Northwestern couldn't keep Purdue off the glass and couldn't pull off the upset, losing 80-60 to the No. 4 Boilermakers.
The 'Cats made several pushes to trim the lead in the second half, but a raucous Mackey Arena crowd and an elite Boilermakers team kept the game under control on the way to their 20-point win.
Boo Buie delivered one of his best games in Big Ten play this season, finishing with 17 points to lead Northwestern in scoring. The 'Cats tested Purdue a couple times in the second half, and almost every time it was led by a couple of big shots from Buie, who was 5-for-8 from three.
The 'Cats had tough outings from their other two leading scorers, Chase Audige and Pete Nance. Nance struggled with foul trouble and finished with only nine points in 23 minutes. Audige was errant from the field, scoring only two points on 1-of-8 shooting. The 'Cats had difficulty finding shots for Nance, who finished perfect from the field, behind the arc and at the line but took just three field goals, one three and two free throws.
With this win over Northwestern, Purdue got back on track after a loss at Indiana, and improved to 5-3 in the Big Ten. The Boilermaker defense was smothering, and if the 'Cats missed, Purdue almost always came down with the rebound.
The Boilers were led by guard Sasha Stefanovic, who finished with 22 points on 6-of-10 shooting from three, and 4-4 at the free throw line. He attempted no field goals inside the three-point line.
Here are our takeaways from the Wildcats' second straight loss, which dropped their record to 9-8 (2-6 Big Ten):
Northwestern had more than they could handle with Edey and Williams: Purdue is No. 4 in the country for a reason, and the play of their big men is outstanding. It is a testament to their astounding depth that Trevion Williams, who was first-team All-Big Ten last season, comes off the bench. In tandem with the 7-foot-4 295-pound sophomore center Zach Edey, Williams gave the 'Cats trouble on the glass all night.
Northwestern lost the rebounding battle, 33-21, and got killed on the offensive boards, 10-5. It's hard to seriously cite this as a long-standing problem for Northwestern's roster construction; very few teams in the NCAA have a legitimate answer for Edey and Williams. But no one in Northwestern's stable of bigs stood much of a chance. Northwestern tried Nance, Young and even sophomore center Matt Nicholson to try and mitigate Purdue's size advantage.
Williams and Edey both finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds, the leading rebounder for Northwestern was a three-way tie between Buie, Young and Julian Roper II with four.
Roper entered the starting lineup: Roper has been a solid and dependable option for the 'Cats all season, and his hard work paid off when he got his first start today against Purdue. After his best game of the season against Wisconsin, Collins thought he had earned the start and Roper delivered a strong game, finishing with seven points on 3-of-6 shooting, with four rebounds and three steals.
The freshman from Detroit got dealt a tough hand for his first start, joining the lineup against the No. 4 team in the country on the road. He picked up two quick first-half fouls, but he still delivered quality defense and decision making in a less than friendly environment. Roper's progression continues to be one of the bright spots from this season; they have often used the 6-foot-3 guard in crunch time lineups, and now he is a starter.
It is hard to judge where exactly Collins sees as Roper's role in the rotation going forward. He got 27 minutes against Wisconsin, and 28 against Purdue. Today's minutes, however, were impacted by his foul trouble, as well as foul trouble for Ty Berry and Audige. Keep an eye out for whether Collins will keep playing him around 30 minutes a game, like Buie, Audige and Nance, or closer to 23-25 like he does with Robbie Beran and did with Berry.
Nance continues to be plagued by foul trouble: This was Nance's third game in his last six where he finished with four or more fouls. Nance is the best player on the team, averaging 16.6 points and 7.6 rebounds coming into this matchup with Purdue. His versatility as an athletic forward/center who can shoot, drive and pass is invaluable to this team, and he needs to find a way to stay on the floor.
Against Purdue, several of those fouls came as he was tasked with the unenviable job of guarding Edey. Collins and the 'Cats need to find a way for Nance to utilize his abilities as a strong defender without taking him out of the game due to foul trouble. This issue can't be solely laid at Collins' feet either; Nance needs to make smarter decisions.
His fourth foul came with about 12 minutes remaining in the second half on an illegal screen that Nance set on the baseline for an off-ball cut by Audige. In his senior season, Nance needs to realize his value to this team and make smarter decisions so he can stay on the floor. In the stretch of about four minutes that Nance was out after his fourth foul, Purdue extended their lead from 10 to 16.
It is frustrating for Northwestern fans to look at the box score and see Nance finished with +6 plus/minus rating in a 20-point loss, with perfect shooting from the field and free-throw line. But he played just 23 minutes and scored only nine points.
Nance and the 'Cats will look to regroup for their next matchup, Wednesday at Michigan (8-7, 2-3 Big Ten).
