Northwestern University Athletics
Wildcats Look to Tame Purdue Tonight
2/12/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 12, 2003
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EVANSTON, Ill. - When Northwestern head coach Bill Carmody looked at the schedule for the first time this summer, you would not have blamed him for breathing a little easy when he saw Purdue listed as the final team in this three-game homestand.
After an Indiana team expected to be among the national powers and a Wisconsin unit returning the nucleus of its Big Ten champion, the Boilermakers figured to be the weak link of the triumvirate.
So much for preseason prognostications.
Purdue-picked by nearly everyone to finish in the lower half of the conference standings-comes to Evanston tonight ranked 25th in the USA Today/ESPN national coaches poll and tied for first place with another under-the-preseason-radar team, Michigan. The Boilermakers even took the Badgers apart a week ago in West Lafayette, leading by more than 20 almost the entire game en route to a 78-60 victory.
Tonight's game figures to be a contrast in styles. Northwestern has gone a little deeper into its bench recently, but do not expect to see many minutes beyond the first seven players. Purdue, by contrast, has 11 players averaging between nine and 27 minutes per game. In addition, the Boilermakers will try to force tempo on defense, while the 'Cats tend to be deliberate on offense.
"We had a pretty good game with them down there last month-much closer than the 14-point margin would indicate," said Carmody. "I would expect this game tonight to be the same."
GAME 21 -- Northwestern (9-11, 1-8) vs. #25 Purdue (15-5, 7-2)
Date/Time: Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2003/8 p.m. CST
Site: Welsh-Ryan Arena (Evanston)
Capacity: 8,117
Television: ESPN Plus (WYIN in Chicago)
(Jim Barbar, PBP; Shon Morris, analyst)
Radio: WGN 720 AM (also on wgnradio.com)
(Dave Eanet, PBP; David Kaplan, analyst)
