Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Purdue
Men's Basketball Pulls Away From Purdue, 61-48
2/20/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb 20, 2002
EVANSTON, Ill (AP) - Winston Blake scored 18 points and added a career-high 10 rebounds for his first career double-double as Northwestern went over the .500 mark in league play with a 61-48 win Wednesday night over Purdue.
The Wildcats (16-9, 7-6) continued their hot play--they have won three in a row in the conference for the first time since the 1975-76 season and are 8-4 since dropping their first three conference outings. Purdue, which scored a season-low 48 points, has lost five of its last six games.
This is the latest NU has been over .500 in the conference since 1967-68, when the Wildcats finished with an 8-6 Big Ten record.
Northwestern is also 10-2 at home this season, the best record by the 'Cats since McGaw Hall was first built prior to the 1952-53 season. The 5-2 conference mark guarantees the first winning record at home in Big Ten play since 1975-76 (5-4).
"That was the only goal we had this year, to defend our home court," said head coach Bill Carmody. "We can't say we're young anymore. We should win games at home."
The Boilermakers (12-16, 4-10) jumped out quickly on the Wildcats, taking an 11-2 lead on John Allison's jumper with 15:34 left in the first half. Brett Buscher scored six points during the span.
"They jumped out on us," said Carmody. "I've been here two years and they've always been up by 10 after five minutes. This time we were down 11-2 after a few minutes, but after the timeout I think Collier got a steal, Jitim got a basket and the crowd got behind the guys."
Indeed, Carmody called a 30-second timeout, and then the Wildcats went on a 13-0 run that was started by a jumper from Collier Drayton and capped by a Blake 3-pointer. That gave the Wildcats a 15-11 lead, and the game remained close as the break came with Northwestern leading, 23-22.
Northwestern--which has scored its seven conference wins against seven different teams--moved comfortably ahead by going on a 15-4 spurt in the second half. The run ended on a Jason Burke three-pointer which gave Northwestern a 50-38 lead with 3:22 remaining.
Jitim Young added 10 points for the Wildcats.
Willie Deane was the only Boilermaker to score in double figures with 16 points. Purdue managed just 33 percent shooting from the field.
The stage is now set for Saturday's tilt with Illinois, which easily defeated Penn State Wednesday night, 83-56. Illinois is ranked 16th nationally and has now won five in a row coming to Welsh-Ryan Arena. Tip time is 1:30 p.m., and the game has been sold out for several weeks now.
