EVANSTON, Ill. — After never having beaten a No. 1 team in program history, Northwestern now has done so two years in a row at the expense of Purdue men’s basketball at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
Ty Berry’s two free throws with 6.1 seconds left were the final points in Northwestern’s 92-88 overtime victory.
After Boo Buie’s runner with three seconds left in regulation put Northwestern up two, the Boilermakers responded.
Mason Gillis lobbed the inbounds pass in from the sideline with 2.7 seconds left and Zach Edey laid it in to force overtime.
Purdue led 40-30 with two minutes to go in the first half, but couldn’t muster any offense outside of Edey.
Northwestern went on an 18-7 run, supported by two conventional three-point plays from Buie in a span of 1:13 that put the Wildcats in front.
Purdue’s response came in the form of sophomore point guard Braden Smith, who got to the basket on three straight offensive possessions, once finding Edey for a dunk and the other two times laying it in himself.
Both sides took turns playing punch-counter punch all the way down to the final seconds of regulation and early parts of overtime.
Northwestern caught fire from 3 to sway momentum, getting big shots from Berry, Ryan Langborg and Luke Hunger down the stretch while Purdue’s offense mostly came from the free throw line.
Three missed free throws by Purdue’s Trey Kaufman-Renn in a span of 1:04 kept Purdue from being able to take advantage. Edey missed the second of two foul shots with 4:27 to go and Hunger was fouled on the rebound. Hunger made 1 of 2 free throws that put Northwestern up 70-67.
It was over when
Purdue turned the ball over four times in a span of five offensive possessions in the waning moments of overtime.
Buie made a jumper with 1:30 to go in overtime that put the Wildcats up 87-84. Brooks Barnhizer’s free throw with 25.2 seconds left gave Northwestern an 88-86 lead and Buie made two more from the foul line to put the Wildcats up four.
Buie’s two free throws with 13.9 seconds left all but sealed the game.
4 stars
Zach Edey, Purdue: The Boiler big man had a few struggles but imposed his will when Purdue couldn’t get baskets from anyone else. The numbers are pretty much what has become standard for Edey the past two seasons: 35 points, 14 rebounds, three blocks.
Boo Buie, Northwestern: He’s the most unguardable player in the Big Ten not named Zach Edey. Buie’s speed was an issue for the Boilermaker defense, all the way down to the last seconds of regulation and overtime. Buie had 31 points and nine assists.
Braden Smith, Purdue: Smith had an off shooting night, but still finished with 12 points, nine assists and seven rebounds.
Ryan Langborg, Northwestern: Langborg missed two free throws that could’ve extended Northwestern’s lead to five. Still, he was 4 for 5 from 3 and had 20 points, which seemed more valuable than Ty Berry’s 21.
Purdue vs Northwestern highlights
Sam King covers sports for the Journal & Courier. Email him at sking@jconline.com and follow him on Twitter and Instagram @samueltking.