Tavaras Hardy and Collier Drayton, the only two seniors on the Northwestern men’s basketball roster, provided some much-needed leadership for NU in last week’s victories at Michigan and against then-No. 17 Iowa.
But Wednesday night in West Lafayette, Ind., Hardy and Drayton committed several rookie blunders in the final seconds that may have cost the Wildcats the game.
NU (10-7, 2-4 Big Ten) fell to Purdue (10-11, 2-5) 63-61 before a Mackey Arena crowd of 11,850, ruining the Cats’ chances at their first three-game Big Ten winning streak since 1976.
With just 26 seconds left to play, junior Winston Blake tied the game at 61 on a driving layup over the outstretched hands of two Boilermakers. But Drayton, apparently unaware of the score, fouled Purdue’s Willie Deane as the Boilermakers guard was bringing the ball upcourt.
Deane guard sank both free throws to close out the scoring.
“It was just the heat of the moment,” Hardy said of Drayton’s gaffe. “Things happen. You don’t think sometimes. It wasn’t that big of a deal because we had another shot down at the other end.”
The Cats had a final chance to tie the score at 63. Hardy penetrated the Purdue defense but missed a lay-in with five seconds left, and Purdue’s John Allison grabbed the rebound.
Early in the second half, the Cats trailed by as many as 15 points. But NU embarked on a 21-5 run with 17 minutes left to take a one-point lead. Center Aaron Jennings sparked the run, knocking down two baby hooks and three shots from behind the arc.
But the Cats couldn’t hold on.
“To fight back so hard and come up so short is just real frustrating,” said NU forward Winston Blake, who led the team with 17 points.
In addition to the mistakes, clutch play from Purdue’s Maynard Lewis did in the Cats.
After Jennings connected on a long-range shot to put NU up 59-56 with two minutes left, Hardy fouled Lewis as he was taking a three-pointer.
Lewis connected on two of his three foul shots to pull the Boilermakers within one.
On the ensuing inbounds play, Purdue stole the ball from Hardy, and Lewis followed up with a three-pointer, giving the Boilermakers a two-point advantage.
Earlier in the game, Lewis had hit two straight shots from outside the arc to end NU’s 21-5 run. He finished the game with 23 points, including five three-pointers.
The Boilermakers opened the game with a 12-3 run. They shot 60.9 percent from the field in the first half, including 6 of 11 from beyond the arc.
Purdue forward Rodney Smith hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to give the Boilermakers a nine-point lead heading into the locker room.
NU’s stellar second-period performance led to a 56.1 field-goal percentage and a 45 percent mark from beyond the arc for the game. Purdue finished at 47.7 percent and 39.1 percent in those categories.
Still, Purdue won the statistical battle on the defensive end, gathering two more steals than the Cats and forcing one turnover more than NU – with the most critical plays coming in crunch time.
“I told (my players) to hold on to their guts,” NU head coach Bill Carmody said.
But for the third time this Big Ten season, a close game escaped from the Cats’ grasp. Even Jennings couldn’t find consolation in the comeback.
“My stats don’t matter – we lost,” Jennings said. “At the end of the year nobody’s going to say ‘Aaron had this many points in that game.’ All they’re going to say is that we could’ve been 3-3, but instead we’re 2-4.”
