By: Dakota Isgrigg | February 7th | @dakota_isgrigg | @BoilerInTexas

After a frustrating loss in the last outing against Maryland, Purdue returned to the friendly confines of Mackey Arena to take on the struggling Northwestern Wildcats. Purdue ended the day with a 75-70 win that shouldn’t have been that close as we once again saw this young Boilermaker squad struggle to put away teams down the stretch.

That said, this is a great game to have for these younger players. Being forced into these high pressure situations early in their careers will pay many dividends going into the future. From the jump in this one Purdue looked as though they would run away with the game making many runs against the Wildcats who struggled with consistency on offense in this one.

Both teams traded scoring runs that kept the game close, then not so close, then close again throughout the 40-minutes of action. Nearing halftime it looked as though Purdue would separate themselves before the Wildcats went on a 12-2 run to close the gap to 35-32 Purdue at the break.

The second half was more Boiler dominated as Purdue began to get into a groove on offense as well as defense as Jaden Ivey continued his fantastic game displaying his athleticism all over the place.

Another huge shoutout has to go to the 7’4” behemoth of a human being Zach Edey. Trevion Williams struggled with foul trouble all night and the big Canadian stepped up to the plate and delivered with his first career double-double! Zach has seen his minutes diminish a bit as we began the heart of Big Ten play, so it was nice to see the big guy get some run and take advantage of it by coming up huge!

As the game neared its end, it looked as though Purdue had closed out an impressive second-half as they held a 70-59 lead with 52 seconds left. Unfortunately, Northwestern employed a press that gave Purdue a lot of trouble inbounding the ball and that allowed the Cats to go on a 6-0 run to close the gap and cause Boiler fans to stress a bit more than we thought we would need to. Thankfully, Purdue went 23-34(!!!) from the free-throw line to help put the game just out of reach.

This game also marked the return of Sasha Stefanovic after he tested positive for COVID-19. He played limited minutes and never really got going, but it was great to see Sasha back out there with the team. Once he gets his legs back under him, this team could take another big step forwards.

This game was a bit more stressful than we initially wanted but at the end of the day, this young Purdue squad did whatever it took to come out on top. The Freshmen played huge scoring 53 of Purdue’s 75-points for the game. This class will loom large in the history of Purdue basketball and we’re seeing them grow up before our eyes.

Th confidence of this group is growing game after game and you can see it developing before our eyes, and now is the time for this team to play loose and aggressive as we go down the stretch of the season. Matt Painter has these guys bought in and really getting the most out of this group.

The future is bright and we’re seeing the foundation form ever game.

Stats:

• Jaden Ivey (MVP): 20 Pts / 6-14 FG (2-7 3PT) / 6-6 FT / 7 Reb / 3 Ast / 2 Stl

• Zach Edey: 12 Pts / 2-6 FG / 6-6 FT / 11 Reb / 1 Ast / 1 Stl / 4 Blk

• Mason Gillis: 11 Pts / 4-4 FG (3-3 3PT) / 2 Reb / 3 Ast

• Brandon Newman: 10 Pts / 4-9 FG (2-4 3PT) / 3 Reb / 1 Ast / 1 Stl

Team Stats:

• FG: 22-54 (40.7%)

• 3PT: 8-23 (34.8%)

• FT: 23-24 (95.8%)

• Rebounding Margin: +2 (34-32)

• Steals: 10

• Turnovers: 12

Up Next:

The next outing for Purdue comes on Thursday as the Boilermakers make the return trip to Minneapolis to take on Minnesota again. This is another great opportunity to pick up a solid win in the Big Ten as Purdue tries to move up in the standings as well as solidify themselves as NCAA tournament locks.

What do you see happening on Thursday as the Boilers visit the Barn?

As always, Boiler Up, Hammer Down, Hail Purdue!