I was able to attend a college basketball game at Welsh-Ryan Arena in Evanston, Illinois, on Saturday, January 11, 2020. The Northwestern University Wildcats played the University of Nebraska Cornhuskers. Welsh-Ryan Arena recently underwent $110 million of renovations that were completed in late 2018. Even though it was snowing in Evanston at the conclusion of the game, with more snow expected, Northwestern fans turned out with the attendance recorded at 5,664 out of 7,039 (80.4%). My impression though was that the attendance was less than 80% of the capacity in the arena.
Coming into the basketball game, Northwestern had lost all of their four Big Ten conference games and had lost their previous five games. Northwestern played well against Nebraska and never trailed after about 10 minutes into the first half. Northwestern prevailed to beat Nebraska with a score of 62 to 57. Northwestern was coached by Chris Collins and Nebraska was coached by former Chicago Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg.
Nebraska guard Cam Mack added 11 points and 10 rebounds and sunk a 3 three-point field goal to take Nebraska within three points of Northwestern with 51 seconds left in the game. However, Northwestern forward Miller Kopp led the team with 15 points, 5 rebounds and 1 steal, and hit two late free throws with 9 seconds left in the game to clinch the win. Northwestern guard Pat Spencer also added 14 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, and 1 steal. In addition, Northwestern forward Robbie Beran added a double double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Below are some pictures I took while at Welsh-Ryan Arena during the Nebraska vs Northwestern college basketball game.
