The Northwestern men’s basketball team ended their season on Wednesday March 9 in the second round of the National Tournament against Saint Francis (Ind) with a 94-83 loss. Colton Kooima led the Raiders with 37 points in this contest in addition to 30 points in their first contest against Bellevue, which was enough to earn him a spot on the all-tournament team. Nathan Wedel also recorded 23 points and 12 rebounds this game, his sixth double-double of the season. The lead switched hands early, but USF pulled away early in the second half with a 15-5 run to take a 19 point lead with 14 minutes left, proving too much for the Raiders to come back from.
The Raiders finished the year with a 26-7 record, marking the 13th season with over 20 wins under coach Kris Korver and 20th overall. This was the second consecutive year the Raiders qualified for the National Tournament, advancing through the first round both times.
NW had two first-team All-Americans in Colton Kooima and Nathan Wedel, making it Kooima’s second-straight year for the award. This was the first time in NW’s history that they had two first-teamers in the same year.
NW graduates seniors Colton Kooima, Nathan Wedel, Riley Francis, Derek Buysee, Matt Hillman and Tanner Hillbrands. Kooima finished 2nd on the Raiders all-time scoring list (2,441 points), 2nd on the 3-pointers made (309) list and 13th all-time in assists. Wedel also finished 7th all-time in scoring (1924 points), 10th all-time in rebounds, and 11th all-time in assists. Francis and Buysee also both ended in the all-time Top 25 for 3-pointers made in a career.
