illinois | L 60–86 | 14–15 (5–11) | State Farm Center (15,471) Champaign, IL |
| Mar 3 8:00 pm, BTN | Michigan | W 82–78 $^{2OT}$ | 15–15 (6–11) | Welsh-Ryan Arena (7,673) Evanston, IL |
| Mar 7 11:00 am, BTN | at Iowa | L 52–69 | 15–16 (6–12) | Carver–Hawkeye Arena (15,400) Iowa City, IA |
| Big Ten tournament ||||||
| Mar 12 5:30 pm, ESPN2 | vs. Indiana Second round | L 56–71 | 15–17 | United Center Chicago, IL |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. ||||||