Northwest Missouri State repeats as national champion in NCAA Division II men’s hoops
Back-to-back-champs.
The Northwest Missouri State men’s basketball team left no doubt.
That isn’t always the case in a tournament setting. Sometimes teams that are coming off an average year get hot at the right time, catch a few breaks and win all their postseason games without truly being the best squad in the country.
But there was nothing fluky about Northwest’s run to a national championship this season, which the Bearcats culminated with a 80-54 victory over West Texas A&M on Saturday in the national finals of the Division II NCAA Tournament at Ford Center in Evansville, Indiana.
The Bearcats were clearly the best Division II basketball team in the country, and no one can say otherwise despite them entering the postseason as a No. 2 seed.
They ended any debate by demolishing the No. 1 seed Buffaloes Saturday after pulverizing West Liberty 98-77 in the Elite Eight and taking down Flagler 77-46 in the Final Four. They won their final three games of the tournament by an average of 26 points.
That’s not just winning. That’s domination.
“I don’t think there have been many better (championship teams), if there have been any better,” Northwest coach Ben McCollum said. “It’s pretty unbelievable and unprecedented really. “
Northwest Missouri State has now won three of the past four Division II championships under McCollum. Perhaps only the coronarvius pandemic prevented the Bearcats from winning another last season.
They celebrated their latest trophy with players diving on the floor and making confetti angels after the final buzzer sounded.
“It’s a great day to be a Bearcat right now, that’s for sure,” senior forward Ryan Hawkins said in a post-game Zoom conference call with reporters. “The feeling never gets old.”
Hawkins led the way with a monster performance that featured 31 points and 18 rebounds. West Texas A&M had no answer for him, as he repeatedly posted up against smaller defenders and scored at will against them.
Wes Dreamer was also effective inside, finishing with 19 points and 11 rebounds.
Trevor Hudgins was the leader in the back court with 15 points and five assists. Luke Waters had 13 points.
“I feel like everyone had a great night offensively,” Hawkins said. “We were taking what the defense gave us. We knew we had a little bit of a size mismatch with various positions and we kind of exposed that a little bit today.”
It was a mismatch in every way possible.
“They just don’t have a lot of weaknesses,” West Texas A&M coach Tom Brown said. “Usually teams at our level in Division II, you can find some weaknesses somewhere. They did a really nice job finding our weaknesses and exploiting them. They were the better team. They deserved to win.”
Northwest began to pull away late in the first half with a 14-4 run that gave the Bearcats a 48-29 lead at the break. It was a competitive game up until that point, but it was never close afterward.
The Bearcats pulled ahead by as many as 35 points in the second half, at which point CBS announcer Rich Waltz proclaimed “this is an absolute blowout.” McCollum was able to triumphantly empty his bench in the final moments.
It was a fitting end for a season that featured 28 victories and just two losses. Northwest Missouri State was the nation’s most dominant team all season, and it once again proved itself as a worthy national champion.
“They aren’t a Division II team,” Brown said. “I think they could beat half the teams in Division I. I think they were in the wrong tournament this year. I think they are that good.”
This story was originally published March 27, 2021 at 1:09 PM.