WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — The Northwestern men’s basketball team had plenty to be optimistic about heading into its rematch with Purdue. Encouraging performances against Penn State and Illinois had some team members pegging Saturday as the day the Wildcats’ 27-game Big Ten losing streak would end.
But guard Ben Johnson’s first shot thumped off the backboard, and guard Winston Blake followed with an airball from behind the arc.
Whatever building blocks NU had put up in the past week came toppling down.
Purdue mounted a 21-6 lead and went on to a 78-59 win at Mackey Arena. Although the Cats (7-11, 0-6 Big Ten) cut the deficit to three points with about 14 minutes remaining, Purdue (12-5, 4-2) made a 14-2 run to put the game away.
NU fell behind 16-2 in both its losses to Purdue this season. Cats players said Saturday that their early struggles may have cost them the contest once again. Missed layups and poor three-point shooting had the Cats reeling before they clawed back to cut Purdue’s halftime lead to 30-22.
“Turnovers hurt us. We missed some open shots,” said center Aaron Jennings, who came off the bench to lead NU with 13 points. “If we didn’t have those, the game might go the other way and put more pressure on them to make the plays instead of us to make the plays.”
Forward Winston Blake, who shot 4-for-15 overall and 2-for-10 from three-point range, airballed his first two shot attempts and rolled his ankle during the disastrous start.
“I don’t know what it is with Purdue, but we just can’t get going at the beginning of the game,” said Blake, who scored 10 points. “I’ve never shot that badly in my life.”
NU coach Bill Carmody said the Cats did not respond well to the pressure. Maybe it was the Mackey Arena crowd, maybe it was Purdue’s defense — regardless, the Cats were doomed from the start Saturday.
“They had the lead the whole game,” Carmody said. “Most teams make a run, but when are you going to be that team that keeps it going? Right now, we’re not that team.”
MORE NU LOSSES: Add freshman forward Harry Good to the list of Cats who won’t play for the team. Good, who has logged just four minutes this season, left the team last Monday, citing personal reasons.
Good was the last of former coach Kevin O’Neill’s recruits to commit to NU this season. He is the second player to drop from the Cats’ roster — freshman guard Drew Long was recently declared academically ineligible and can only practice.
The Cats used nine players in Saturday’s loss to Purdue. By contrast, the Boilermakers had 12 — 10 of whom scored.
Good’s departure depletes an already shallow NU roster. In addition to Good and Long, freshman Casey Cortez was suspended two weeks ago for missing a team meal. Freshman forward Pat Towne missed Saturday’s game to attend his grandfather’s funeral.
KEADY’S TRAIN KEEPS CHUGGING: Purdue coach Gene Keady notched the 800th win of his coaching career Saturday — but you wouldn’t know it from his postgame remarks.
“It was a good win today, but in this league you never know when the next one’s coming,” said Keady, who improved his career record to 800-312 at the high school, junior college and major college levels.
In his 21 years as Boilermakers coach, Keady owns a 36-4 record against Northwestern. But the coach treated Saturday’s win as anything but routine, chiding his team for its sluggish start after the game.
“I don’t know why we’re lethargic,” he said. “We could have lost that game pretty easily if we didn’t get over the hump there.”
Keady’s milestone meant that NU coach Bill Carmody would have to wait yet another game to reach one of his own. Carmody is stuck on 99 wins as a Division I coach. After Saturday’s loss, his career record is 99-36.
