Northwestern readies for matchup with UCLA in second round of NCAA Tournament
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (CBS) – One down, five to go for the Northwestern men's basketball team.
That's how many more wins it will take to win it all in the NCAA Tournament. CBS 2's Matt Zahn was with the Wildcats as they took on a "next team up" mentality.
The Wildcats wrapped up their off-day practice in Sacramento on Friday. After a solid win in the first round of the tournament over Boise State on Thursday, Northwestern is getting reach for a much tougher task in the second round.
The Cats still seemed pretty loose as they headed out to the court, getting ready to take on No. 2-seeded UCLA on Saturday night.
Boo Buie and Chase Audige both played well in the first round win combining for 42 points in their eight-point victory.
They'll need to bring it again for the Wildcats to have a shot at the upset.
"Whatever sport you're in, when you get to where it really matters, your best players have to be there for you," said head coach Chris Collins. "And Chase said it, it doesn't really have to be scoring, but they got to be there for you. They got to lead the way. They got to have the command. They got to do the things that got us here."
Audige added, "For me, I'm very confident, whether I have a bad game or a good one. So I'm just trying to do what I can for my team defensively, offensively. Just continue to survive and advance."
"It's been Chase and I this whole way leading this thing," said Buie. "It feels good to be able to go out there and get a win."
Northwestern will be trying for their first-ever trip to the Sweet 16. UCLA has been there 36 times including the last two years.
"They're expected to win the game, so we come in, I think, with no pressure on our shoulders. That's why I think we have the advantage," said Northwestern center Matthew Nicholson.
"It would mean everything to us, everything to the alumni, everything to the fans - we just love this team so much," added Audige. "Like, we've put so much work in, we've come so far, and we just want to keep it going by any means."
UCLA has also won 13 of their last 14 games.
"You know, we haven't really shocked ourselves with anything," Buie said. "We've kind of just all believed in ourselves and just let everybody else on the outside looking in look at it as a surprise – while we were just doing what we know we were supposed to do."
Collins said that if this was a best of seven series, he's not sure this team could beat UCLA four times. But it's just one game, and Collins says if they play great, they have a chance.