Duke basketball product Chris Collins is becoming a king at requiring court storms in Evanston.
Northwestern head coach Chris Collins, a former four-year Duke basketball guard who later became a longtime Blue Devil assistant under legend Mike Krzyzewski and is now in his 11th season at the helm in Evanston, has a penchant for knocking off visiting top-ranked Purdue teams.
In February, on the Wildcats’ way to reaching the NCAA Tournament for the second time under Collins’ command after having never achieved that feat before he assumed the reins, they beat then-No. 1 Purdue, 64-58.
Roughly 10 months later, Northwestern did it again, snagging a 92-88 home overtime victory over the No. 1 Boilermakers on Friday night.
And Collins enjoyed the moment with his son and daughter by his side, explaining the brilliance of graduate guard Boo Buie (31 points, four rebounds, nine assists, two steals, and zero turnovers in 43 minutes of action):
“What a war that game was,” the 49-year-old said in his opening statement to the media afterward before alluding to the big-time games he saw as a Duke basketball player and coach. “I’ve been very fortunate to be a part of college basketball for four years as a player and 25 years as a coach…
“That ranks among the highest level games I’ve been a part of.”
At this time last year, some saw Collins as being on the hot seat. After all, none of his teams had posted a winning record since the 2016-17 Wildcats made program history with their memorable first Big Dance appearance.
One year later, the Wildcats boast a 4-0 mark across their last four outings against Big Ten powers Purdue and Michigan State. That’s not to mention three straight wins over Indiana.
So, is Collins destined to become the new top dog in the conference?
It’s still a little premature to give him that crown.
That said, his squads only loss this season came two weeks ago at the hands of now-No. 21 Mississippi State. There’s no doubt the Wildcats will enter the AP Top 25 Poll for the second year in a row and fourth time under Chris Collins’ command after doing so only once (briefly at No. 25 in 2009-10) across the 44 seasons before his arrival.
The program’s highest AP Poll ranking since 1969 is No. 19. It would be a surprise if the Wildcats don’t top that on Monday.
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