The coffin doors aren’t closed on Purdue’s NCAA tournament hopes, yet. The Boilermakers ended a two game losing streak with an 87-77 win over Northwestern to sweep the season series against the Wildcats.
“Losing those close games has been tough, especially because for the part four or five years we’ve defended our home court so well, so it’s definitely good to get a win back home again,” said Robbie Hummel. “I think it’s important for us to set the tone for the rest of the year that it’s going to hard to come into Mackey Arena and win.”
Hummel had a team-high 27-points and nine rebounds.
The senior was the high man for the Boilers, but D.J Byrd was again the X-factor. The past four games, the Purdue junior has scored 61 points, including a 20-point effort Sunday against Northwestern (15-9, 5-7).
“I think we were just trying to get the ball in the middle and draw two people, because in that 1-3-1, they are pretty good at getting in the passing lanes” said Byrd. “I guess it’s just taking care of drawing two and getting an open look. Luckily we knocked them down.”
Byrd helped keep Purdue afloat in the second half after Northwestern momentarily took the lead.
The Wildcats shot nearly 60-percent over the final 20-minutes, and jumped ahead 55-54 with 7:44 to play, but Byrd responded with a three to put the Boilers back in front 57-55. John Shurna tied the game at 57, but on the next possession, Byrd set up Terone Johnson for a three with one of his four assists and Purdue regained a 60-57 edge. A half minute later, Ryne Smith drilled the Boilers’ third straight bucket from beyond the arc, and Purdue never trailed again.
“I thought we did a good job moving the ball and those guys just stepped up and made shots. That was a big sequence for us,” said Hummel.
John Shurna scored 30 for Northwestern in the losing effort. Reggie Hearn added 16 and Drew Crawford chipped in 14, but was ejected late in the game after picking up his second technical foul.
Along with Hummel and Byrd, three other Boilermakers scored in double-figures (Ryne Smith-14, Terone Johnson – 11, Kelsey Barlow- 10) and point guard Lewis Jackson came off the bench to contribute five points and eight assists.
“That’s one thing that’s been discussed in practice is just do your job, both offensively and defensively. Our guys, I think, are starting to come around to where they understand who can drive, who can shoot, who can do certain things,” said Byrd. “The main thing is doing your job on defense and getting stops.”
Painter’s teams, which are traditionally dominant rebounding, have struggled at times in that category this year. The Boilers entered the game with a -1.6 rebounding margin. Against the Wildcats, they controlled the glass from start to finish. Purdue won the rebounding battle 40-28, including 15 offensive boards compared to just seven for Northwestern.
Purdue also did a good job not giving away possessions. The Boilers turned the ball over just five times and finished with 20 assists. And for the first time in five games, Purdue made more free throw than their opponent. The Boilers went 24-33 on freebies, making 14 more than the Wildcats.
“I just thought our effort was better,” said Painter. “I liked our effort. We have to keep working in that direction and keep working hard and keep playing hard.”
The win improves the Boilers to 16-9 overall and back to an even 6-6 in the Big Ten. Wednesday, they travel to Illinois to face the Illini in another must win game against a team fighting for an NCAA tournament bid.