Daniel Richard Buie will no doubt tie and then set the career scoring record for men’s basketball on Thursday night when the Wildcats host Michigan at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
Who, you may ask, is Daniel Richard Buie?
Well, of course he’s Northwestern’s All-Big Ten guard, better known by his childhood nickname that stuck, “Boo.”
The Albany, N.Y., native enters Thursday’s game just four points behind John Shurna’s NU career mark of 2,038, and it’s easy to envision Buie tying and then setting the record before halftime.
Shurna, the record-holder for just a few more days, was with the ‘Cats from 2012-16, and is currently playing professionally in Europe.
Shurna set the record in four seasons. NCAA athletes who were on rosters during the COVID pandemic were allowed an extra year of eligibility, so Buie, who is now a graduate student, is in his 5th season.
Barring an unexpected team collapse, Northwestern should make the NCAA “March Madness” tournament for the second year in a row.
The ‘Cats are in third place in the Big Ten, at 9-6 conference, 17-9 overall.
Their opponent on Thursday, the Michigan Wolverines, are having one of their worst seasons ever, at 3-12 conference, 8-18 total, and there have been rumblings in the fan base about whether head coach and UM legend Juwan Howard will or should keep his job.
Ironically, a rather un-Boo-Buie-like performance on Sunday is making it possible for Number Zero (Buie’s uniform # is 0) to establish the career scoring mark in front of the home fans.
Buie scored only 14 points against Indiana in a road victory.
He is averaging 19 points per game.
If Buie had reached that average on Sunday, he would have ended the Indiana game with 2,039 points, establishing the new record during an away game in Bloomington.
Instead, he gets to set it at Welsh-Ryan, where the fans actually mean “yay” when they shout “Boo!”