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Northwestern never has played in the NCAA Tournament. But with a cohesive group and determined coach, the Wildcats should expect to hear their names called on Selection Sunday.

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Bryant McIntosh remembers the beatings. He’s suffered through them since arriving at Northwestern three years ago. Prior to that he witnessed them from afar.

He’s 22 years old without looking a day over 12, but he doesn’t need to be an Academic All-Big Ten selection – he is, actually – to understand Northwestern’s bleak basketball history.

It’s pretty common knowledge in college basketball circles that the Wildcats are the only power-conference team never to reach the NCAA Tournament. Heck, they haven’t even had a winning record in Big Ten play since 1968.

So when McIntosh scored 20 points and dished out a season-high 10 assists to help Northwestern crush Iowa, 89-54, on Sunday, he basked in the moment a little.

“We’ve been on the other end of that,” McIntosh said. “It was big for us to come out and do that to them for a change.”

Only a victory like that doesn’t seem so out of place now. This Northwestern team might lack star power, but it doesn’t lack talent. And coach Chris Collins believed he could turn the traditionally cellar-dwelling Wildcats into contenders when the longtime Duke assistant coach and Chicago-area native arrived in Evanston.

“When I took this thing over four years ago, and you walk in Welsh-Ryan (Arena) and it’s dark – all of us are kind of dreamers at heart, and you close your eyes and envision a night like (Sunday).”

Blitzing Iowa isn’t the only resume-builder for Northwestern, which sits at 15-4 and 4-2 in the Big Ten. Even the rare losses carry some weight. The Wildcats fell by two at Butler, by four to Notre Dame on a neutral court, suffered an eight-point defeat at Michigan State and lost by four to Minnesota. All of those teams are, or were, ranked in the AP Top 25 at one point this season.

What’s more is that Collins isn’t blind to the fact he doesn’t have a nationally recognized star who can single-handedly take over a game and draw attention to Evanston. Only wins – and a lot of them – will do that, and it’ll take everyone playing up to par to earn them.

The Wildcats assisted on 29 of their 37 field goals against the Hawkeyes and rank third in the nation assisting on 66.6 percent of their makes. McIntosh is averaging 5.6 assists to go along with 12.2 points per game, making him one of three Wildcats averaging in double figures.

Sophomore Vic Law, the team’s only 4-star recruit who sat out all of last season with an injury, is averaging 14.2 points, just behind Scottie Lindsey’s 15.8. Lindsey is the reigning Big Ten Player of the Week after totaling 36 points and 15 rebounds in wins over Rutgers and Iowa.

Still, they’re not exactly household names. Throw in Dererk Pardon, the big man who returned from injury four games ago and who Collins calls the team’s backbone, and you have a group that few people outside of the Chicagoland area would recognize.

Collins believes that’s changing, though.

“I think people are really starting to embrace who my guys are,” Collins said. “They play really hard. Are we going to win every game? No, not in a league like this. But I hope you guys see how hard these guys play. They give me everything they’ve got, and as a coach, that’s really all that I can ask of them.”

Suddenly, crowds normally partisan to the opposition are more clad with purple and white in support of the Wildcats. Collins said Sunday was the loudest he heard Welsh-Ryan Arena since he took the job, and he’s hoping that continues.

Getting closer to that elusive NCAA Tournament berth will only enhance the chances. The lashing of Iowa was another step, but there’s still a ways to go in a Big Ten that’s ripe for the taking.

“You never fully figure anything out. It’s one game,” Collins said. “We have to keep it in perspective.”

MORE: Josh Pastner Leading Successful Rebuild At Georgia Tech