With only nine players in uniform Saturday, Northwestern was at a loss in the numbers game before the opening tip.
Purdue spurted to a 13-0 lead and held off every Northwestern surge for a 78-59 Big Ten victory in front of 13,994 fans at Mackey Arena. The regular-season conference loss made it 28 in a row for Northwestern.
Purdue’s Rodney Smith shot the lights out, hitting 10-of-12 from the field and finishing with a game-high 27 points. The 6-foot-6-inch junior forward was equally adept drilling three-pointers (2-for-2) or swinging from the rim after an alley-oop dunk fed him by freshman guard Austin Parkinson (seven assists).
“I love playing with Austin,” Smith said. “Eye contact is all you need and the pass is in the air.”
John Allison scored 17 points and blocked three shots. Purdue (12-5, 4-2) had more players score (10) than the Wildcats had dressed.
Despite their inauspicious start, the Wildcats (7-11, 0-6) trailed only 30-22 at the half, much to the chagrin of Purdue coach Gene Keady. “I’m not sure why we’re lethargic,” Keady said. “We could have lost that game pretty easily if we hadn’t gotten over the hump. We did a good job of taking care of business when we needed to.”
Center Aaron Jennings led NU with 13 points before fouling out with 9 minutes 15 seconds to go. Winston Blake, who scored 10, was 4-for-15 from the field as NU shot only 33 percent (20-for-60).
“I don’t know what you do about it when your best shooter [Blake] is wide open in the first half and on his first two shots he is over the basket by 3 feet,” Northwestern coach Bill Carmody said.
Northwestern lost for the second time in two weeks to Purdue. On Jan. 6 the Wildcats dropped a 69-61 decision at Welsh-Ryan Arena after trailing by as many as 19.
“I don’t know what it is about Purdue, but we can’t get it going at the beginning,” Blake said. “I have never shot that bad in my life before. It’s disappointing to know how bad I shot and how bad the team needed me to make those baskets. I need to get back to Evanston and shoot about 1,000 jumpers.”
Northwestern pulled within 39-36 following Collier Drayton’s three-pointer with 14:01 remaining. But Purdue responded with a 12-2 run to extend its advantage to 51-38.
“Most teams make a run, but when are we going to be that team that keeps it going? Right now we are not that team,” Carmody said.
Said Jennings: “It seems like we get to the 15-minute mark of the game and we say, `Oh, we’re playing basketball.”‘
Northwestern freshman forwards Harry Good and Casey Cortez are not with the team for personal reasons. Drew Long is academically ineligible, and forward Patrick Towne missed the game to attend his grandfather’s funeral.
It was the 800th win of Keady’s career, including high school, junior college and amateur competition.
“It was a good win,” Keady said. “In this league you never know when the next one’s coming.”
