March 3, 2007

Box Score

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- Northwestern fell to Purdue 73-50 Saturday afternoon at Mackey Arena in West Lafayette, Ind. The Wildcats trailed by just five with 15 minutes remaining, but a 21-3 run by Purdue over the next nine minutes was too much for NU to overcome.

Freshman Kevin Coble, the Wildcats' most consistent offensive weapon this season, led the team with 15 points and three steals. The Wildcats recorded 10 steals and forced 17 Purdue turnovers in the game. Three of those steals came early in the second half when NU went on a 10-3 run to cut the deficit to five.

Purdue, 16-1 at home this season, shot 60 percent from the field and 50 percent (9-of-18) from 3-point territory. Much like the game in Evanston a week ago, David Teague hurt the Wildcats with his outside shooting, connecting on 6-of-9 three's. Chris Lutz made 3-of-5.

Tim Doyle had eight points, five assists and five rebounds. He needs one more rebound to become the first player in Northwestern history to record at least 200 points, 100 rebounds and 100 assists in back-to-back seasons. He also needs three more assists to tie and four to break NU's single-season assist record, which stands at 154 by Patrick Baldwin in 1994.

Jeremy Nash finished with eight points and Craig Moore hit two more three's to round out the top scorers for NU.

Teague led all scorers with 23 points while Carl Landry added a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds.

The Big Ten Tournament is next up for the Wildcats March 8-11 at the United Center in Chicago. The Big Ten will release official bracket and seedings on Sunday.