Northwestern University Athletics
Wildcats Upend 25th-Ranked Purdue, 78-67
2/12/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 12, 2003
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EVANSTON, Ill. -- Aaron Jennings pumped in a career-high 20 points and knocked down a career-best four three-pointers, and Northwestern sank 13-of-14 free throws over the final 1:06 to record a 78-67 win over Purdue on Wednesday.
The win -- NU's second in three games at home -- threw the already tumultuous Big Ten standings into even more of a jumble. The Boilermakers (15-6, 7-3) could have taken sole possession of first place in the conference; instead, four teams enter the weekend with three losses.
"Tonight was just a good team effort, at both ends," said NU head coach Bill Carmody. "Offensively, we seemed balanced; defensively, most of the guys played pretty hard and pretty well. There were some big plays to be made, and it seemed like different guys were making them."
Balance was indeed the order of the day. Northwestern had five players score in double figures -- the first time that has happened in a Big Ten game since Feb. 28, 1996 -- and another, freshman guard T.J. Parker, had nine points.
Junior Jitim Young, who entered the game as the Big Ten Player of the Week after recording a pair of double-doubles last week, fell just shy of a third straight Wednesday. He had 12 points and nine rebounds.
Willie Deane's 3-pointer cut the Northwestern lead to five with 42 seconds left. After a pair of free throws from Winston Blake, however, Mohamed Hachad stole the Purdue inbounds pass and was fouled.
Hachad made both free throws, giving the Wildcats (10-11, 2-8 Big Ten) their second big home victory in the last week. The Wildcats knocked off Indiana 74-61 last week; the last time NU defeated both Indiana and Purdue in the same season was 1982.
As they did following the Indiana game, students streamed onto the court after the win and mobbed Northwestern players in celebration.
Jason Burke contributed 14 points, including two free throws over the final stretch, and matched his career high with six assists. He also had six assists vs. the Hoosiers last week.
Deane, the Big Ten's second-leading scorer, had 19 points for Purdue but was just 5-of-16 from the field. Chris Booker added 14 points.
With the Wildcats leading 52-40, Darmetreis Kilgore scored four straight points to cut the deficit to eight, and then Booker stole the ball near midcourt and scored on a breakaway to make it 52-46.
However, the Wildcats quickly got the lead back to 11 on a long trey by Parker and a layup by Jennings and were able to make their free throws down the stretch for the win.
"Northwestern out-executed us tonight," said Purdue head coach Gene Keady. "They played harder and smarter and did the things they had to do to win. We were very aware of how they could play. They did a great job of taking the game to us."
(The Associated Press contributed to this story.)
Notes from Wednesday's win over Purdue
* Northwestern has defeated Purdue at home in consecutive years for the first time since 1954 and 1955.
* Prior to this season, the last time Northwestern defeated Indiana and Purdue in the same season was 1982.
* Five Northwestern players (Aaron Jennings, Jason Burke, Jitim Young, Winston Blake and Mohamed Hachad) reached double figures, marking the first time under Bill Carmody that has happened. The last time it happened was Dec. 2, 1997, when NU beat Troy State 90-52; the last time it happened in a Big Ten game was Feb. 28, 1996 in a 78-62 loss at Penn State.
* Northwestern's 47 second-half points were the most in a single half under Carmody.
* Northwestern has now won four games against nationally ranked teams in the Carmody era (Purdue is 25th in the latest USA Today/ESPN coaches poll).
* Northwestern improves to 3-1 this season, and 7-1 under Carmody, when cracking the 70-point plateau. NU has now broken 70 in two of its last three games. The 78 points are the most scored by NU in a Big Ten game under Carmody; the last time the 'Cats matched that mark was Jan. 13, 1999 in an 81-78 loss at Indiana.
* Northwestern center Aaron Jennings set a career high with 20 points on 7-of-11 shooting. His previous best scoring performance came earlier this season (Dec. 30 against Buffalo) when he tallied 19.
* Jennings' four three-pointers were also a career high.
* Northwestern forward Jason Burke matched his season high of 14 points, and his career high with six assists. Burke also scored 14 at Indiana on Jan 15, and he has dished out six assists -- the most by a Wildcat in a single game this season -- four times this season. Burke was the only player in the game to log all 40 minutes, and he also collected two blocked shots and two steals.
* Burke has scored 124 points on the season, the highest single-season total in his four years at NU.
* Northwestern guard Mohamed Hachad had his best shooting performance in his five starts this season. He finished with 10 points on 3-of-5 shooting. Hachad also knocked down two treys -- a career high -- and was perfect in two free-throw attempts.
* Northwestern guard Jitim Young finished one rebound short of his third consecutive double-double. Young tallied 12 points and nine rebounds in 38 minutes.
* Northwestern is now 8-2 this season when leading at the half; Purdue fell to 1-5 when trailing at the break.
* Kenneth Lowe's three-pointer with 17:22 to play in the first half gave Purdue its only lead of the night, 3-2.
