Northwestern has already exceeded expectations with its second upset win over Indiana on Wednesday, but the path forward in the Big Ten Tournament will have to go through familiar territory against Purdue. The Wildcats tested the Boilermakers in their first matchup eight days earlier, leading the game on Senior Night for 30 minutes before the game unraveled in the final moments. Purdue escaped Welsh-Ryan by four last time, but now Northwestern has another shot at taking down Braden Smith and the Boilermakers.
Here are the three keys to making that happen tonight.
Keep the balanced attack going
Nick Martinelli was the MVP of the win over Indiana, but a big reason behind his dominance was the ability of the players around him to make an impact alongside him. Key among them was Jake West, who tied his career-high with 18 points, Jordan Clayton, who hit some key shots to build the ‘Cats’ lead, and Tre Singleton, who finished with five big boards and two steals. In the Senior Night loss, NU’s offense operated similarly before becoming Martinelli-dependent as the game tightened up late. Matt Painter can easily scheme to take away one player, but scheming to take away four is a much bigger task. West was unavailable for the first Purdue game, but now with him healthy and able to replicate the game he had Wednesday, the matchup becomes much different.
Win the possession battle in the final five minutes
As mentioned before, Northwestern led for the majority of the game a week ago before losing via a series of self-inflicted wounds. Five of the Wildcats’ seven turnovers were committed in the second half, including a crucial turnover by Singleton with 14.9 seconds remaining, forcing Northwestern to foul Smith, who went 5-for-5 from the line in the final two minutes. Purdue is an experienced team that is among the top teams in the country at taking care of the ball, ranking 18th in the country in turnover rate. Northwestern is no slouch at this either, sitting at fifth in the country in the same category, but the turnovers it did commit cost them the game. Having clean possessions in the final stretch is key to victory over this Boilermaker squad.
Keep the rebounding margin close
At this point in the season, it’s clear that Northwestern is not a good rebounding team. That season-long struggle contributed to Purdue’s second-half comeback, as the Boilermakers out-rebounded the Wildcats 29-15 in the Senior Night loss. That is no fluke for Purdue, which ranks 29th nationally in offensive rebounding rate. The Boilermakers are powered on the glass by Trey Kaufman-Renn and Oscar Cluff, who finished with 10 and seven rebounds, respectively, while Northwestern’s leaders were stuck in a three-way tie with just three apiece. If Page returns after missing the first two tournament games with an illness, that should make this task easier, though based on last night’s press conference, that seems unlikely. Regardless, Northwestern will need more than that to hold its own against Purdue’s dominant frontcourt.
