DE PERE, Wis. – The University of Northwestern men's basketball team was hoping for a repeat of last year's Schuldes Sports Center magic Friday night, but the Eagles fell to the host and seventh-ranked (D3hoops.com) St. Norbert Green Knights, 77-58, in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.

The Green Knights started on fire in front of a packed house of 1,696 fans, jumping out to an early 11-6 advantage. The Eagles would hang around, not falling behind by more than eight before putting together an 8-2 run to pull within two (20-18) at the 8:42 mark. SNC then controlled the pace down the stretch of the first half, closing out the frame on an 11-2 run to take a 36-25 lead into the locker room.

The second half was much like the end of the first half, as Norbert kept its foot on the gas, extending its lead to 22 at the 7:36. The Green Knights never looked back, securing the 77-58 victory. 

Will Gisler (Stewartville, Minn./Stewartville) paced the Eagles with his fourth double-double of the year, scoring 12 points and pulling down a season-high 13 boards. Michael Carney (Ames, Iowa/Des Moines Christian) – who finishes his career as one of the most prolific three-point shooters in program history – drilled three triples en route to finishing with 11 points.

UNW finished the night shooting 39.7 percent from the floor and 24 percent from long range, while SNC shot 47.3 percent from the field and 40 percent from beyond the arc.

Northwestern will say goodbye to seniors Michael Carney (Ames, Iowa/Des Moines Christian) and Kyle Ooms (Hollandale, MN/Albert Lea High School) – both four-year players for head coach Tim Grosz. The duo helped the Eagles make four-straight NCAA Tournament appearances and were key ingredients in last year's Cinderella run. Carney finished second all-time on Northwestern's career made three-pointers list, while Ooms grabbed over 500 career boards. 

The Eagles end the season 22-6 – which is the highest winning percentage a Northwestern squad has finished with in program history.