Northwestern 92, #1 Purdue 88 (Postgame Notes)
- No. 1-ranked Purdue fell to 7-1 overall and 0-1 in the Big Ten Conference with a 92-88 overtime loss at Northwestern. Purdue is now 13-6 under head coach Matt Painter in Big Ten opener, suffering its first loss in a league opener since the 2018-19 season at Michigan.
- Purdue has now been court-stormed in eight of its last nine road losses dating to the 2021-22 season (Indiana 2x, Northwestern 2x, Rutgers, Michigan, Wisconsin, Maryland).
- Purdue’s last nine road losses since the 2021-22 season have come by 2 (Rutgers), 3 (Indiana), 24 (Michigan), 3 (Michigan State), 3 (Wisconsin), 5 (Indiana), 6 (Northwestern), 14 (Maryland) and 4 in overtime (Northwestern).
- Purdue saw a 10-game winning streak in the month of December end, dating to Dec. 2021.
- Purdue saw a 53-game win streak end when scoring at least 80 points, dating to Dec. 2018. The Boilermakers are 75-3 since the start of the 2017-18 season when scoring 80 or more points.
- Purdue suffered its first loss ever when outrebounding a team by 25 rebounds. Purdue outrebounded Northwestern, 52-27.
- Zach Edey recorded his 45th career double-double with 35 points, 14 rebounds and 3 blocked shots. The effort was his ninth 30-10 game in his last 41 contests and sixth in the last 21 regular-season Big Ten contests.
- Edey now has nine 30-10 games, six more than the next players on the active 30-10 list (Norchad Omier, Drew Pember). His nine 30-10 games are the most for a Big Ten player since the 2010-11 season (Luka Garza – 5).
- Edey’s nine 30-point games are tied for the sixth most in school history with Carsen Edwards (2017-19).
- Edey’s 35 points gave him 1,721 career points, moving him past Chad Austin (14th), Todd Mitchell (13th), Glenn Robinson (12th), Keith Edmonson (11th) and Robbie Hummel (10th) into 10th on Purdue’s career scoring list.
- His 14 rebounds gave him 936 career rebounds, moving past A.J. Hammons into third on the career rebounds list at Purdue.
- Braden Smith narrowly missed his second straight double-double with 12 points, nine assists and seven rebounds. Over the last three games, Smith is averaging 16.3 points, 8.0 assists and 7.0 rebounds per game.
- Fletcher Loyer tallied 17 points, making 3-of-5 from long range, and is now averaging 14.8 points per game over the last four contests.
EVANSTON, Ill. (AP) — Boo Buie scored seven of his 31 points in overtime to help Northwestern beat Zach Edey and No. 1 Purdue for the second straight season, winning 92-88 on Friday night in the Big Ten opener for each school.
Buie also had nine assists and four rebounds, rallying Northwestern from an eight-point halftime deficit. Ty Berry also scored seven points in OT and finished with 21, and Ryan Langborg added 20 points.
The Wildcats (6-1, 1-0) became the seventh program since 2010-11 to beat a team ranked No. 1 in the AP poll in consecutive seasons. They topped the Boilermakers 64-58 on Feb. 12 for their first win against a No. 1 team.
Edey had 35 points, 14 rebounds and three blocked shots, but Purdue (7-1, 0-1) had no answer for Buie when it mattered most.
Moments after the final seconds ticked off, Edey & Co. trudged off the floor as students stormed the court at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
Northwestern went ahead to stay on Berry’s two foul shots with 2:09 left in overtime. Blake Preston forced a key turnover by stepping in front of Edey, and Buie and Berry each made two free throws in the final seconds to help close it out.
Fletcher Loyer scored 17 points for Purdue, and Braden Smith had 12 points, nine assists and seven rebounds. The Boilermakers outrebounded the Wildcats 52-27 and went 31 for 41 at the line.
Buie got Northwestern back in the game after an uneven start. The fifth-year guard converted two three-point plays and made a turnaround jumper during an 8-1 run that lifted the Wildcats to a 48-47 lead with 14:54 to go.
That set up a tight, back-and-forth finish to regulation with neither team leading by more than three. Northwestern grabbed a 69-66 advantage on Luke Hunger‘s tiebreaking 3 with 4:43 remaining, but Edey made two foul shots to tie it again at 70 with 3:52 to go.
Buie gave the Wildcats a 76-74 lead with a floater in the lane with 3.9 seconds left, but the 7-foot-4 Edey sent the game to OT when he grabbed Mason Gillis’ well-placed lob and scored inside in the final seconds.
Purdue put together an early 12-2 run and led 40-32 at halftime. Edey had 14 points and eight boards at the break, and Loyer made two of the Boilermakers’ four 3-pointers in the first half.
BIG PICTURE
Purdue: This game was eerily similar to Purdue’s previous loss to Northwestern, when it led 55-47 with 3:52 left and stumbled down the stretch.
Northwestern: This one should provide a big confidence boost for the Wildcats, and a victory that will look quite good as they push for another NCAA Tournament berth later this season.
