It was fun while it lasted.
Northwestern’s (15-19, 5-15 B1G) Big Ten Tournament is over as a motivated Purdue (23-8, 13-7 B1G) defeated the exhausted Wildcats 81-68 in the United Center.
The Boilermakers rode hot shooting from guards Braden Smith, Fletcher Loyer and Gicarri Harris to a 45-21 lead at halftime as Northwestern was forced to double the Purdue bigs in the paint without 6-foot-11 Arrinten Page. Page missed his fourth-straight game tonight with an illness.
Northwestern cut the Purdue deficit
to 13 in the second half, but never seriously threatened a comeback.
For the ‘Cats, Nick Martinelli paced the team with 25 points and four rebounds. Jayden Reid also had a bounceback game with 19 points and nine assists.
Oscar Cluff led Purdue with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Trey Kaufman-Renn had a standout game with 19 points and six boards. Despite having another poor shooting game against the ‘Cats, Braden Smith had 16 assists.
Cluff opened the scoring with back-to-back layups, but Martinelli ended the 5-0 start with a jumper of his own. After a Kaufman-Renn lay-in, Martinelli scored two more, and Reid found Angelo Ciaravino for an alley-oop dunk for the second straight night. Northwestern’s defense was struggling early with Purdue’s size as the team entered the first media timeout down 11-6.
Following the stoppage, Purdue kept rolling offensively as Fletcher Loyer drained a jumper and Braden Smith hit a three. Jake West got on the board with a jumper, but Loyer hit a triple as the ‘Cats found themselves down 10. NU’s defense was on its heels early, trying to figure out a way to stymie the Boilermakers without 6-foot-11 Arrinten Page.
Kaufman-Renn continued the Purdue scoring with two layups out of the timeout, but Martinelli made another floater as he tried to keep the ‘Cats in it. The Boilermakers just kept making everything, bringing their lead to 18 off 3-pointers by Omer Mayer and Gicarri Harris and forcing Northwestern to take a timeout.
The hits kept coming as Cluff put in two and Harris drilled another trey. Smith then made a miraculous save, tossing it to Mayer who scored two more as the Northwestern deficit ballooned to 23. The ‘Cats kept fighting though, going on a 4-0 run with baskets from Reid and Ciaravino. NU trailed 38-19 with 3:48 remaining in the first half.
Out of the media timeout, Kaufman-Renn knocked in a free throw before Martinelli responded with a fadeaway one-legged jumper. Purdue continued to dominate on the glass, picking up two offensive rebounds followed by a C.J. Cox midrange jumper. It was a brutal half for the ‘Cats as they were down by 24 at the break.
Nick Martinelli led the way in the first half with 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting. The next highest scorer was Ciaravino, who had four. Northwestern was only 41.7% from the field and didn’t hit a three.
Purdue dominated the glass, outrebounding Northwestern 20-10, including eight offensive boards. The Boilermakers were also on fire shooting the ball: 55.9% from the field and 41.7% from three. Northwestern needed to have an all-time second half to have a chance to move on in the Big Ten Tournament.
NU got on the board to begin the second half with a layup by Tre Singleton, countering two free throws from Kaufman-Renn. The ‘Cats continued to claw back with two points from Martinelli and a Reid jumper. Cox stopped the run with a corner three, but the Glenview native made the first Northwestern 3-pointer of the night to answer. With 15:35 left in the game, NU faced a mountain to climb, down 52-33.
Reid hit a jumper and a three out of the timeout, but Northwestern didn’t have an answer on the defensive side. Purdue was at 61 points with 13 minutes left and showed no signs of slowing down. The teams headed to a media timeout as the Boilermakers were up 25 with under 12 minutes left.
The ‘Cats continued battling with buckets from Kropp, Martinelli and Reid to cut the lead to 20. Mayer hit a triple, but Kropp made a midrange, and Clayton hit a three leading to a Purdue timeout. The score was 69-51 with 9:08 remaining.
Northwestern would not give up, with Reid and Clayton hitting back-to-back threes. The lead was cut to 14 at the seven-minute mark, and the Boilermakers took another timeout.
Kaufman-Renn slowed the run with a push shot, but Reid responded with a floater of his own. Purdue was able to put any illusions of a Northwestern comeback to rest, bringing the lead back to 18 with 3:21 left in the contest.
From then on, the Boilermakers put the finishing touches on a 81-68 victory.
The ‘Cats could still receive an invite to the College Basketball Crown or NIT, but their season is likely over.
