Northwestern will not be dancing into the Sweet 16 for the first time in program history.

After a solid win against Florida Atlantic to open March Madness, the Wildcats drew the unlucky draw of trying to face No. 1 overall seed UConn. Ultimately, that task was insurmountable for Northwestern.

UConn finished the game shooting better than 53% from the field in spite of a 3-for-22 effort from 3-point range, but it did not matter. The Huskies utilized a lockdown defense to hold Northwestern to 37% shooting and 4-for-15 from 3-point range.

It culminated in a 75-58 win for UConn as Northwestern bowed out of the NCAA Tournament. Here are the key takeaways from the game:

No answer for Donovan Clingan

The Huskies have plenty of firepower, but the big force in the hot start Sunday name came for Clingan, the 7-foot-2 sophomore in the middle. He wasted no time getting to a double-double, and he flirted with a triple-double for much of the game.

At one point in the first half, Clingan blocked 2 shots during the same trip down the floor. That was the story of the night with Clingan delivering a dominant defensive effort to go with his scoring.

Clingan would finish the game with 14 points, 14 rebounds and 8 blocks in a true domination of the Wildcats.

A forgettable tournament for Boo Buie

In the opening round game against FAU, Buie had 22 points and 4 assists in spite of some struggles against the Owls. He did deliver when it mattered the most in that game and also had 5 steals.

However, Buie was unable to make much of an impact against UConn. He battled foul trouble in the game and was dreadful shooting the ball, missing his first 10 shot attempts from the field before finally breaking through.

He finished 2-for-15 from the floor with 9 points and 0-for-3 from 3-point range in the defeat. He was far from the only one to struggle as Northwestern shot just 32% overall and 16.7% from deep against the dominant Huskies, but Buie was unable to spark the Wildcats as their traditional leader.

What’s next for Chris Collins?

Over the past two seasons, Chris Collins has produced the best run of Northwestern basketball in program history. That includes back-to-back trips to the NCAA Tournament, including a pair of wins in the Big Dance.

In the end, losing to UConn is not any sort of shameful outcome. The Huskies are the defending national champs and are a trendy pick to repeat at the end of the tournament.

So, what does the future hold for Northwestern? That’s the more important question, but it’s one clouded in uncertainty.

The Wildcats are 24-16 in B1G play the past two seasons. That’s their best mark in consecutive seasons since going 24-18 across 3 seasons from 1957-1960.

However, things are changing next year, and life in the B1G will only get tougher with the introduction of USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington, even if some of those hoops programs underperformed this season.

For now, Northwestern can celebrate the victory of getting to the NCAA Tournament with some success in the Big Dance, but it will take some key moves to keep these results rolling in 2024-25. Be sure to track the latest odds and trends ahead of next season with Tradition’s Ohio sports betting links.