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 Getting 27 points from senior forward Drew Crawford, Northwestern
defeated slumping Purdue 74-65 to avoid a last-place Big Ten
Conference finish and plunging the Boilermakers into the league
basement.
The Wildcats (13-18, 6-12 Big Ten) swept the two-game season series
from the Boilermakers, winning a January meeting 63-60 in double
overtime in Evanston, Ill. Sunday was Northwestern's fourth Big Ten
road victory. It defeat only Illinois and Purdue in conference home
action.
"On the road, we really tend to bond together," said Crawford, who
was 13 of 14 from the free-throw line. It is kind of like a
backs-against-the-wall mentality. You have thousands of fans rooting
against you. Everyone roots for you to fail.
"On the road is where we eat every meal together and where we are
the closest. We know that on the road, we really have to band
together to get a good team win."
A 6-0 Northwestern run, capped by guard/forward Sanjay Lumpkin's
3-pointer with 12:01 remaining, pushed the Wildcats' lead to 42-30
and marked the beginning of the end for Purdue, which finishes last
in the Big Ten for the first time since the 2005-06 season, coach
Matt Painter's first at his alma mater.
Trailing 48-34 with 9:38 remaining, Purdue sliced the 14-point
deficit to six before Crawford's clutch 3-pointer with 1:07
increased the lead to 67-58.
"We have had a rough few weeks," Northwestern coach Chris Collins
said. "We lost (guard) Jershon Cobb, and then on Thursday night, we
hit a real low point against Penn State by scoring only 32 points.
For Drew to be a leader and rally the guys and come in here and win
on the road today against a determined Purdue team was a really
special win for us.
"Lumpkin hitting those two 3-pointers was huge ... like a shot in
the arm. And for us to have only six turnovers against a team that
is really good with ball pressure was huge."
After a 13-5 start, the Boilermakers will take a 15-16 record into
this week's Big Ten tourney as the No. 12 seed. Purdue finishes 5-13
in the Big Ten, 2-11 since a Jan. 18 victory against Penn State in
Mackey Arena.
Purdue got 13 points each from sophomore forward Rapheal Davis and
13 from sophomore center A.J. Hammons on the Boilermakers' Senior
Day. Senior guard Terone Johnson added 10.
It is the second consecutive season Purdue finishes the regular
season 15-16.
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Northwestern took advantage of the Boilermakers' cold first-half
shooting to seize a 28-21 lead after 20 minutes.
With center A.J. Hammons and guards Ronnie Johnson, Terone Johnson
and Kendall Stephens going a collective 0 of 14 from the field in
first-half action, Purdue made only five of 26 opening-half shots
(19.2 percent), including two of 16 start.
"We got some good shots, and then when we missed those shots, we
started not taking good shots at times," Terone Johnson said of
Purdue's atrocious start. "That is what got us down early, and it
was kind of frustrating."
Senior center Travis Carroll said there is no reason why Purdue
missed 14 of its first 16 shots.
"Northwestern got their heads up early, and then it was kind of hard
to come back after that," he said.
Painter said the Boilermakers never could recover from missing so
many early good shots.
"We really struggled from the field," Painter said. "It's just too
bad. It is really disappointing. We couldn't get the basketball
inside, and we couldn't drive. We needed better patience to try and
get a better shot."
Meanwhile, Olah, Crawford and Demps combined for 24 points during
the first 20 minutes. Like they had done in victories at Indiana,
Minnesota and Wisconsin, the Wildcats slowed the tempo against the
Boilermakers, frustrating a team that has been known for taking
quick shots.
Olah finished with 14 points and Demps added 10.
Northwestern made 21 of 51 field-goal attempts and was 25 of 34 from
the free-throw line. Purdue was 21 of 59 from the field and 19 of 23
from the line.
NOTES: Before Sunday, Purdue had 123 victories against Northwestern,
more than against any other opponent in school history. ... This is
the second time since the 1950-51 season that Northwestern has swept
a two-game season series from Purdue. The most recent time was
2005-2006. ... The victory snapped a seven-game Northwestern losing
streak that included a 59-32 loss to Penn State on Thursday night in
Evanston.
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