Even with a matchup between Top 10 teams waiting on the weekend, Purdue is not about to overlook its midweek tune-up game against an unranked opponent.
No. 2 Purdue has a chance to avenge one of its two defeats on the season Wednesday when it welcomes Northwestern to West Lafayette, Ind. Only then does it figure to turn its attention to a road matchup against No. 6 Wisconsin on Sunday.
Purdue was the top-ranked team in the country on Dec. 1, when it opened its Big Ten schedule with a surprising 92-88 overtime defeat to Northwestern on the road.
The sense of revenge will run even deeper for the Boilermakers (19-2, 8-2 Big Ten), who also lost to the Wildcats last season when they dropped a 64-58 decision. Purdue was ranked No. 1 in that game as well.
Since another surprise defeat, 88-72 on the road against Nebraska on Jan. 9, Purdue has rebounded with a five-game winning streak. The most recent victory was a 68-60 decision at Rutgers on Sunday when Zach Edey scored 26 points to become the sixth player in program history to reach 2,000 points. He has 2,017.
Edey added 12 rebounds for his 53rd career double-double, one off Terry Dischinger’s program record. On top of all that, the 7-foot-4 Wooden Award winner had four blocked shots.
Yet, even while Edey had double-digit boards, and guard Lance Jones added a career-best 10, Purdue was outrebounded 36-32 by Rutgers. The Boilermakers also had 15 turnovers.
“I just didn’t think we were physical enough in getting them out of there,” Purdue head coach Matt Painter said. “When you’re sitting there playing volleyball at the rim, and you’re tapping the basketball, that happened a handful of times. Zach kind of saves the day for us just because of his elite size.”
If there was one thing Purdue did extremely well in the loss to Northwestern, it was to rebound, with a 52-27 advantage on the boards and a 16-5 advantage in offensive rebounds.
Northwestern (15-5, 6-3) forced Purdue into 17 turnovers while committing just three during the January matchup.
After a loss at Nebraska on Jan. 20, the Wildcats recovered with a 96-91 overtime victory at home over then-No. 10 Illinois on Wednesday and a dominating 83-58 victory at home over Ohio State on Saturday.
Boo Buie had 19 points and five assists against Ohio State, while Ryan Langborg added 14 points. Brooks Barnhizer, a Lafayette native, scored 11 points with six assists and has averaged 14.7 points on the season.
Buie has averaged a team-best 18.5 points and moved into third place in program history with 1,911 career points. He is on the verge of passing second-place Drew Crawford (1,920 from 2010-14).
While Purdue knows what Northwestern is capable of, the Wildcats are still continuing to establish themselves as a new force on the Big Ten scene.
“They’re a great team, we know that,” Northwestern head coach Chris Collins said about Purdue. “We’ve had two incredibly hard-fought games against them, here at (home), though. (The win) in early December feels like an eternity ago.
“… A lot of people would say they’re the best team in the country. And playing in Mackey Arena is special. That environment is awesome. We know it will be a tough challenge and I think our guys will be excited for it.”
–Field Level Media