Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Purdue
Wildcats Hold Off Purdue, 67-61
2/5/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 5, 2005
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EVANSTON, Ill. - Vedran Vukusic scored 21 points and Northwestern built a big lead in the first half before holding off a furious second-half rally to beat struggling Purdue 67-61 Saturday.
Prior to the game, Northwestern head coach Bill Carmody and his program honored outgoing Purdue coach Gene Keady with a cigar humidor and a standing ovation.
The hospitality ended soon afterward, as NU defeated the Boilermakers for the fourth time in five games and the third year in a row at Welsh-Ryan Arena -- a first for the program since 1953-55.
Northwestern (10-11, 3-6 Big Ten) raced to an 11-0 lead in the first four minutes, forcing three Boilermaker turnovers and an air ball.
Purdue (5-15, 1-8) regrouped and got within four, before Northwestern closed the first half on a 14-4 run that featured eight straight points from Tim Doyle for a 32-18 halftime lead.
The Boilermakers had 14 first-half turnovers which Northwestern converted for 16 points.
"I thought we defended very well," said Carmody. "In the first part of the game, we forced some turnovers. They came back great and never quit -- when you have a big lead, the other team plays looser, more aggressive.
"The turnovers just affected everything. I thought we got off to a good start, and I am very pleased with the way we played."
"It looked like we panicked against their pressure," said Keady. "We did not dribble away from it or pass over it like we practiced. We just have to execute against those types of things."
Vukusic sparked a 10-0 run with two baskets and a three-pointer to put the Wildcats up 44-24 with six minutes gone in the second half. But Purdue mounted an impressive comeback, showing the grit and determination that characterized Keady teams over the years.
"We did some different things on defense with traps and things and it seemed to work," said Keady. "We got some deflections and some easy buckets."
Brandon McKnight's three-point play and a jumper by David Teague with five minutes to go highlighted an 11-0 Purdue run that cut the lead to 53-48.
After two free throws by Vukusic, Purdue's Chris Hartley hit a 3-pointer and it was 55-51. Carl Landry and McKnight made baskets after three Northwestern free throws to make it 58-55 with just over two minutes to go.
But Vukusic drove for a basket, and at the other end he saved a ball from going out of bounds with a nifty behind-the-back pass to a teammate, leading to another driving bucket from Mohamed Hachad. That extended Northwestern's lead back to seven with just over a minute left.
Parker dropped in two free throws with 4.8 seconds left to seal the win.
Parker finished 18 points, matching a season high that he had previously hit twice this season. For Purdue, Landry -- the Big Ten's leading scorer entering the contest -- scored a team-high 12 points but took just eight shots.
"We tried not to let Landry get the ball, and tried to stay close to Teague," said Carmody. "If someone else stepped up, that was okay. But I thought we did a nice job on Teague."
Both head coaches and their staffs wore sneakers for Coaches vs. Cancer National Awareness weekend. Most sported white shoes, but Keady had on a fashionable pair of black ones with a yellow design.
Keady was returning after missing the previous game, a loss at Ohio State, with the flu -- the first game he had missed in 47 years of coaching at all levels.
"I went to the doctor yesterday morning and he told me I did not have pneumonia," said Keady. "He said if I woke up this morning and felt ready to go then I could. I felt better, so I came up and got to the hotel about two hours before we left (to come to the arena)."
Northwestern hits the road for its next two games, traveling to Minnesota Wednesday and Iowa Saturday.
"I told the team we were 3-5 at this point last year and we ran off something like three games in a row," said Carmody. "Now, we were 2-6 coming into today's game, and we need to make a run. Outside of the top few teams, the conference is up for grabs. This is the point when some teams go up and others go down. We want to be in the former group."
