Once again the students of Northwestern had the ability to rush the court in Evanston after defeating #1 Purdue. This time it took overtime to defeat Purdue by a final score of 92-88. Purdue fell apart in the second half defensively, and with their ability to handle the ball.

Zach Edey scored a game-high 35 points while going 15-20 from the free throw line. Anytime Edey got sealed in the low block it was almost an automatic two points, but the struggle was Edey had issues with the ball if he was not in position to score. Several times Edey had the ball while being double teamed outside of the paint that led to Purdue turnovers. Braden Smith continues to leave his feet offensively and turns the ball over. Six turnovers for Smith along with 12 points and 9 assists. One thing I notice with Braden Smith is with his pass-first mindset, he misses some opportunities to score. He had a few chances to lay the ball in, or at least put a shot up while Edey had great position for an offensive rebound.

17-3. 17 turnovers for Purdue and 3 for Northwestern. The fact that Purdue was even remotely close in this ballgame after turning the ball over 14 more times than the opponent and shooting 5-19 from deep, shows. Edey’s ability to keep Purdue in these types of ballgames. We’ve all heard coach Matt Painter repeatedly mention the issues with turnovers and low shooting percentages, yet here we are again discussing the same issues. I would like to be Mr. Positive, but Purdue fans are getting tired of the same type of losses. Northwestern is a good team, and their home fans did a wonderful job of raising the environment in Evanston, but this is the exact type of team Purdue will play in March when it matters.

Fletcher Loyer continues to struggle defensively, and has no ability to defend high level scorers like Boo Buie. Northwestern would use the entire shot clock to get Heide or Jones switched off of him, to get Buie 1 on 1 with Loyer or Braden Smith. Now, Loyer made some incredible timeout calls in the final seconds of the second half, and we would not have made it to overtime without his timeout call following the full-court heave to Edey.

Purdue rebounded the ball extremely well. Edey had 14 rebounds, and the team combined for 52 rebounds compared to Northwestern’s 27 rebounds. Purdue had many opportunities to convert rebounds to points, but they continued to give the ball away.

Quarterback Mason Gillis was 2-2 passing for 47 yards to receiver Zach Edey at the end of the ballgame, as both full-court heaves actually worked to perfection. The same play we saw used in the exhibition game against now #1 in the NAIA Grace College, was used to perfection to get the ball across half court with less than a second removed from the clock.

The season is not over and Purdue has to get back to work in West Lafayette on Monday at 7:00pm, but this team still has plenty to work on. Boiler Up!